Paint Information

Living Room: Kauai (NA 57; Ralph Lauren)

Boys Bedroom, Foyer: Castle Path (730C-3; Behr)

Girls Bedroom: Mystical Sea (430E-2) Behr

Good pictures

Hanging Pre-Hung Doors!

I knew from the time we bid on this house that I would want to change the interior doors. The original flat panel, wood grain doors had been painted high-gloss white. Not only are the doors unattractive, the enamel of the paint makes the doors stick on humid days.

Both of the doors I was replacing had hinges on the left (making it a "left hand door") and through luck more than pre-planning I bought the right kind at Home Depot. I had measured the doors so I knew the width I needed. This house has 3 different door widths (30", 28" and 24").

I had hung doors using a pre-hung door in my last house and knew what to expect from the product. Two of my bedroom doors share a tight corner which required that I replace both at once. Luckily the door frames were plumb and level so the installation required only a few shims to get the doors to close cleanly.

This would have been one of the simpler jobs I've done, had I not forgotten about the three-foot aluminum level I left on the top of the door that then fell onto the bridge of my nose! No stitches but a lot of blood and a great story for the next week at work.

Next Steps: light coat of paint on doors to remove scuffs on doors; replace baseboards; finish changing out the doors in the rest of the house.

Dining Room - Adding a Chair Rail!

The dining room presented an easy enough challenge and allowed me to try my hand at adding a chair rail. I like the appearance of a chair rail, but I also wanted something functional. Using my dining room chair, I tested how high the chair rail would need to be to stop the chairs from marking the walls. Then I used a laser level to mark that height around the room. The laser level was much easier to use than I had anticipated. (It was fun too, I was sorry it didn't take longer to use!). The chair rail I bought came already primed, but not with a high gloss finish. So, my son and I painted the chair rail with two coats of high gloss bright white after cutting the rail but before we put it on the wall. I don't have a nail gun so I just used finishing nails to secure the rail to the wall studs. A nail finishing kit allowed me to sink the nails into the rail to hide the heads. Then I smoothed over the small divots left by the nail heads with wall spackle. A few paint touch ups and I had a very successful weekend project!

Paint: Raffia (NA53; Ralph Lauren)
Next Steps: New light fixture; baseboards; replace outlets

Room By Room Renovations Dedication and Purpose

I'm starting this blog to share ideas about the renovations to my home. My wife and I recently bought the house, built in 1976. The prior owner had rented it out for the last 20 years or so, but before putting it on the market essentially returned the home to its original 1976 condition by painting every surface white and replaced the flooring but leaving the original bathroom fixtures, flat panel doors, and "wet bar" sinks. The 'major' items such as HVAC, roof, windows, water heater had all been recently replaced. It basically is a 'new' 1976 house.

Thus, my wife and I decided to take renovations room-by-room to update and personalize the house. This is our story . . .

I don't claim to be an expert in renovations. I'll share what I did and what I learned from the experience. If anyone out there has any ideas or stories of their own, feel free to post them here too.