No, This Isn't a Cave.

When I last wrote about this room, I had shown the before photos and a couple progress photos where Grandma and I had emptied the room of all her knick-knacks and furniture.

The first thing I did was give all the woodwork a good sanding to remove the glossy finish and then I wiped it all down with liquid deglosser to clean off all the dust and soften anything remaining in the cracks that didn't get sanded well. Then I removed the 10,000 nails in the walls (OK so maybe it wasn't that many, but she had a lot of stuff on the walls.) I Spackled the holes and once that was dry I sanded and repeated. That gets a nice, smooth, even surface which is extremely necessary because any imperfection in the wall surface is amplified by dark colored paint.

Benjamin Moore Old Navy

Yup, dark paint.  Benjamin Moore's Old Navy to be exact! I had seen a room on Houzz with navy above white board and batten that I instantly fell in love with. It had short high windows like this room which gets a lot of light so it seemed like a perfectly suited color scheme to use here. I had Valspar Ultra color matched at Lowes in an Eggshell finish.

Benjamin Moore Monterey White
For some reason Blogger keeps graying out this photo. Click here to see it. 

I'm not typically a fan of using the same color on the walls as the ceiling. Grandma says that's the way to do it because "white ceilings are old fashioned," which is ridiculous, because there's a time and a place for white vs. colored ceilings. I love a white ceiling in most cases and this is one of them because Old Navy on the ceiling and the walls would make this room feel like a cave. The ceiling, trim, and the lower wall will be Monterey White by Benjamin Moore as well. I got a gallon of Valspar Ultra color matched in eggshell and a quart in semi gloss for the trim. Normally the ceiling is a Flat finish, but because I had to buy 2 gallons and a quart of paint for one room, I used the eggshell on the ceiling too. (Big spender here.)

Once all the surfaces were prepped, I started cutting in with white around the ceiling, lower windows, lower corners of the room and the floor. I didn't worry about getting paint on the trim or upper walls because they would be painted over with navy or semigloss white later. Then I painted the ceiling and lower walls. I figured I'd put the chair rail molding just above the window sills so i just eyeballed the height of the white all around the room.

Once 2 coats had dried, I measured the appropriate length down from the ceiling in 3 foot increments all around the room and marked it with a pencil. Then, with a yardstick, I connected the dots so I would have a nice straight line to tape along. I knew the line would be covered with the molding, but I wanted to keep it somewhat straight and the tape was a bright, bold visual aid to help me from going too low with the navy blue.

After cutting in around the upper windows, doors, and corners of the walls, I started painting the upper walls. This deep navy blue took 3 coats to get full coverage.

I didn't paint up to the ceiling because I used a paint edger.

That was when grandma suggested crown molding. I had thought about it before she suggested it, and the only reason I didn't do it was because I couldn't afford it and I figured I could always add it later. Since she offered to buy it, I was happy to be able to do it sooner rather than later. The walls are finished so stay tuned for more about the bedroom.

House Tour - Foyer, Hallway, Living Room, & Dining Room

I jumped to the back bedroom first but now I'd like to go back to the porch so we can enter through the front door.

Welcome to the foyer.

About 10 years ago Grandma went through a Victorian phase. 

The diamonds in the door are routed out and Grandma hand painted them pink.

This is the second wallpaper in this room in my lifetime. I'll have to ask Grandma what was here before the flocked wallpaper prior to this one.

Coat closet in the foyer.

Stepping to the left from the foyer is the hallway leading to the 2 first floor bedrooms and the bathroom.

This is the view looking out of the master bedroom just to the left of the foyer. On the left is a narrow linen closet, then the bathroom, followed by a broom closet, and at the end of the hallway is the back bedroom on the left and the kitchen on the right. The pink carpet feels like it goes on forever.

She's a fan of Precious Moments.

I like this house picture frame. Maybe painted white.

View from the other end of the hallway looking past the bathroom and linen closet into the master bedroom. 

Making a left at the the end of the hallway above will lead back past the foyer into the living room which is where we're headed next.

The Cornices over the windows in the living and dining rooms were made by grandpa and reupholstered over the years as they redecorated. 

The stone on the fireplace matches the stone on the front of the house

This sectional couch is the first and only couch that has ever been in this room. Setting it up with the opposite ends connected makes it more like a traditional couch instead of L-shaped. I'ts been reupholstered 3 times!

This is the original newspaper ad for the couch that Grandma has saved all these years. She colored it lightly.

The stairs lead up to the upstairs bedroom.

This is where my father's room was once my aunt was born.

Opposite the living room is the dining room. Well, Grandma calls it the "Dinette" which I guess is appropriate since it's small and open to the living room.

The dining room chairs got the pink upholstery treatment when the couch and window cornices were recovered. 

Grandma had the upper portion of the china cabinet put on legs to give it a little extra height.

No peeking in that Kitchen! The bathroom and kitchen are getting a post all their own next.

House Tour - Bedroom #1

The house has 3 bedrooms, the master bedroom, the back bedroom or bedroom #1, and the upstairs bedroom or bedroom #2. The back bedroom was my father's room for the first 7 years of his life. It was originally a deep blue. Grandma had painted glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and had a sky theme with a sun lamp and cloud cornices on the windows. When he was a little older it was shifted to an outer space theme. She made a lampshade from a  costume astronaut's helmet and had a red white and blue color scheme. When my aunt was born grandpa and grandma finished half of the attic space as a second bedroom and dad moved up there. Then the room was painted a soft yellow, followed by avocado green, and a peachy pink. When my aunt moved out of the house (I think I was about 8 years old) grandma had the room painted the minty green you'll see below.

When this was my father's room there was a desk near the door which prevented it from being opened so the door was replaced with this sliding door.

The closet in this room and the master bedroom are cedar lined. and have lights that come on when you open the door.

This is also the first room that I'll be redoing. It's going to look a lot different.

The original blue that my dad had when he was little. 1958 was the last time this outlet cover was removed.

The switch plate grandma put up. I'm replacing all the outlets and switches with new white ones.

This headboard and nightstand and mirror (not pictured) belonged to grandma's nephew. He was throwing it out when he moved. Grandma took them and they've been sitting in the garage. My mom had the same bedroom set and was getting rid of hers at the same time. Luckily, out of pure laziness, we hadn't thrown out one of her nightstands yet so I'll have a matching set of furniture for free. 

The windows are all wood original side sliders. 

Found the door in the attic. So glad to have a real door.

The walls have been cleaned, the cracks have been filled and the trim has been sanded and wiped down with liquid deglosser. I'm ready to paint!