Back in the Closet

First lesson every renovator learns is that one things always leads to another. 

The middle bedroom closet had a mildewy smell. Every time I opened the door, I was hit with draft of old wet woody smell.  I know It's normal for older homes to have mystery scents hiding in pockets. But, my clothes don't need wood sweat mingling with old lady sweat. And, based on the smell, I am fairly certain this closet is a portal to another world. 

I found the smell seeping in from behind the wall backing the shower. Luckily the plumbing access was easy to reach and inspect. It was dry as a bone. But, the handyman I had inspect it suggested I seal up the gaps in the access boards with clear silicone. That should help eliminate some of the smell. I went a couple of steps further. I painted the boards, sealed with silicone, and then covered with a wood panel contact paper. I also added an area rug on the floor to prevent palmetto bugs and other monsters from squeezing in from the crawlspace under the house. 

But, while I was dodging spirits in my closet, I figured a good paint job with a Kills base would also help to eliminate any odor clinging to the walls. And if I was gonna paint, I might as well replace the closet rods that were basically useless. 

I am quite certain giants and trolls lived together in the middle bedroom before I purchased the house. One closet rod was hung about 8 inches from the ceiling and the other only about 4 feet from the floor. 

I ordered a precut custom sized closet rod from Amazon. The shelf brackets they sent with it were useless. And they didn't send any screws. Which is fine because with the paster walls, normal drywall screws with anchors weren't going to work anyway.

I had to use toggle bolts to carry the kind of weight my closet rod would be carrying on plaster walls with no studs. And for that I needed a special toggle drill bit. 

Don't ask me how it went. It was ugly. I'll just say the skeletons behind the walls have about a dozen toggles to wear as jewelry. I can hear them jingling at night.

Also, my foundation isn't level. Yeah, that's it. That's why everything is leaning to the left. 

Regardless, the closet has been filled with clothes for a couple of weeks and nothing has collapsed-Yet. And my skeletons are well adorned. 

Finding Studs

(And other mythical creatures)

As every woman over the age of 40 knows, studs are impossible to find. Especially behind plaster/lathe walls.  Even the most advanced stud finders from the big box stores or Match.com will be at a loss.

I discovered a little trick that sometimes works. It's not full proof, but it's a good start. 

Take a magnet and hang it on a string. Run the magnet along the wall. The magnet will be attracted to the nails in the studs and cling to the wall. Sometimes it can get confused if there is metal mesh in the wall. It's not a perfect system, but it's still better than bleeding knuckles from knocking on a plaster wall for an hour. 

Also, paint-and-primer-in-one will not cover walls evenly despite what the almighty tv claims. It will take at least two coats to cover evenly. 

Day 19

Let's talk about paint.
Back in the old days, before the whole open-concept trend massacred dividing walls, color was a lot easier to pick. Room colors didn't have to match. Each room could be a different color, a different temperature, a different theme.
However, now when we are dealing with rooms that flow together with very little division, your color scheme should match, or at least be in the same family. Trouble is, like with most families, not all of them get along very well.

So when it came time to picking out colors for our kitchen-dining room, I began to freak out a little.

I knew I wanted different colors to  separate the space. The kitchen needed to be a pale color to lighten it up. But, I could go a bit darker in the dining room.

My original thought was a pale grey kitchen and a darker grey dining room. Naturally, 50 Shades of Grey came to mind. I decided it was a bit too sexy for our 100 year old colonial. Then monotone combinations of gold, yellow, or amber crossed my mind.

A traditional red dining and yellow kitchen was almost the winner. Until I watched a re-run of American Horror Story Freak Show. And I couldn't get Creepy Clown Face out of my mind. Picking a bad combination of red and yellow could drive a person homicidal.



 


Finally, I surrendered and called in an expert.

I hired a color consultant from a large corporate not-allowed-to-be named paint manufacturer with the initials of SW. She came out to the house and took pity on me. She gave me alternative options and helped me narrow down colors that match each other and will compliment our current finishings. She really helped me focus on what I like, what works together, and what will work in the space. Worth every penny!!!



Together we narrowed it down to 3 options. This weekend we are picking up samples and putting them on the wall before the painter arrives.

Meanwhile the construction continues in the kitchen.

But, we are making progress. Most of the cabinet doors are on.









The crown moulding is being repaired.

This guy arrives early every morning with a smile on his face.

And the microwave was installed. Finally, I can have popcorn!!