Our closet doors were painted long ago, obscuring the original grasscloth. I’d love to reinstate this, but Karen wants a cleaner look. We repainted our guest room closet, but those door panels had already been re-covered, so provided a smooth surface. Different story in our master, where the painted grasscloth is rough and brittle. We …
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master hallway
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miami carey
Our home retains much of its original 1955 character, but some changes are inevitable in 60 years. Case in point, our master bath. Here’s how it looked when we’d just moved in. The countertop, faucet, lighting and cabinet are all updates, made over the years. The vanity is original, but it’s been sprayed with white …
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light work
A while back, we ordered some colored cord samples from the (logically-named) Color Cord Company. After limited deliberation, we picked turquoise cord for our first lighting project, which will grace our (almost finished) master bedroom. Our plan was to build two matching lighting fixtures, mounted either side of our bed. We’d love Nelson sconces but …
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solar shade
We’ve been itching to install a covering for our master bedroom sliders, ever since removing our hideous outdoor curtains (yeah, you heard right). The sun beams through here every afternoon, which is great in winter, not so welcome in summer. We wanted a blind to cover the whole width, but most cost in excess of …
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first floor
Back in our master bedroom, time to tackle the floor. Neither of us had installed VCT before, but it seemed straightforward…at least on YouTube. First we removed underlay, revealing our concrete slab, in good shape. You can see where 10×10 inch cork tiles were originally placed. Cork was the Eichler-specified flooring, running throughout the house. …
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master paneling
We’ve been tackling some master bedroom projects, which I’ll need to spread over a few posts. With no need to insulate, we skipped ahead to restoring (yet more) wood paneling. We actually started this a while back, before we’d painted the ceiling beams gray. We planned to restore this wall from the start. It faces …
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master plan
Sorting our guest room created a ripple effect. It gave us somewhere to store our books, meaning we could remove an unsightly built-in bookcase. This led us to restore the living-room paneling. It also gave us somewhere to sleep, allowing us to tackle our master bedroom. This is, naturally, our largest bedroom, at about 16 …
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ready. set. strip.
Our paneling quest has resumed, prompted by another delivery. Ready Strip Pro is, apparently, amazing at removing multiple layers of paint. But, despite being described as “environmentally friendly” by the manufacturer, it does contain some harmful chemicals. And it’s almost impossible to buy in California. We managed to get some shipped, and promised to be …
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the right gray
As you may remember, we weren’t too happy with the blueish gray we picked (Benjamin Moore 2121-20 Steel Wool) for the large wall of siding, in our living area. Though you probably won’t detect a difference, I had to let you know that we Karen repainted it. Now it’s a much purer shade gray (Sherwin Williams’ …
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