From Bad to Worse

I know this is not exactly revolutionary information, but I feel the need to point out that buying a house, and renovating it, is a very stressful process. It's expensive, it's hard to plan, and there is an immense amount of pressure to get things done quickly. This was compounded by the fact that my closing date went over by 2 weeks, my carefully planned renovation schedule went out the window, and I was effectively homeless. This is not how things were supposed to go!

As I mentioned in my previous post, there was a fair amount of demo that had to be done before the real work could start. We're concentrating on the bedroom, but we also had to rip out about a third of the kitchen cabinets, just to get a refrigerator into that space. Oh, this is after replacing the electrical panel, and adding outlets to every room (and GFIs in the kitchen and bathroom). This is post-demo...

I know it's horrifying, but it has to get worse before it can get better!

Back in the bedroom, we tore down the ceiling (or, more accurately, we poked the ceiling and it fell down), replaced the broken window panes, and ripped out the carpet in both bedrooms and the hallway. The spare room and the hallway had pretty pristine wood floors underneath, just like in the rest of the house. Jackpot, right? Not quite. For some reason, in the bedroom, the entire floor was covered in some kind of thin green adhesive. It wasn't sticky to the touch, but it sure as hell stuck to the floor. Sanding didn't work, floor scrapers didn't work, soaking didn't work... the only thing we could do was get on our hands and knees and chip it up, bit by bit, with 5-in-1s. This is also the week I learned what a 5-in-1 is.

Little by little, we got it all done. And my bedroom is officially the first "done" room in the house. I readily admit that it's not the most polished design in the world, but with the time constraints and not having the budget to buy multiple new rooms full of furniture, I did what I could with what I had. And actually, it feels like a cheerful little island in a tumultuous sea of sawdust and joint compound.

Remember the "before"?

Here is the very yellow after..

An extra special thank you to the kind friends who are letting me take turns crashing in their spare rooms! Love you guys!

Happy House Warming! Er... demoing...

Those of you who know me personally, know how long I searched for a little fixer to call my very own. From South Central to Glendale and beyond, I left no reasonably-priced stone unturned for almost two years. My tireless efforts (and those of my steadfast Realtor) finally bore fruit last month! I am now the proud owner of a two bedroom, one bathroom, 936 sq ft cottage in Mid-City Los Angeles. Hurray for me! Now you KNOW there is work to be done before moving in. What fun would turn-key be? Check out the pics from the listing...

Not too terrible right? Well did you happen to notice there are some rooms missing? How about a kitchen, a bathroom, and maybe a bedroom or two? Here are some pics I took on the final walk through...

Unfortunately, I didn't get one without my dad standing right in the middle of the kitchen (look how distraught he looks. You can basically see him asking me, "what have you done?!"). But you can tell: a) there is NOT a lot of space b) it's basically been untouched since 1925 c) this is going to be expensive. What you CAN'T see in the pic, is that there is no refrigerator, nor is there room for one. Lord knows where the last owner put theirs, I'm guessing on the back porch. Keepin' it classy.

What a cute little bathroom, right? I don't know what I like better, the makeshift vanity that someone cobbled together from random pieces of particle board, or the electric that is run on the outside of the wall, conveniently next to a water source. Fun times! Still, this room has major potential and you have to love the original hexagon porcelain tile floor.

This is the master bedroom, measuring 11.5 x 11.5 feet. Not the Taj Mahal, but not terrible either. What you can't see from the picture, is that the popcorn ceiling is actually falling down. We tried to break off a little piece to get it tested for asbestos, and basically ended up with a whole-lotta ceiling on our heads. And yes, that carpeting is going to go, post haste. The bedroom will be my first project, as I can't (or won't) move in until I have a safe, sane place to sleep -- without a Chicken Little ceiling and vintage Mid-Century carpeting. Did you hear that bullhorn? Let the reno begin!

One Man's Trash...

Can be a clever crafter's treasure! A few weeks ago, I saw a set of dining room chairs in the dumpster near the back of the Meganplex. Someone had fun smashing them to pieces, but one of them was pretty much intact, and another was just missing the leg dowels. You can see from the "before" picture that they had really good bones.



And of course, I can't be expected to leave a project like that sitting out for the garbage collector. So, I hauled those puppies home and set to gluing, screwing, puttying, sanding, painting, and new-seat-constructing. I ordered the Waverly "Lovely Lattice" fabric from Joanns.com when they were having a 60% off sale. It took a full two weeks to get to me, but it was totally worth the wait (and the discount).



Once they were done, I realized I couldn't have such lovely chairs paired with my boring black Ikea dining room table (I have standards, you know). So I had to make that over too. Stay tuned for the results!

Afters

Remember these Befores, from approximately one million years ago? Well, I've finally gotten around to taking the After photos. Forgive the quality, I took them in the very yellow Tungsten light of my apartment.

The chair was an easy fix - a little paint and strategically placed glue and screws, an inch of foam and some pretty fabric, and Bob's your Uncle.



The desk took a LOT more work. That thing had four layers of paint that I had to chip, scrape, and sand my way through - I even burned out the motor on my old belt sander (giving me an excuse to finally upgrade to a sleek new orbital). After three new coats of of hard-wearing exterior black paint, polished nickel cup pulls, and a bonus coat of spray paint on the under side of the glass top (gives it a high gloss, lacquered look), Fanny was FINALLY my Aunt.



Put them together, and they make a cute little vignette!



Due to the extremely limited amount of space in the Meganplex, the desk (and silver dome light shown in the last pic) are going up for sale on Seedling. Happy shopping!

End Table Before & After

If you read this blog, you should know by now that I am no stranger to flea markets and a borderline hoarder when it comes to ratty furniture with big possibilities. Years ago, I picked up this little end table at the Melrose Flea Market, and always intended to re-finish it.



You can see how beat up the finish is, and it's hard to tell, but the side was also pretty badly gauged. But underneath that, the parquetry just begged to be brought back to life. This weekend, I kindly obliged.



With the amount of puttying I had to do on the damaged side, I wasn't able to stain the entire thing. Instead I painted both sides and hind legs black, and then did the same to the ornate front feet (just because I'm lazy and didn't want to sand all those curves and crannies). But I think the two-toned effect really works with all the different hues in the wood.

What a dramatic difference, eh?

Costume Jewelry Revival

I was at my favorite flea market a couple of weeks ago, and came across a vendor selling bins of mis-matched costume jewelry. I couldn't find any pairs in the earring tubs, so I just picked three of my favorites (and believe me, it was hard to narrow down).



Now here's the fun part: I pulled off the backs with some jewelry pliers and used heavy duty epoxy to affix the former earrings to some ring blanks that I ordered from nearby Hong Kong (less than $5 for 10, on ebay!).



Now I have three totally unique vintage rings, sure to spice up any outfit. And just in time for National Talk Like Mae West Day!

Vintage Window Headboard

After stripping all the rattan off my nightstand and dresser set, I was faced with the dilemma of what to do about the matching headboard. If I removed the rattan, there would be nothing left but a rickety frame.

Luckily, it was about this time that my friend's apartment building decided to replace all their vintage panes with something more energy efficient. They left about a dozen of these gorgeous, perfectly intact windows out with the garbage - totally up for grabs. I snagged a couple of them and hung them lengthwise over my bed.



They're the perfect width for a queen-sized mattress, and are way more visually appealing than a web of rattan circa 1998. AND they were totally free! Everybody wins (and by everybody, I mean me)!