And the Renovations Begin... Now...

Well, ok, so our renovations actually began about a week ago... but who's really keeping track, right? It's not like I'm fretting that we only have 16 days to finish everything and move... no, not me, I would never do that!

Anywho.


We are officially homeowners(!) and we are officially tearing that house up! It's great. Josh has put aside some of his studying/ordination stuff for the month of December and thus has been able to get over to the house for a few hours each day (during the day). Then when I get back from work, if it's a "free" (non-ministry) night, we head over there for another few hours to get some stuff done. It's fun, but I'm definitely feeling the time crunch (our goal to have all work done and be moved in/moved out of the rental is December 19).

Here's a list of what we're doing to our 2-story, 3-bedroom, 1200 sq ft house:

• Removing wallpaper. Lots of it. Each room has some. It's lovely. (Take a look at the picture below, with the wallpaper of china plates.... um... yes... we also had some that had cornucopias and fruit.) Then, of course, washing all the walls.
• Filling in the lines of wood panels (that have previously been painted over) with compound to make a smooth wall. Each panel is about 3" wide, and the lines we're filling in are from floor to ceiling. We have these panels in one bedroom, the entire upstairs hallway, and the hallway up the stairs on one side. And of course, each line (of which there are SO many) requires at least 2 go-bys with the compound (and drying time in between) to achieve a truly flat finish.
• Sanding all previously mentioned walls with the wood paneling. Plus, all the extra random holes around the house that we had to compound from nails, wear and tear, removing paneling (read below), etc.
• Tearing out the lovely paneling (the gold-flecked stuff) on the long continuous wall that leads from the living room up the stairs (only to find that is has more lovely wallpaper underneath... we're just painting over that). Taking out the paneling also includes removing the molding and a couple banisters, too. Oh, the adventures.
• Stripping the paint from the original wood molding in 2/3 of the house.
• Priming every room except the bathroom and kitchen.
• Painting every room except the bathroom and kitchen. For now. (Those rooms can be tackled at a later, post-move-in date.)
• Ripping up all of the carpet. From the maroon to the baby blue to the aqua to the purple. It's all going.
• Sanding the (original) hardwood floors. We've checked in various places throughout the house and they seem to be in quite good condition. But, we get to rent the big machine and sand them all (2-3 times over).
• Refinishing the floors. Yeah, the stinky stuff that will make them look pretty. Woot.
• Moving in!

So, our days are pretty full, but we have some friends and neighbors who have or will be lending some hands, and hopefully we'll get it all done in time! (Because we don't really have an option not to get it done.) I haven't taken very many pictures because we've been busy working and it's literally a huge mess (the good thing is we don't have to worry about getting stuff on the carpet since it'll all be going soon, anyway). But, for those of you who have been asking, here are just a few of our just-starting out shots... I'm looking forward to doing some before/after comparisons, so you'll get a full tour eventually, don't worry.


To start out, a glimpse of some of the lovely aforementioned wallpaper...

Then, a few of the living room and stairs (where a good portion of the work has taken place so far)...


Josh starting to loosen the paneling...

And then taking the molding off...

Ok, that's all you get for now, but don't worry. There will be more. I promise. Maybe I'll even take some today! We've removed the wallpaper and cleaned the walls... oh! And tip! To remove wallpaper, the best method is to use warm water with some dish soap in it. Not even kidding. Forget the expensive stuff and just go with that. Anyway, we've also gotten pretty much all the compounding and sanding done (which was a lot, trust me). The paneling is out, and now we're getting ready to prime. Priming and painting. Oh, if you live in Philly and want to help out, just let us know! We have a painting party coming up on Saturday... =)