Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Friday, February 23, 2024

Repairs/Renovations Progress ~ Winter Projects



Here is an update on our progress on our winter project list.  We've made some headway with the hallway, and a small repair in the master bedroom.

If you have followed my blog, you know that we started the hallway repairs/renovations 3 years ago.  

Life happens.  There were appointments, losing people we love, taking advantage of a time where someone could rip out our carpet for us (changing plans), and so forth.  I'm just glad I we got back on track.

The hallway has two steps in two locations, longer than normal, wider and the lowest part has a high ceiling.  It's on a cement slab as well.

It is so wide, we had several bookshelves in there, to accommodate books for the kids and myself.  When the local town library closed, I brought home a ton of books that were educational, and good for school needs.

Since then, the bookshelves were emptied, books donated, and bookshelves taken out.

(January 2021)

It all started with ripping out the carpet and getting new flooring.  The dogs and cats, and constant foot traffic wore the carpet out.  Well, that flooring (that first replaced the carpet) is being changed due to the fact we had to rip out all of the half wall paneling, so nothing matches color-wise.

 


We have been looking at flooring at every hardware store in the area, for the hallway (and kitchen). 



These 3 photos were taken in different light/location in the hall.  You can see that the original paint looks different in each one.  It is why it took us so long to pick out a paint color.

We decided on our paint color, but in complete shock on the price.  A gallon went up almost $14.00!   A whopping, almost $68.98!  I had to laugh when I friend said I was "overthinking" on the process of picking a color.


(This is the flooring we picked out {earlier photo prior to painting})





The hallway walls are now painted, other than the repaired drywall areas.  The color depends on the light coming in at the moment, but it is a farmhouse gray, and we love it!



The new flooring was picked up and installed.  It's very close to the color of the remainder of the house, but we did have to go with sheet vinyl flooring for this project.  Older houses do not have exactly flat flooring, ha ha!  Nothing is square either.  Either way, it saved us money, and it looks great!  I'll most likely be looking for a few runner rugs soon.

What's left to do?  Mud the repaired drywall areas one more time (done), sand and paint them.  Once that is done, we need to install floor trim.   We need to do some work for the two steps in the hallway as well.  Personally, once that is done, I may look into motion sensor strip lights for both steps, so we can see them more easily at night.

 We also need to paint the interior door to the garage and re-install door trim, and prime and paint the entry door.  Oh, and install the other light fixture.

We went to pick up the other light fixture, and they did not get them in as they said they would.  I will have to order it online.  No stores in the area had any in stock.  Well, there is a store within a 1 hour drive, that has them in stock, but we just don't have that kind of time right now.




Out with the old, and in with the new!  I've had this new switch plate since 2021.  They are USA made.  I can't believe I found where I had stored it all these years, but it's replacing the old one.  The old one is being donated.

Speaking of windows, I finally removed 15 year old scotch tape on the outside of the door window.  The kids, over the years, taped birthday (or other party) signs to the outside, and the residue was left.  It has been cleaned off completely now.


One of the electrical outlets in the master bedroom has been installed.  One more needs replaced, but that is part of an entirely different repair job that we'll tackle later.











10 comments:

Sandi said...

Love it!

Leigh said...

That's a lot of progress! Well done. In my opinion, you can never overthink color. It has to be just right!

Katie C. said...

I love the grey you picked! A looong time ago, I painted the living room in my first home. As I painted, I kept telling myself that it would dry lighter. It will dry lighter. Nope. My living room was Pepto Bismal pink. I went to a party not long after and found the color that I actually wanted. It had peach in it too. I was aiming for the color inside a seashell since the sun came up on that side of the townhouse. I didn’t repaint because everything in the house needed painting. Next came the dining room. I wanted a nice grey with white trim. That time I asked for help at the paint store. The person said, no you want this grey not that one. The one you picked has too much brown. When held next to each other, even I could see it. Bingo! It was lovely and looked different with the different light throughout the day just like yours does.

-Katie C.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks Sandi

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Leigh, I agree. We painted some gray we used in our living room, and it looked white in the hallway with all that light. We are very happy with it.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Katie, you made me laugh. I bought a light aqua green for our office. Same thing happened. It is bright. I will be painting it when we get to that room to remove carpet. It was not light enough for sure.

Debi said...

You are making great progress on your renovations!

Wendy said...

It looks great. Must be so good to be able to see the (almost) end-result after all these years working on it.
Wendy

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Debi, thanks, I will be so glad when we are finally done.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Wendy, yes, we are pretty happy to get close to being done.