Friday, May 18, 2012

Two Year Anniversary

Two years ago today escrow closed on our purchase of our pretty fixer in Laurelhurst. When we first imagined the remodel, we had delusions that we could do a lot of the work ourselves, but reality quickly set in and we hired a contractor.

We managed an amazing transformation of the main floor and we're very pleased with the result. Though it was an expensive project, I feel it will be worthwhile over the 25 year time period we plan to live here.


We continue to slowly labor at stripping paint in the upstairs. I've also been making period-appropriate decor for the main floor of the house. Though we're not super industrious like so many of our blogger acquaintances, we still continue to slog along. I suspect we'll take about three more years to finish the bulk of our planned projects. Less, if we find employment and can hire some of the projects out! =)


6 comments:

  1. wow! What a transformation! Can you tell me your process for refinishing the wood? What brand/type of stain are you using? How many coats? Sandpaper grit? Steps? etc. Not sure if you've mentioned that in another post. I am also going to be stripping and refinishing all the woodwork (including built in cabinets) in my house. I've stripped some but haven't gotten beyond that yet.

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  2. Nina, for the most part the paint was removed using a three-part process. First the bulk of the paint was removed with heat guns. Then chemical stripper was used to clear the wood grain and, along with dental tools, from the fine details. Then, finally, the wood was sanded down. I do have a post that primarily answers your questions about the stain color. As I recall it is two coats, the first is red mahogany, followed by cherry gel stain. After staining, the wood was finished with shellac. If you have more questions you can email me and I'll be happy to add more specifics. If you leave your email in a comment I can email you directly. (Then I can delete the comment.)

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  3. I'd also like to add I'm pretty good about using tags. If you click on the Woodwork tag on the right side, it should give you the woodwork related posts, which are really mostly about the stripping of the woodwork. I hope this helps. ~Sharon

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  4. Congratulations! What a wonderful difference you've made.

    I beg to differ that you are not "super industrious." I consider you the most industrious of the bloggers I have added; your hard work is an inspiration and you have, hands down, the best resources for period everything.

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  5. Wow, that built-in must have been a near-neverending stripping job. It looks great though. I wonder if you ever get nightmares about a future owner repainting all the trim white?

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  6. It took 2 months to strip the woodwork on the main floor. I do often wonder if I can sell the house in 20 years with some sort of "addendum" that forbids painting the woodwork. We might try. =)

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