The last couple of weeks have been a frenzy of patching and painting.
It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the difference a new coat of paint makes is HUGE.
I’ve painted two rooms so far and the difference is incredible. I’ve been using Kilz and it really does block the old smoke and musty odor. It also covers all the stains and yellowing from the previous occupant.
Patching the hole in the living room.
I’ve also had to patch a number of holes. There was some water damage under the window in the living room, so I ripped open the wall to see what was going on. As it turned out, all the windows are installed so that the water between the windows drain into the wall. Wonderful. I’ve since caulked the windows, but there was a lot of mildew in the drywall and it needed to be replaced. Since all the drywall and insulation is going to be ripped out when times comes for the big remodel and the walls are an uneven mess already, I’m not doing the most precise job on this patch.
A fresh coat of white paint makes a huge difference!
The kitchen is starting to look really good. A coat of white kilz took away years of grease and smoke. It even covered my spray paint demo marks. Since I was waiting on joint compound to dry in the living room and bathroom, I decided to paint the inside of the kitchen cupboards. Originally I was going to just paint them white, but decided to have a little fun with color. I’m going to leave the doors off, so I think this teal color will look really nice with my dishes and stuff.
Going teal!
I think I might tile around the sink. My tile “counter top” only cost $3, since I was able to use the leftover mortar and grout from my dad’s bathroom remodel. Since that ceramic tile is really inexpensive, it makes sense to spend another $5-10 and tile around the sink. It will help keep the water from dripping down between the sink and the cabinet below. Given the filthy dried “puddle” in the cabinet, water getting in there was a problem in the past.
Kitchen cabinets before and now.
It’s starting to look really good! I still need to add another coat of white, even with my teal mistakes, there are places where you can see the old color bleed through.
Starting the patching process in the bathroom.
Because the patch in the bathroom was going to take at least two coats of joint compound, I decided to paint the filthy old medicine cabinet.
Giving the medicine cabinet a new lease on life.
The photo isn’t doing it justice right now. I also removed the mirror on it to clean it. I can’t wait to see it all back together.
So hopefully everything in the living room and bathroom will be ready for paint tomorrow. Once these rooms are painted, I can lay the new flooring down and start unpacking kitchen stuff. Everyday I’m closer to moving in!
