Boyfriend had Friday off for the holiday weekend and got a bunch done around the house.
When I was wrapping up at work, I got a message from him that said: "Hope you're not too attached to the yellow laundry...cause I kinda accidentally started tearing out the walls."
What do you mean by tearing out walls, I asked.
Then he sent me a photo.
When I was wrapping up at work, I got a message from him that said: "Hope you're not too attached to the yellow laundry...cause I kinda accidentally started tearing out the walls."
What do you mean by tearing out walls, I asked.
Then he sent me a photo.
From what I gather, this all started while boyfriend was installing the dryer vent into the bottom block of that window you see. Somehow, the laundry room never had a dryer vent before. Concerning.
As boyfriend suspected, no insulation between the wall and the exterior wall. Fine in summer, less fine in winter when it's outrageously cold outside.
Aside from cleanup, that's about as far as we got down there. Boyfriend moved the dryer to this wall to connect the vent and we're working on the plan for this room. It involved built in counters, shelves, a new sink and possibly a backup fridge and extra oven for holiday cooking or possibly baking when it's too hot to run the oven in the kitchen. Boyfriend is redoing the pipes and such too.
Since we had started knocking down walls, might as well keep going. So we started with this one. Boyfriend started working on it and I ran to Home Depot for paint samples. I wanted to test paint on the paneling on a wall we were tearing down anyway. It's certainly cheaper to keep the paneling in the living room and part of the dining room, but I hate the way it looks, so trying to figure a way to salvage it for now. By the time I got back from the paint run, it looked like this.
As boyfriend suspected, no insulation between the wall and the exterior wall. Fine in summer, less fine in winter when it's outrageously cold outside.
Aside from cleanup, that's about as far as we got down there. Boyfriend moved the dryer to this wall to connect the vent and we're working on the plan for this room. It involved built in counters, shelves, a new sink and possibly a backup fridge and extra oven for holiday cooking or possibly baking when it's too hot to run the oven in the kitchen. Boyfriend is redoing the pipes and such too.
Since we had started knocking down walls, might as well keep going. So we started with this one. Boyfriend started working on it and I ran to Home Depot for paint samples. I wanted to test paint on the paneling on a wall we were tearing down anyway. It's certainly cheaper to keep the paneling in the living room and part of the dining room, but I hate the way it looks, so trying to figure a way to salvage it for now. By the time I got back from the paint run, it looked like this.
I got to work painting the paneling on the reverse side of this wall and deciding if I hated it or not. I grabbed three samples. One was plain ole white (far right in the photo below). I hated it. Once was parchment white (middle). Eh, alright, but not likely gonna happen. Third was something like Gulf Coast white (far left). Love it. Of the three, it is absolutely the winner, but boyfriend wants to try a deeper tan or brown before we decide and paint the remaining paneled walls. The living room carpet is currently blue. It's in pretty good shape now, so no point in spending money on new flooring there until we have to, so trying to create a color palette that can handle everything going on in this house.
Eventually though, this paneling will go. This is a non-negotiable later project in my world.
Eventually though, this paneling will go. This is a non-negotiable later project in my world.
Boyfriend handled the wiring and such, but I got to kick out some drywall. It was definitely fun, except for the few times I nearly knocked myself over and almost fell through the beams.
Then we moved to the other side.
Then we moved to the other side.
Underneath all the paneling we took off was this sheetrock, drywall, I don't know what stuff. It was covered with this wallpaper, that looks better in the one clean square I found of it.
It's faded, dirty, covered in dried, old glue and just all around awful looking on the walls. But, the previous owners left so many treats for me that of course there was more wallpaper under it. And it was purple. And sparkly.
This is how Grover felt about all the banging, pounding, sawing, cutting and kicking. As well as the purple wallpaper.
This is how Grover felt about all the banging, pounding, sawing, cutting and kicking. As well as the purple wallpaper.
Boyfriend has given pups an Elvis voice and at this point, Grover was saying, "Mama, I don't like this. Mama, we better not be moving again."
We took a little lunch break to admire our handy work and also think about what we want to do with the space...that plan is still in flux. The diagonal beam is a bit perplexing because it might be part of a wind brace that we may or may not need. Luckily, engineer boyfriend is on top of all those details that stress me out.
Since we were all dusty and a mess, might as well keep going. Next.
We took a little lunch break to admire our handy work and also think about what we want to do with the space...that plan is still in flux. The diagonal beam is a bit perplexing because it might be part of a wind brace that we may or may not need. Luckily, engineer boyfriend is on top of all those details that stress me out.
Since we were all dusty and a mess, might as well keep going. Next.
Yes, that's boyfriend's arm, as Vanna White. But he's also kind of a beast.
I pulled huge chunks of this wall down and carted the dusty mess to the trailer we had in the front yard. I also yanked out nails and cleaning up constantly to prevent the dogs from stepping on a nail or just becoming fur balls of dust and dirt.
A few hours of rocking out to radio music circa high school (for me. I might be 30, but I'm the spring chicken in this partnership. Kidding, he's only 35.), we all of this down.
It was a pizza and beer/wine night for us after all this and we treated ourselves to a Redbox movie to admire our labor some more and think more about what we want to do with it.
More to come from our weekend of labor and the future plans, but I'll leave you with what the Homestead looked like at the end of this day.
A few hours of rocking out to radio music circa high school (for me. I might be 30, but I'm the spring chicken in this partnership. Kidding, he's only 35.), we all of this down.
It was a pizza and beer/wine night for us after all this and we treated ourselves to a Redbox movie to admire our labor some more and think more about what we want to do with it.
More to come from our weekend of labor and the future plans, but I'll leave you with what the Homestead looked like at the end of this day.
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