Primed!

Priming is done, and the ceiling is painted!! Picking up with wall paint next, and hopefully will get the painting done this week. Love it!

Have a look at our progress:

Next Up? Operation Back Yard!

After the dining room wallpaper/paint project, were hoped to move to the yard, building a retaining wall, installing french drains, etc. Unfortunately, the City's sewer plans will interfere with retaining wall construction (that's a long story), so we're going to shift the scope of this phase of the yard project. This phase will include new back patio, concrete removal/repair in driveway & sidewalks. That's still plenty of work!

We're going to remove most of the existing landscaping (including a 3-4 year old lilac, 2 year old ornamental plum, a holly, invasive butterfly bush, diseased but beautiful roses, lillies, tulips, etc, etc. We'll keep the fig, and work towards a clean slate of fescue, with a mulch boarder and two raised beds to garden in. I'm also hoping to add some shrubs in the front with red or purple foliage.

Do you all have any great ideas, or valuable lessons-learned about such projects? Your experience and feedback is invaluable! Please feel free to post a comment or email us NEPdxBungalow (at) gmail.com!

Here's a glimpse at what we've got:

The yard when we moved in, July 2008:

Loved the flowers, but I just couldn't take it anymore:

We prune the fig tree several times a year, but it refuses to be discouraged:

Plaster. Repair. Done!

Finally! Could I have dragged my feet a little more?? Doubt it. It's finally done, so we can prime, paint and move on. I feel like celebrating already!

I hated having to sand big lumps of uneven plaster. I found that by using my razor scraper I could do a lot more than with just sanding. The razor scraper didn't throw the dust around, in the air, so I didn't have to tape myself into the room, either- big bonus! I anticipate this little lesson will go far in the rest of the house.

Gutterly awesome

Our home inspector had alerted us to the fact that our gutters sloped the wrong direction, but we figured this was a simple enough fix that we could take care of ourselves- and yes, we can do that. But it was never a priority.

This week, we spontaneously fixed it. We took turns with the hacksaw, to cut through the screws that were used to mount the gutter (and were then sealed with caulk, which disallowed us from unscrewing them) and finally, broke through. After that, it was simply a matter of holding the level to the bottom and repositioning the gutter nails.

Cutting through that one screw:

That night, it rained, and continued to rain for 48 hours. First time I was ever so happy about 48 hours of rain in June. It gave us a chance to admire our properly sloped gutter. Now, to fix the others...

Still stripping paint

First, I apologize for the lack of photos. Photos account for about 95% of the fun in a house blog, I think. I hope to add an updated photo with this post, soon.

It's been longer than usual, between posts, but we HAVE been working! We're nearing the end of the dining room project and it's hard to believe it's taken so long. I bet if we dedicate 3 or 4 weekends on the next room, we could get just as much done in that time frame. (Famous last words, maybe?)

Slow progress is still progress! We have the paint stripped now, and are about 30% through the "light sand" and hoping to finish the sanding, and the last plaster touch ups this week/weekend.

It's going to be great to take down the plastic over the doorway, and finally see (and USE!) our dining room.