Day Laborers

Since Jim and I bought our house in August 2006, we have slowly been redecorating every room. This house had every wall covered in either wallpaper or wood paneling. It's been a slow process, but enjoyable for the most part. We've had our surprises and they always lead to learning something new.

With a new member of our family on the way, it is finally time to tackle the last room - previously known as the guest room or junk room. The photo below gives the general idea of what the room looked like before the deconstruction started. This photo already has the room moved from "junk room" status back to "guest room" status (sorta).


We were able give some items to our church's rummage sale and purged a lot of stuff we just didn't need*.

*Anyone wanna buy some luau stuff?

Those few items that still remain started huddling together in fear of being "next".


The cats have never been allowed in this room - it's been our fuzz-free zone. But we're letting them explore (with a chaperon) while we work on the room.

They're a little shocked...

...and a little cautious.

My mom came over to help tear down the last of the wood paneling. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be rid of this stuff. It's like putting bandaids over owies and leaving them there to rot. Ick! Ack! Just say "no" to wood paneling. There were at least two coats of paint on this stuff.
There's mom. She's a trooper.

It's so messy to pull down that we had to cover the room in plastic. The plaster falls of the walls and the ceiling rains its popcorn.

And if you look on the wall just to the left of the window, you'll see kind of a white patchiness. This is faded evidence of a wall hanging from BEFORE the paneling was put up. Owie + Bandaid = ICK!!

Not to mention, nailing in wood paneling takes - obviously - nails. Lots and lots of nails. What do nails do? They make holes. Lots and lots of holes.

Holes that have to be spackled. Jim and I have become pros at this process and have the system down. Our new recruit (above) is being trained in the art of spackling an overabundance of wood-paneling-nail-holes. It will look good on her resume.

Windows are also fun. The trim on all our windows needs to be redone, but we haven't cared enough to do anything about it. I don't know how it started this time, but Jim really started inspecting the window in the new baby's room. Inspecting led to removing pieces. Removing pieces led to discovery. Discovery led to "new project."

Evidently the window is smaller than the window hole and the way it was jimmied by previous owners was - not surprisingly - wacky. So Jim is going to make it better. Not put a bandaid on it, but surgically repair the problem - cure the disease. It will make it possible to hang the blinds back up the way they are supposed to be hung.

Unfortunately, this means the room will take longer. I don't think there's much more I can do until the window is done, then he has to finish the walls. Then I get to paint. Luckily by then we should know the gender of Pudge so we can have a more specific plan.

Here's my crew. My day laborers.

They work for food...

And love...