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No More Popcorn Ceiling

The popcorn has given way to a smooth, flat ceiling, thanks to Brandon’s hard work. As I mentioned before, the ceiling did not contain asbestos (always check before removing because many popcorn ceilings do), so we felt comfortable trying to remove it. It came down easily enough in just a few hours (he sprayed it with water and scraped it off), but smoothing the resulting mess took a little longer. He did a rough sanding (60 grit) first, wiped all of the dust away with a damp cloth, smoothed over all of the imperfections with joint compound, and then sanded everything again (220 grit).

I’m the more handy one out of the two of us and I felt bad that I couldn’t help, but we didn’t think it was a safe job for a pregnant lady. Oh yeah, I’m also a wee bit of a perfectionist… It was really hard to not go in there and obsessively sand and smooth and do things myself. After priming and painting though, the ceiling looks really good.

The new light looks great, though we did have to run out and grab a ceiling medallion. I’m not really a fan of them, but Brandon had a hard time smoothing out the ceiling near the light, and the medallion was an easy solution to hide the remaining popcorn texture. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll leave it white or if I’ll paint it the same color as the rest of the ceiling.

Now, I know people get a bit nervous when dealing with electrical projects (we do too), but changing a light fixture is EASY. We’ve done it six times so far in this house (in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, studio, and nursery). You just make sure the power is off, take down the old fixture, connect like wires to like wires, attach the ground wire to the little green screw on the mounting bar, and then attach the new fixture.

We decided to keep the room the same color (Wheat Bread by Behr), but it needed a second coat of paint. Really, it’s always needed that second coat, but I think I was too tired when working on the guest room before and I just figured ‘good enough’ (which is so uncharacteristic of me). It has bugged me ever since. So now we’ve painted the ceiling and walls, and even did some touch up work on the trim, and the guest room is officially ready to be switched over to a nursery.

'L' for Lighting, Crafty (& Handy), Guest Room, Nursery • 49 Comments • January 5, 2009

Popcorn Ceiling

December
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Finally, after living here for almost two years, the popcorn ceiling in the guest room (soon to be nursery) will be coming down.

I’ve been careful to photograph the room and conveniently leave the ceiling out of the picture. See? Looks nice, right?

…Until you actually see what’s above your head.

We found out that popcorn ceilings sometimes contain asbestos, so we sent a sample to Western Analytical Lab for testing. Just a few days later, we had the go ahead (all clear!).

Brandon thinks he can get the whole thing done today, so fingers crossed.

Guest Room, Nursery • 31 Comments • December 31, 2008

The Guest Room!

March
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Painted, furnished, finished! For now, at least. There are still a few things I’d like to do, but they can definitely wait.

My poor friend Lili – she stayed in it back when it looked like this:

Lili, you must come again because now it looks like this:

I moved the brackets for the curtain rod out 8″ on each side to make the window look bigger (and to better show off the pretty new Marimekko Lumimarja curtains). I’m so glad I didn’t get the other curtains I had been considering!

The paint color is “wheat bread” by Behr, the orange daybed was from CB2, and the lamp was from Pier 1. The rug was from Crate & Barrel. I originally bought it for the living room, but it was too small. I loved it too much to return it, so I kept it, figuring I could find another spot for it. I had it in my office for a little while, but the fluffy rug meant my chair couldn’t roll anymore. It all worked out though because I love it in the guest room.

I painted all of the wood white (primer plus two coats of semi-gloss “swiss coffee” by Behr). Brandon and I also replaced all of the baseboards. The room went from this:

To this:

The other side of the room was particularly ugly (and strange):

I painted it all white but it still looked a little funny so I sewed some simple white curtains to close it off. Maybe we’ll figure something out for that space eventually.

The pocket door still needs to be painted, and I’d like to paint the old dresser too.

Yay – another room (mostly) finished!

Guest Room • 105 Comments • March 28, 2008

Brandon Must Really Love Me

February
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…to put up with the things I do around here sometimes.

Here’s my furniture warehouse. Er, I mean the dining room and living room.

And then there’s the guest room upstairs which has been in shambles for the past week.

He’s been making fun of me because apparently, at some point, I boasted to him about how I always finish my projects in a timely manner. Yeah.

Dining Room, Guest Room • 17 Comments • February 16, 2008

Whew!

November
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I have been a very busy lady.

Thursday

The guest room was finished up as well as it could be. I’m going to order the Marimekko Lumimarja fabric for the windows. The friendly people over at Finnstyle are offering me (and you) 15% off until Friday! Just enter “makingitlovely” when you check out.

Here’s the way the room turned out for now:

This was all in preparation for the arrival of my friend Lili, of course.

We went to the Design*Sponge Biz Ladies Meet-Up, which was great. I saw some friends (like Donovan and Grace), met some new people, was recognized (yay!), and ate yummy snacks.

Friday

Lili and I walked around Oak Park, checking out some of the shops (Flybird, Fitzgerald’s Fine Stationery, Paper Source, Barbara’s Bookstore, etc.).

I also hired a second employee! Yes, again. Did I ever write about Sarah? She didn’t work out, but I digress. My friend Pat had just quit at the bookstore, so he’ll be helping me for the holidays. Hooray!

Later, we went to Emily’s open house at her studio. Gorgeous! She has an amazing space with wood floors, huge windows, tall ceilings, and space. Sigh.

Oh, and I met Jess from How About Orange there, so that was a nice surprise!

Saturday

Saturday was my last day with Lili, so we stopped by the DIY Trunk Show before I brought her to the airport. I was recognized again, and it completely made my day (and made me blush!). I bought a poster for The Fiery Furnaces from David R. Head Jr., and we both bought an Implements of Craft poster from Handmade Nation.

After I had dropped Lili off, I went directly to meet up with my sister and my dad. My sister’s car died, and she decided that she needed a new one OHMYGODRIGHTNOW. Uh huh. There was no way I could talk her out of it (believe me, I tried), so I figured I could at least help her get a good deal. She and my dad were ready to sign off on a car for $247 / month for six years. I got them down to $225 / month for five years. Still crazy, but less so.

I rushed home after car shopping and started cooking because Brandon and I had a pot luck dinner to go to. I made a sweet glazed bell pepper salad: roasted red and yellow peppers and red onions (coated in olive oil), then mixed with balsamic vinegar, honey, and chopped kalamata olives. We hopped on the el with our big bowl of food and headed over to Amy and Anthony’s place. It was a really nice evening with other crafty people, and lots of yummy food.

Sunday

My friends Bekah and Lisa just finished grad school (such smarties), and they rented out Timber Lanes to celebrate. Um, I bowled a 53. I haven’t done that badly since I was 8. Brandon bowled a 133, and we were all very impressed. Much shouting and excitement commenced whenever anyone broke 100, so…

After bowling, I drove out to IKEA. I thought they were open until 9 o’clock on Sundays, but they’re only open until 8. I arrived at 7:55. Luckily, I knew exactly what I was there for: the wire baskets I had spied in Emily’s studio. I grabbed 15 of them, hit the self-checkout lanes, and was out of there pretty quickly.

Lastly, I got home and finalized a deal with T.G.I.Friday’s for a custom button order (550 buttons for the Chicagoland area). I’m bringing in a new button machine for it, so I’ll also have 2.25″ mirrors available in the future over at the shop.

Whew! A busy end to a busy week.

Guest Room, Me, Pink Loves Brown • 20 Comments • November 18, 2007