bathing at tiffany's

since the previous owner bought so much white tile, the tile place most have thrown in a few bonus tiles with color - dark teal. these were placed in a border in the shower of the spare bathroom - you know, the one without the toilet. to complement the one splash of color in the house, we chose a tiffany aqua for the walls and a dark teal for the trim and baseboards. we also did a stippling technique on the cabinets, previously awful, dime-a-dozen, white, laminate cabinets.

before & afters:

the fifth coat is the charm

having done traditional faux finish techniques (ragging on/off, sponging on/off) at lori's condo, we thought we'd go for something new and exciting - a leather finish. we bought a special stippler and off we went. it turns out that the stippling technique is quite time-consuming and the paint dries once you finish the first strip. faux finishers out there know that dry paint and faux finishes do not mix. after several tries and an ill-fated frottage attempt, we discovered our new best friend, floetrol - a paint conditioner that extends dry time.

before & afters:



the faux finish wall (a picture cannot do 5 attempts justice):

to the dungeon!

the home inspection indicated standing water was in the basement at some point so a sump pump was the solution.

what's under here?



the path to glory:



tools of the trade:



all installed, note rickety wood ladder was replaced by sturdy fiberglass ladder:

once you start stripping, you just can't stop

we had so much fun stripping the beams, we couldn't stop. while jason worked on other projects, lori stripped the inside of the front door.

before & after shots:

beam me out of here

we knew we would eventually strip the living room beams, but eventually came sooner than we thought. in a great example of remodeling for dummies, we went backward and decided to strip the beams after refinishing the floors. you are supposed to work your way from the ceiling down, but whatever. we meticulously covered our precious refinished floors and began the month long process of stripping, sanding, staining, and polyurethaning.

it begins:



there were only about 4 layers of white paint and a mysterious layer of green paint - i am sure it was completely nontoxic:



first beam is sanded, two in stripping process:



we love termites and their work:



the finished product:

master bathroom

to offset the preponderance of white tile in the house without a full scale remodel, we used our favorite solution - paint.

before & after:

let's get this party started

our first project was to refinish the living room and dining room floors prior to occupation. the previous owner chose a finish called "pickled" - that says enough, right? unfortunately, we had a polyurethane situation (don't believe everything you read on the varethane can in terms of drying time!) that prevented us from refinishing both rooms before our move-in date. in fact, the floors were not wholly finished until a month after we moved in.

pickle vs. our choice of stain:



the finished floors after poly:

we heard a rumor...

at the open house we were told there were hardwood floors under the carpet in the three bedrooms and back hall. once we took possession, it was exploration time.

ahoy!



a room cleaned of carpet, pending staple removal:

the 4th house is the charm

after a long house hunt (or it seemed long anyway) and 3 failed offers later, we walked through the house that would become our home in a month. the first impression was striking - a beautiful, private patio with a fireplace! walk through an original wood door to the living room with a beamed ceiling (albeit painted beams) and a view of century city to the west - not quite the view from lori's condo, but not bad. from the living room you walked through arched doorways to the dining room with a coved ceiling. the dining room had french doors which opened to the patio. the kitchen was pretty awful with an abundance of white tile and urine yellow walls, but we knew that could be fixed. the 3 bedrooms were sizeable, and two had giant walk-in closets - a rarity in 80 year old spanish homes. the rear bedroom had french doors which opened to a lush private backyard. apparently there was a sale on white tile 15 years ago b/c the same kitchen tile was found in the two bathrooms. the oddest part was that one bathroom had the toilet removed and only had a sink and shower, but whatever. we were home.

the house:



backyard view from rear br:



the front patio:



the front door into the living room: