Sunday, March 17, 2024

Finally Painted T&G

I've been unmotivated to finish painting the basement tongue & groove wall, but this weekend I finally managed it. Last week, I decided to set a date for renting a uhaul so we could start moving racks and stuff back into the basement, and that finally provided the kick I needed.

Painting tongue and groove is a pain because it's difficult to get paint into all those grooves. LOL I'll probably still do a round of touch-up on the spots I missed, but it's a fairly even coat and I'm happy with it. 

We plan to install boards around the doorway and along the left and right edges but we're having a hard time finding boards out in the garage that are long enough and I don't want to buy more.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Living Room Reimagined

We recently had our living room rug professionally cleaned, which was quite the expense. However, they included a moth treatment, which gives us hope that this rug won’t suffer the same fate as some of our previous ones.

This week also marked the arrival of our "new-to-us" living room furniture. We decided to give it a fresh look by reupholstering it with new fabric, as the original was quite worn and I was keen on a different color scheme.

We opted for different fabrics for the chairs and the couch, a decision I'm now contemplating with mixed feelings now that everything is in place. It's a done deal, but I'm considering purchasing more of the green fabric used for the chairs while it's still in stock, just in case I decide to reupholster the couch to match in the future. The couch is likely to see more wear and tear compared to the chairs, after all.

Immediately after the furniture delivery, I tackled the sun-faded arms with some Howard Feed-N-Wax. It was surprisingly simple to use and made a significant difference. Ideally, I should go over all the wood frames, but time was tight, so I only managed the arms, which were in the sorriest state.

Down the line, I’m thinking of sanding the arms of the couch to smooth out some light claw marks left by a previous owner's pets, but they’re not a major issue for me now. Honestly, I won’t be shocked if Bailey ends up adding a few of her own marks.

Despite the additional costs for reupholstering, securing this furniture set was a fantastic deal. It’s nice to have seating in our living room once more. With just one more piece of furniture to reintroduce to the space, our living room makeover will be complete. It's been refreshing to create a bit of change.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention In-Ex Upholstery, a crucial part of this furniture transformation journey. When I stumbled upon this perfect set, my living room was still home to the oak furniture. Logistically, retrieving and then transporting the furniture to a workshop would have been a nightmare. In-Ex Upholstery, for a reasonable fee, picked-up the furniture from Wilsonville, transported it to their workshop, and even stored it while I took my time selecting and ordering the perfect fabric. When they called to tell me our furniture was finished, I asked if I could delay delivery so we could have the living room rug cleaned as well. They graciously housed our furniture for nearly three months, without complaint or additional charge.

Once our rug was cleaned and the room was prepped to welcome its new additions, In-Ex delivered the furniture back to us. My experience with them was nothing short of fantastic. Should I ever find myself embarking on future upholstery projects, they'll be my first phone call.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Dining Room Rug Cleaned

Our dining room rug was looking pretty grungy so we decided to have it cleaned. We took it into Renaissance Rug Cleaning a few weeks ago and finally picked it up today. It looks much nicer, they even managed to get the barbeque sauce off it.

We spent more on the cleaning than we did when we bought it used, but I think it was worth it because I really do like the pattern and colors. We dropped off the living room rug when we picked this one up. I'd never had rugs cleaned before so I decided to start with the cheap one first, just in case I wasn't happy with the results.

Once I spend a bit more time tidying up the dining room, I'll take photos of it in place.

I also found a set of solid cherry joinery furniture for the living room. The pieces are currently at In-Ex Upholstery company; they're being recovered with green/earthtone fabrics.

They lived in a sunroom and have some sun-fade damage on the arms, but I'm sure I can repair it. That's the advantage of solid wood furniture. Once we get the cleaned living room rug back, I'll have them deliver the finished furniture.


Sunday, February 4, 2024

Basement Storage Progress

I guess I got distracted in my sewing room and never posted progress on this project. Jeff installed the tongue & groove a couple weeks ago. I still need to clean it again, prime it and paint it. Sadly, playing with fabric is a lot more fun, so I haven't gotten started. LOL

I am resolved to finish up this project this week. Once I've painted the slats, we're going to try and wrap the doorway and run boards along both wall sides to make it look more finished. 

I realize now I forgot to take a new photo. We had that water pipe running through the doorway moved a couple days ago. We hired a plumber from Fallopian Pipes to come out and she did a really nice job tidying up the plumbing in this front storage area. I'll post better photos after I paint.

Update on Monday: That's better!

I'm going to give it a couple days to dry and then I'll start painting it.


Wednesday, January 10, 2024

T&G Siding Project

Last spring, I bought a big pile of tongue & groove for the re-roofing project. It ended up there was quite a lot left, but by the time the roofers had actually showed up, it had been sitting out in the weather for 4-months and we could no longer return the leftovers. And it continued to sit there until November, throughout fall and the big drop of black walnut leaves.

So, we decided to try using some of it up by installing it on that framed wall in the basement. We think it will help the space look a little more tidy. 

Over the weekend, Jeff cut pieces roughly the right length and I wiped them down to try and wipe off the dirt. Many were still slightly damp so they're hanging out in the basement with fans and a portable heater.

We're hoping they'll be thoroughly dried out by next weekend and we'll see if we can install them. Then I'll try to reprime and paint them. We need to start moving back in as we're paying storage fees. I'd like to be out of storage before summer.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

New Media Console

We bought a new-to-us media console (finally). I've been looking for over a year, but I'm so picky that it was hard to find something on craigslist/Facebook marketplace that met all my parameters. Even this one didn't meet all my parameters, but I really liked the style so we bought it anyway.
This actually came with three amazing doors, but we took two of them off so the remote controls would work. We'll obviously keep the doors for some future time.
I'm hoping to eventually buy or make three replacement doors and put in speaker fabric in place of glass to help keep down the dust.

This winter much of our theater gear is being replaced. In November, we got a new 65-inch TV for Jeff's birthday. It was a huge upgrade from our 15-year-old 37-inch TV. And this past week we ordered a new receiver and speakers for Jeff after the old subwoofer set off the smoke alarm in the middle of the night. It seemed like a good time during the holiday sales.

Monday, January 1, 2024

Basement Storage Painted

I guess I never posted photos of the mostly-finished basement storage area. Tim finished it last week. We had him use the Hubbard Squash-colored paint leftover from our project in the rest of the basement. It looks very yellow, but I'm sure it will look fine once we move back in. The lights were also leftover as I'd purchased them for another project and they hadn't gotten used.

Tim also laid down Rubber Stall Mats on the floor. They were much more affordable than products marketed as gym mats. I don't know exactly what brand he purchased, but they are similar to this product.

Jeff and I are now trying to decide if we'll do any more work in the space before we move back in. We have some tongue & groove boards leftover from the re-roofing project and we are considering installing them on that wall. I think it would help the space look more tidy once everything is back.

Jeff goes back to work tomorrow so it will probably be a while before we make any progress on this, though, I don't want to wait too long because I don't want to keep paying for storage.