Cold weather puts me in the mood for taking down wallpaper. Something about the smell of old paste makes me really nostalgic. It also gives me and the kids something to do when we are trapped indoors. These pictures were taken a year ago when we started these projects. Don't worry, we finished them a long time ago. In fact, I think Alice has grown 5 inches.
Those are 10 layers of wallpaper you see being torn from the wall. No small task, but the kids love doing it. To the right you can see the completed stairs and landing. Ryan did a great job putting a substantial handrail in.
We found this original hanging light stored in a dark basement corner. It looked so much better here than the 1980's etched glass number that until recently graced the stairs.
The next project was fixing the downstairs bathroom. The beautiful oak wood trim and door had been painted with three coats of white paint. It takes a lot of toxic paint stripper to get that off. This was the nastiest home improvement job I have done to date.
Once again I failed to get a pre-demolition picture. I was just so excited to get all the paint, tiles, claw-foot tub and over-sized vanity out that I completely forgot. Or maybe it was the fumes from stripping the wallpaper that clouded my memory.
Ryan was in charge of removing the built in cabinet that was nearly unusable because the toilet was right in front of it.
Here is an example of wallpapering the ceiling. The ceiling is so easy to do once you get used to the numb sensation in your arms. There are no windows or doors to cut around.
Before: (photo from previous owner's for-sale photo gallery)
After: The finished bathroom with a Moroccan flair. The key to a great bathroom is ease of cleaning (hence the vinyl that looks like tile but doesn't have dirt-trapping-grout, and the solid-surface countertop with integrated sink lacking a grime catching joint too).
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