We put the final coat of poly on Sunday night! Ryan sanded when we got back from NY and I got it vacuumed and poly’d while he put Alex to bed! It’s done! And great timing, we can let it dry/cure for the week and we’ll definitely be using it a bit by next weekend!
Finished!
Just a few small things left to do (crown molding and trim paint) and the front livingroom will be done! The front hallway has a bit more work and the diningroom is on hold because we have to do the bathroom above it (plumbing). So excited though! We can finally put furniture back in the rooms officially. Here comes my new office (front livingroom), sewing room (diningroom) and playroom!
It’s not as shiny because it’s drying much faster. It’s also a bit lighter after the sanding I think.
I don’t think the 3rd coat will get done before the weekend, maybe Sunday night. This coat took a while with the sanding and vacuuming and it was just me this morning. It looks very smooth and nice (the first coat was a bit rough). Can’t wait till this one dries!!!
The stain wasn’t quite dry enough last night to do the first coat of poly so I took an hour and a half this morning and got it done by myself and Ryan took Alex to daycare to save me some time.
Poly is on!A view from the front door
It went pretty well, the first coat doesn’t need sanding/vacuuming before hand so the second and third coats will take more time. The floor is somewhat protected now though with at least one coat on so I feel better about it.
Our contractor showed up today to start working on the small porch off of our bedroom. He took out the screens and took off the sills and is working on rebuilding it a bit. The porch roof leaks where the porch is since we took the siding off so he’s got to fix the leaks (flashing and shingles should help). I think we may leave the porch open (no screens) for now, it looks nicer but there’s a lot of work to make it look really nice that’s for sure!
This weekend was awesome! Mom and Dad came out for the weekend and it was a very productive weekend! We started with this….
Doesn’t look too bad but the cupola area had patched in flooring that was uneven and the floors are just worn and old.The front hall had almost no finish left on it, just very worn
Dad and Ryan spent Saturday sanding the floors down … they came out great (and completely even)
Sunday we cleaned them up really well (all dust gone) and then Dad and I stained them Jacobean – nice and dark!
Jacobean stain – thinned out
We’re letting them dry a while and tonight we’ll start the poly coats. 3 nights of poly then a few days to let them cure and we’ll be using this room again next week for sure! I’m so excited, the color came out perfect and once it’s done we’ll get the final white paint on the trim. The windows in these rooms are all done (2 coats of interior paint completed in the last few weeks). The last item on the checklist is crown molding – it’s always last for us 🙂
Our downstairs is almost complete – the front hallway is our last ‘room’ that needs a decent amount of work. The rest of the downstairs just needs some paint here and there (or crown molding) 🙂 Getting there!!!!
Not a lot of house progress this past weekend because we were potty training and Ryan had to work most of the weekend.
I did manage however to work during naptimes and our neighbor came over on Friday and painted windows. 9 windows got a single coat of interior paint done (the exterior is already done on these). These are the diningroom and livingroom windows. Hopefully this friday the second coat can get on them!
I got the closet trim primed and a coat of paint done. I also primed the closet doors. Trying to squeeze in some time to do the final coat of paint and start painting the doors so I can start using my closet! The shelves are just hanging around ready to be hung!
Nothing else exciting – next weekend will be similar – still potty training so can’t leave Alex too much but I may have my neighbor’s daughter come over to play with Alex a bit and get some time to do something or other around the house!
Oh Sunday – such a ‘lazy’ day 🙂 We went out to breakfast per usual but this time with the whole gang. Alex and Ryan got their haircut after breakfast and then home for some play time with the cousins. At naptime Ryan’s parents headed home with the girls and I started hanging lights. I got the fan in the livingroom and the light in the cupola hung. After some lunch I also got the diningroom light hung.
Fan!Light in the cupolaDiningroom chandelier
I also got the light at the bottom of the stairs hung (wanted to see how these would look since I’ve been holding on to them for 4 years!). And started the chandelier in the front hallway but need a second pair of hands to hang this one!
Light in stairway (there are 3 that will go up the stairs eventually)Chandelier, this did not come with shades so I just ordered some.
Ryan had to work all day Sunday so Alex and I did a little shopping in the afternoon, then went to the park and home for dinner. She was up quite late so by the time I came downstairs I wasn’t up for much except making plans for the rest of the week. I have a very busy week ahead!
And I got a picture of the last cabinet with molding on top that Ryan finished Saturday:
It was a Williams’ family weekend! Ryan’s parents brought my nieces out for the weekend to entertain Alex and we got plenty of painting done while the kids were happily playing together! Added bonus, we got extra family time in!
Friday night everyone showed up in time for dinner, so we ate and played and by 8pm it was bedtime for Alex and the girls settled in for a movie. Alex went down easy so I was able to get some painting done, and since we had already eaten dinner I had an early start! I got all the ceilings painted (the small sections off the kitchen that needed a coat, the front hallway, the livingroom)! First coat on those last 2 so they needed a final coat still. Kitchen ceilings were done though. And I was done by 10pm which is EARLY considering the rest of this week!
Saturday we got an early start since Grandma was there to handle breakfast for the kiddos. I started by getting all the trim sanded while Ryan’s dad did the final coat on all the ceilings and then helped me finish sanding. Ryan finished the moldings on the last cabinet so they are completely done now!
Once the sanding was done it was time to start painting the walls, Ryan’s dad and I got the first coat on the walls in both the livingroom and diningroom by lunch time. Our neighbor was over and finished priming the ceiling boxes by lunch time.
Ceiling boxes all primedDiningroom with 1 coat on trim, 2 coats on walls
After lunch my neighbor sanded and then primed the trim in the back hallways off the kitchen (there was one small section I finished up later). Ryan installed the trim at the bottom of the columns while Ryan’s dad, Ryan and I did the second coat on the walls. Walls and ceilings done! Just one coat on trim left at this point!
Small hallway off the kitchen, trim all primedBack hallway trim primed
One other small project for Saturday, Ryan got the doorbell at the front door installed (it doesn’t do anything yet but it looks nice!).
The livingroom! 2 coats on walls and ceiling, 1 coat on trim (sanded and ready for 2nd coat)Other side of the livingroomAnother view
Tomorrow we have our regular breakfast plans and Alex needs a quick haircut for her birthday and school pics this week! Then home to do some more work, I’m hoping to hang the lights and fan and get a start on the trim painting. The plan is by the end of Monday or Tuesday the livingroom will be done except for the floor, windows needing paint and crown molding (always the last thing to do!). All things we will hopefully do soon 🙂
It’s crunch time, I don’t want to be painting the week before the party (the smell of new paint can linger), so the last painting will be at latest Monday night (if we need to finish something up from the weekend). So that means this week is crunch time painting wise and next week I’ll do the party prep (make decorations and favors etc).
Last night Ryan got home in time to see Alex before bedtime and then after dinner we got in another 2 hours of painting. We finished up the 3 windows and archway in the livingroom so all the livingroom trim has 1 coat now!
Cupola all has 1 coat on trim
I also got 4 of the livingroom outlets installed (they aren’t yet live as I have to take out the one outlet we are using to wire them all up), and there are about 4 more outlets in the hallway and diningroom to go before this effort is done.
Outlets wired up
Once the livingroom was done we moved right on to the diningroom…
Knee walls have first coat on trim and the caps have 3rd coat of poly
I got the 3rd coat of poly on the caps, but I think we’re going to do a 4th coat today, they are smooth but a couple of small bumps that I’d like smoothed out, plus it will be a high traffic area for decorations and such i’m sure, a 4th coat can’t hurt.
Window trim and baseboards all have first coat
So it was another late night but definitely worth it! If we have another painting night tonight I think we’ll get the first coat on the upper walls so we can see how it will look. Then it will be time to sand all the trim and do the second coat this weekend … yikes!
I took the night off of work last night and after Alex went to bed, and after dinner I got some painting done! I got 2 more sides of the livingroom trim painting done (the archway wall and the knee walls as well as the window on the front wall). So the livingroom just has 3 windows left to paint then time to sand it all and start coat 2 🙂
Archway doneThis window and wall are completeKnee wallOther knee wall
I hope to get the third coat on the knee wall caps today (got the second coat done on monday), then hopefully tonight some more painting. Although I did catch Alex’s cold from last week so I’m feeling pretty cruddy 🙁
Someday my birthday party planning with simply be planning for a party (favors, decorations etc.) but like last year we have a huge push to get the house as done as possible before the party since this is the only time of year some of our family gets to see our house! So the big push continued last weekend.
Friday my neighbor came over and finished filling nail holes and got the upstairs linen closet taped. Saturday he came back and sanded ALL the trim in the livingroom and diningroom (including ceiling boxes). Not a fun job!
Ceiling boxes are pretty much where they will be for party
There is some hope we’ll get them caulked and primed but I’m not actually that hopeful (ryan is). We’ll see.
Our contractor was only here Saturday and he got baseboard caps installed in the kitchen, baseboards on the backs/sides of cabinets and baseboards in the front hallway (the one section we can do currently).
Hard to see but those baseboards finally have caps!And this little hallway off the kitchen has baseboard caps too!Baseboards in the front hallway
The front hallway is basically where it’s going to be for the party as well, although I do hope to maybe get the ceiling painted so I can install the light. Not a deal breaker though.
Ryan and I caulked all the trim in the livingroom and diningroom Saturday, sanded (and scraped) the big archway in the livingroom and Ryan finished putting up any trim that was missing (a few of the shadow boxes in the wainscotting and the plinth blocks in the front hallway). Saturday was a busy day handing off toddler duty and house work.
I stained the oak knee wall caps the color we will stain our floors when we refinish them!The other one and the trim all primed
Saturday night we stayed up till 1am priming all the trim in the livingroom – yikes!
Trim all primed!
Sunday was another busy day but Ryan had to work so it was just me painting when I could fit it in. Alex decided to skip her nap but she was in her crib from noon-three (with some breaks where we went in to rock her to see if that would help – it didn’t). But it was a few hours for me to paint and then the evening when Ryan watched her. First I finished up priming all the trim in the diningroom (not the ceiling or columngs, but the baseboards and windows).
Baseboards primed
Baseboards wrap around and end at the edge of cabinetWindows are all primed!
And finally some actual paint …
Hard to see but it’s linen white, the wainscoting is all going to be this solid color along with all the trim. The walls will be a light brown later on.
Some poly on the knee wall capsThis side of the archway and 2 windows are painted
Painting takes a while because there’s a lot of surface area! But hopefully a little progress each night will be made. Once we get a coat on I want to get 1 coat on the walls so we can see the finished look just about. This whole working in the evenings only works if work isn’t busy but here’s hoping, I need some evenings off, been a busy few months!
I don’t think the 3rd coat will get done before the weekend, maybe Sunday night. This coat took a while with the sanding and vacuuming and it was just me this morning. It looks very smooth and nice (the first coat was a bit rough). Can’t wait till this one dries!!!
