As Levi and I started to hit our grove with painting, we also tackled a couple other projects around the house that didn’t go quite as expected. First off – the office, which we’re guessing was an porch that the previous owners turned into an interior office/den. I outlined picking the office design in a blog post here; this week we tackled bringing our vision to life! When I was prepping the wall for painting, we hit our first snafu.
In the office, there was some warped paint. When I peeled it off, it was clear that there had been some water damage in the past. I don’t know too much about fixing up homes, but I definitely do know that water is BAD. I checked out the room, which looks like a leak had previously been fixed. When it rained this week, I checked the spot many times and it wasn’t wet – so I was confident we didn’t need to tackle this as an ongoing problem. After a ton of research, we decided that we didn’t need to replace the drywall since it was a small spot. To stay on the safe side, we decided to prim the spot with Zinsser Mold Killing Interior/Exterior Primer and then spackle and sand the spot, so it was flush with the rest of the wall.
Sadly, we noticed a similar issue in the entry way. Like the office, it looked like there was a leak in the fireplace that the previous owners caulked, but sadly the damage here was much more extensive. After some research, we decided that this would need to be a professional job. We reached out to our contractor, who doesn’t think this will be too tough of a job – mainly ripping out and replacing the drywall and support beams. Since there isn’t ongoing damage, he’s going to tackle the project in September when he’s here to help with a couple of other jobs.
This week, we also purchased a couch for the upstairs rec room. Levi has been dreaming of this couch for years – our old friends in Philly had this exact couch and it is the most comfortable couch in the world. We scheduled delivery for October, so it can hopefully arrive when the upstairs is completed.
I also made some progress on some wood projects. For the bookcase above, we’re planning to put it in the office. This week, I stripped the old orange-tinted paint and sanded down the wood. Up next – staining the wood a darker, walnut color. I also worked on an Ikea coffee table (I couldn’t find the exact one on their site) that I found on the side of the road in Philadelphia. Sadly, I forgot to take a before picture. but the table was in great condition aside from some crayon marks and cat scratches on the top of the table. For this table (which will eventually go upstairs in the rec room), I’m sanding down the top, so I can add faux marble contact paper and painting the rest of the table with dark gray chalk paint. This week I was able to sand down the top and do a first coat of the chalk paint.
Levi tackled the bulk of painting this week – the upstairs is almost done (aside from trim work). He also finished installing the front door knobs (yes, the front door knobs we bought week one) and they look awesome!
Things We Purchased This Week: replacement light bulbs for office, hexagon drawer pulls and faux marble contact paper to jazz up the free Ikea coffee table, extra fine grit sanding blocks, Ikea desk solution + desk chairs (read more about it here), Zinsser Mold Killing Interior/Exterior Primer, power surge, a 20 foot outdoor extension cord, Raymour & Flanigan Leighton Sectional, and (in a moment of weakness) flannel dog sheets for the wintertime.
Weird Things We Googled this Week: what to do with water damage, how to fix drywall, how to know if mold is bad
Note: this post features “affiliate links” – so if you make a purchase from my link, I get a small commission. Promise to only recommend things I’ve purchased and loved myself!
The Tiger House 