autumn cleaning
For several weeks now, I've been hunted by a desire to send the family away for a weekend, lock the doors, disconnect the phone, open all the windows, blare Bruce Springsteen and scrub.
It isn't that my home is dirty. Cluttered occasionally. Messy quite often with two active children about, but I can't abide filth so that's not part of the equation. It is just that time of year--much like the moon directing the ebb and flow of the ocean, seasons seem to direct the ebb and flow of running a house.
It seems fitting, somehow, to thoroughly clean, air, sort and organize in the spring and in the autumn. This year's spring cleaning saw me elbow-deep in old housewife manuals and the memoirs of Iowa farm children who came of age during the Depression; hence, I tackled every bit of glass with a vinegar/water mixture and cotton cloths cut from old, worn-out clothes. I banned glass cleaner and paper towels, and scoffed at scented carpet powders. I scoured the aisles of my grocery store looking for cleaning products with names like Bon Ami and Borax.
This autumn, I'll still clean windows with vinegar (that stuff is awesome! Who knew?) but my focus has shifted. I'm nesting. Heaven help us all...(or at least help my husband.)
I have a colleague who likes to work with old houses and has a lot of experience as a contractor, so that impossible-to-accomplish list of projects around the house is suddenly manageable.
Gaping hole in the stairwell where we fixed a pipe years ago? Gone. Plastered beautifully. Freezing gap in the girls' room from an old stove pipe that's been there since we bought the place? Gone. Seeing such changes, and having discovered the power of paint (insert gleeful chuckling here,) has inspired me.
So for the edification of no-one but myself, I'm compiling a room-by-room list of our house--what's already there, what needs to be corrected, what I'd like to do. Feel free to comment or advise if you wish. I don't promise to incorporate your suggestions, but hey, if you're interested in reading the random musings of a peripatetic diarist, who am I to stop you?
Beginning with the living room, I've painted the walls a very pale blue as I don't want them to jar with the bright red carpet. Carpet has to stay through another winter, but I'm done living with white walls. I'll begin rearranging what's hanging on the walls in a couple of months.
What the girls call "the castle" has been painted a very pale yellow. I'd like to:
- tape off blocks in there and paint faux stone in an orange/umber tone to keep the room sunny but honour the girls' name for it;
- sew or tape fabric over foam and provide a comfy window seat.
The kitchen has been painted an in-your-face, blinding yellow. I love it. I want to:
- change the hardware on our 1970s cabinetry;
- paint a simple Talavera tile pattern onto the lowered ceiling;
- paint the lower cabinets a solid block of color...cobalt blue, perhaps?
- paint the upper cabinets in stripes that incorporate colors around the room;
- possibly put in a floating floor, or find a cheap rug, as a temporary fix over that horrid gray carpet;
- extend the love of color to the back pantry / laundry area.
The downstairs bathroom...heh heh heh (sigh.) To begin:
- put up thin wallboard over the existing papered stuff;
- pull out existing paltry badly-stained trim and replace with thicker white trim;
- pull out el-cheapo walmart cabinet from wall next to toilet and add floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall white shelving as storage;
- paint all walls in a high gloss, bold color -- deep plum, dark brown, deep red, burnt umber, haven't decided yet;
- yank the awful mirror/light fixture from 1972 and replace with more updated choices;
- yank the badly placed el-cheapo walmart towel racks and replace with more updated choices;
- frame some Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger cartoons, along with some Boondocks cartoons, and hang them.
The dining room:
- I want to take out the horrible 1970s plastic faux wood chair rail in there, and put in plain french paneling on the wall facing the windows. Uncertain of this idea as we're leaving the original craftsman style woodwork intact...baseboards, ceiling moldings, window frames.
- there may still be a chair rail installed, as I'd like to paint wide matte and gloss stripes on the bottom third and then paint the upper portion in a solid color. This room is used as a showcase for the children's artwork. I was thinking the french-style paneling would be useful in framing this.
- Given that the dining room looks into both living and "castle", (and has the same awful college-dorm-plum-red color carpet,) the color needs to work when one looks through the french doors into the rest of the house. I have in mind a peachy orange shade.
Long term, I would like to take out the hastily constructed closet in the corner of the dining room, moving our winter wear down to the side door mud-room entrance.
Also considering moving the antique bookshelf out of there and having floor-to-ceiling shelving installed on one or two walls for the housing of more books.
Stairwell leading to upstairs:
The downstairs hall is painted that same pale grayish blue, but I may be able to get the carpet ripped off of the last of the stairs soon. At any rate, though I haven't decided on the wall color, there are some definites I'd like to try:
- paint the ceiling all the way up the stairs to resemble summer sky with fluffy "UP" like cloud creatures, then get quirky with random kites, balloons or hot air balloons appearing on occasion;
- turn the walls into an art gallery, as in framed pictures and canvases of family members hung as though in an actual museum or art gallery all the way up;
- staining the stair treads that the toe kicks in pretty alternating patterns, leaving the stair tops plain.
Our bedroom:
- needs matching window hardware and matching drapery. I'd like to hang swags, too;
- needs color! The last of the pink wallpaper is gone from the fireplace wall; time to paint! The fireplace has a hodge-podge of antique tiles salvaged from other jobs surrounding it...maybe we can draw inspiration from the colors there?
- is too cluttered with a headboard, side table, two dressers and bookshelf. Rearranging is needed. Perhaps one of the dressers should go into a closet. The closets need to be cleaned out anyway. I have a sign to hang over the headboard, as well.
The girls' room:
- we need a twin mattress and new bedding for a twin bed and a queen bed.
- The walls will be painted anew--two in lime green and two in peachy orange, high gloss.
- Curtains are already there in aqua color, but hardware is needed. I'd also like to swag them, and to install quirky curtain hooks.
- once the twin mattress is obtained, we can assemble Caoimhe's gorgeous pumpkin coach bed and put a canopy of some sort over Aria's.
- shelving is needed, as the closet will be turned over entirely to clothing. I would like to put in shelves, cubbies, built-in customized storage in their closet. And I want the closet painted in the same fun, quirky color combo of neon brightness.
- A rug would be nice, but in keeping with the DIY stuff, I may try to tackle staining a pattern onto the wood floor.
- Shelf storage space for toys and books;
- full length mirror...and maybe a little bump-out of a stage?
- something fun and quirky on both sides of the bedroom door. Haven't decided yet.
Upstairs hall:
- I would like to do a canvas for each of the girls in the style of Warhol, four-square face portraits, in the bright bedroom colors, and hang them in the upstairs hall.
- The hall itself will likely continue the same wall muted color as the stairwell.
Upstairs bath:
- Continue the fun color scheme from the girls' bedroom into the bath. The wallpaper must go. The walls will be painted in contrasting bright colors drawn from the same palette.
- the outside of the tub has already been painted pink by some enterprising soul no longer in possession of the house. See what can be done about changing that color...
- add thick white baseboards, ceiling molding.
- remove the cheap plastic framed mirror and 70's lighting, along with old and oddly placed towel racks. Replace with updated hardware and
- perhaps smaller mirrors mounted puzzle-like on the wall?
- Remove the lone bathroom cabinet, replacing with different storage...I can see a thin cupboard, topped with another with frosted glass doors, abutting some open shelving as much more helpful--particularly as there is no counterspace at all.
How much of this can be accomplished this year? We shall see...
It isn't that my home is dirty. Cluttered occasionally. Messy quite often with two active children about, but I can't abide filth so that's not part of the equation. It is just that time of year--much like the moon directing the ebb and flow of the ocean, seasons seem to direct the ebb and flow of running a house.
It seems fitting, somehow, to thoroughly clean, air, sort and organize in the spring and in the autumn. This year's spring cleaning saw me elbow-deep in old housewife manuals and the memoirs of Iowa farm children who came of age during the Depression; hence, I tackled every bit of glass with a vinegar/water mixture and cotton cloths cut from old, worn-out clothes. I banned glass cleaner and paper towels, and scoffed at scented carpet powders. I scoured the aisles of my grocery store looking for cleaning products with names like Bon Ami and Borax.
This autumn, I'll still clean windows with vinegar (that stuff is awesome! Who knew?) but my focus has shifted. I'm nesting. Heaven help us all...(or at least help my husband.)
I have a colleague who likes to work with old houses and has a lot of experience as a contractor, so that impossible-to-accomplish list of projects around the house is suddenly manageable.
Gaping hole in the stairwell where we fixed a pipe years ago? Gone. Plastered beautifully. Freezing gap in the girls' room from an old stove pipe that's been there since we bought the place? Gone. Seeing such changes, and having discovered the power of paint (insert gleeful chuckling here,) has inspired me.
So for the edification of no-one but myself, I'm compiling a room-by-room list of our house--what's already there, what needs to be corrected, what I'd like to do. Feel free to comment or advise if you wish. I don't promise to incorporate your suggestions, but hey, if you're interested in reading the random musings of a peripatetic diarist, who am I to stop you?
Beginning with the living room, I've painted the walls a very pale blue as I don't want them to jar with the bright red carpet. Carpet has to stay through another winter, but I'm done living with white walls. I'll begin rearranging what's hanging on the walls in a couple of months.
What the girls call "the castle" has been painted a very pale yellow. I'd like to:
- tape off blocks in there and paint faux stone in an orange/umber tone to keep the room sunny but honour the girls' name for it;
- sew or tape fabric over foam and provide a comfy window seat.
The kitchen has been painted an in-your-face, blinding yellow. I love it. I want to:
- change the hardware on our 1970s cabinetry;
- paint a simple Talavera tile pattern onto the lowered ceiling;
- paint the lower cabinets a solid block of color...cobalt blue, perhaps?
- paint the upper cabinets in stripes that incorporate colors around the room;
- possibly put in a floating floor, or find a cheap rug, as a temporary fix over that horrid gray carpet;
- extend the love of color to the back pantry / laundry area.
The downstairs bathroom...heh heh heh (sigh.) To begin:
- put up thin wallboard over the existing papered stuff;
- pull out existing paltry badly-stained trim and replace with thicker white trim;
- pull out el-cheapo walmart cabinet from wall next to toilet and add floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall white shelving as storage;
- paint all walls in a high gloss, bold color -- deep plum, dark brown, deep red, burnt umber, haven't decided yet;
- yank the awful mirror/light fixture from 1972 and replace with more updated choices;
- yank the badly placed el-cheapo walmart towel racks and replace with more updated choices;
- frame some Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger cartoons, along with some Boondocks cartoons, and hang them.
The dining room:
- I want to take out the horrible 1970s plastic faux wood chair rail in there, and put in plain french paneling on the wall facing the windows. Uncertain of this idea as we're leaving the original craftsman style woodwork intact...baseboards, ceiling moldings, window frames.
- there may still be a chair rail installed, as I'd like to paint wide matte and gloss stripes on the bottom third and then paint the upper portion in a solid color. This room is used as a showcase for the children's artwork. I was thinking the french-style paneling would be useful in framing this.
- Given that the dining room looks into both living and "castle", (and has the same awful college-dorm-plum-red color carpet,) the color needs to work when one looks through the french doors into the rest of the house. I have in mind a peachy orange shade.
Long term, I would like to take out the hastily constructed closet in the corner of the dining room, moving our winter wear down to the side door mud-room entrance.
Also considering moving the antique bookshelf out of there and having floor-to-ceiling shelving installed on one or two walls for the housing of more books.
Stairwell leading to upstairs:
The downstairs hall is painted that same pale grayish blue, but I may be able to get the carpet ripped off of the last of the stairs soon. At any rate, though I haven't decided on the wall color, there are some definites I'd like to try:
- paint the ceiling all the way up the stairs to resemble summer sky with fluffy "UP" like cloud creatures, then get quirky with random kites, balloons or hot air balloons appearing on occasion;
- turn the walls into an art gallery, as in framed pictures and canvases of family members hung as though in an actual museum or art gallery all the way up;
- staining the stair treads that the toe kicks in pretty alternating patterns, leaving the stair tops plain.
Our bedroom:
- needs matching window hardware and matching drapery. I'd like to hang swags, too;
- needs color! The last of the pink wallpaper is gone from the fireplace wall; time to paint! The fireplace has a hodge-podge of antique tiles salvaged from other jobs surrounding it...maybe we can draw inspiration from the colors there?
- is too cluttered with a headboard, side table, two dressers and bookshelf. Rearranging is needed. Perhaps one of the dressers should go into a closet. The closets need to be cleaned out anyway. I have a sign to hang over the headboard, as well.
The girls' room:
- we need a twin mattress and new bedding for a twin bed and a queen bed.
- The walls will be painted anew--two in lime green and two in peachy orange, high gloss.
- Curtains are already there in aqua color, but hardware is needed. I'd also like to swag them, and to install quirky curtain hooks.
- once the twin mattress is obtained, we can assemble Caoimhe's gorgeous pumpkin coach bed and put a canopy of some sort over Aria's.
- shelving is needed, as the closet will be turned over entirely to clothing. I would like to put in shelves, cubbies, built-in customized storage in their closet. And I want the closet painted in the same fun, quirky color combo of neon brightness.
- A rug would be nice, but in keeping with the DIY stuff, I may try to tackle staining a pattern onto the wood floor.
- Shelf storage space for toys and books;
- full length mirror...and maybe a little bump-out of a stage?
- something fun and quirky on both sides of the bedroom door. Haven't decided yet.
Upstairs hall:
- I would like to do a canvas for each of the girls in the style of Warhol, four-square face portraits, in the bright bedroom colors, and hang them in the upstairs hall.
- The hall itself will likely continue the same wall muted color as the stairwell.
Upstairs bath:
- Continue the fun color scheme from the girls' bedroom into the bath. The wallpaper must go. The walls will be painted in contrasting bright colors drawn from the same palette.
- the outside of the tub has already been painted pink by some enterprising soul no longer in possession of the house. See what can be done about changing that color...
- add thick white baseboards, ceiling molding.
- remove the cheap plastic framed mirror and 70's lighting, along with old and oddly placed towel racks. Replace with updated hardware and
- perhaps smaller mirrors mounted puzzle-like on the wall?
- Remove the lone bathroom cabinet, replacing with different storage...I can see a thin cupboard, topped with another with frosted glass doors, abutting some open shelving as much more helpful--particularly as there is no counterspace at all.
How much of this can be accomplished this year? We shall see...
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