Time flies
Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14 Comments 
I can't believe that it is 3 weeks since I updated this page. It's all the "exciting" stuff at the new old house at present. Prep work. Boring you would think but K and I are quite addicted to scraping back the layers of paint downstairs in the living and dining rooms. We are trying to get as much done before our painter starts at the beginning of March. Anything to keep costs down. The quote is interesting to say the least. Ouch! But he is good, very, very good.
So this is what we have been doing. Each day we peel away more paint to get back to the original walls. These two rooms are affected by damp. Didn't show up in two building inspections when we were first buying but I guess at that stage we were in a 10 year drought and it had all dried out. Now after almost 3 months of non stop rain it is very apparent. This is a major job to fix and something we don't have the budget for right now. For the moment we will be doing a cosmetic fix and painting the walls in these rooms ourselves. It is a waste of money to pay a master painter to do these rooms only to have to scrape away the plaster and fix the problem in a year or so. As K moves around a room he moves the furniture and sets up a "vignette" each time. For a blind guy I think he hasn't done too badly. I laughed out loud though when I saw the little oak ladder back chair hanging high up on the window. He says it's Shaker style! At least it is out of the way. Normal people would clear the room out. Not us. (Don't tell K that I posted a pic of him napping on the couch. He'd kill me for showing his chubby knees and yes the curtains are going!)
I've had to rethink painting these rooms white due to the discolouration problems. I'm now thinking of painting them in a lovely rich and dark flat as flat Murowash paint. A colour from the Sibella Court range for Murobond. A really dark inky blue for the living room .... or a dark dark khaki green. Perhaps a deep dark oreo brown in the dining room which will have a tribal vibe. Maybe a custom mix. Need sample pots to patchwork across the walls to help me choose. The joys of renovating a new old house! I'm looking forward to the hand sanding next (not). Lead paint .... eeek. But I'm loving my 150 year old render!
Reader Comments (14)
OMG poor you and K! That looks rather hellish. Nothing more exciting than scraping paint! I LOVE the Tattoo swatch above. PURTY! And I love that you stuck up a photo of K napping. Hope one of your other 8 sofas actually fits him so he can have a proper nap. :)
Looks like it is coming along nicely Jo! Cant wait to see it when it is finished!
Love the pic of your hero sleeping. That T shirt looks so cool.
I'm loving your choice of dark colours, Jo. We'd be scraping too - anything to keep the price down and especially since you've got a bit of lead time. I also love you tall lamp with the tribal artefacts. Very cool. And look at poor exhausted K. Too funny. xx
Looks like a few more goodies have made it out of storage. I love the dark colours. The picture of the k man is very good. He doesn't look very comfy though does he....was he testing it out for mickey for pets on furniture.
Oh my scraping paint does not sound fun at all. I'm curious as to why you've chosen to do that as opposed to just painting another layer. Be sure to protect yourself from that lead!
It's not 8 sofas. I'm sure it is only6!
Hi Donna! I know I'm slack. I know I know :)
Thanks Sue!
Anita you can always come help paint to escape from slave driver Jason ... hang on ... I'd be the slave driver then :P
Katherine the last load from the storage shed comes next Thursday. I have no idea where it will fit!
Christina I would love to paint over the old paint! Unfortunately because of the damp and bad prep with previous paint jobs the paint just flakes off in large sheets. When we removed the wallpaper boarders etc we had large bits of paint pulling off with it. Sanding all the rough edges smooth just released more large bits of paint so off almost all of it had to go. Some patches of old paint are sturdy enough to stay :)
Hi Jo,
How is everything there in Brisbane? I just saw the weather report for Australia and I couldn't believe.
I hope everything is ok with you and your family. My prayers are with you all there in Brisbane.
Just drop us a line when you can please :)
Glad to hear you have a good painter lined up! Can't wait to see it finished.
RE: Silk Upholstery with Roses - Can anyone tell me where I could source that fabric by the metre? My grandparents have a sofa upholstered in it and they'd like to reupholster in the same fabric or similar.
Salastar,
I'm not sure where you live but Designer Fabrics ( designerfabrics.ca ) in my neighbourhood in Toronto has an seemingly endless selection. Check out Rose/PR-EVE5-50 (SKU: F-1211) on their site. It's very, very similar to Jo's sofa.
Hey, I think we need a regular feature, with K's vignettes. I am impressed with that chair hanging from the wall!
love the choice of colours jo, can't wait to see it when you finish
Yipee. At long last the House is starting to accept you. Back in the day was it a place of style and grace ?