Wallpaper Removal...

I'm surprised how cigarette smoke can cling to the walls and carpet even no one has been smoking in the vacant house for a whole year. We didn't realize that the house was owned by chain smoker until our neighbour told us. We thought that our house didn't smell too bad, except in the entryway. However, when we starting ripping drywall down, I could swear that someone was smoking right behind it. It is disgusting especially since we are both asthmatics.

(Smoker man from the X-Files)

Here is a picture of me last winter starting the de-wallpapering process to help speed up the anti-smoke smell. (Check out the 80's glam window coverings. Gorgeous..haha :).

During the de-wall papering process, Andrew left on my own. It was late at night and I was using this wallpaper gel. You wipe the blue goop on the wall and let it sit and then it comes off easily. Unfortunately to my horror, late at night, this started to come through the wallpaper. Can you see the "Hi Dear"? It scared the crap out of me. I took a picture of it to show Andrew so he would be believe me.

As of this week, we are almost done the bathroom 100%. Last night we added the toilet paper holder, towel holder and hooks (instead of a towel rack). The last part is my makeup/getting ready area. I just can't decide if I want a floating shelf, a glass/lucite console table with a ghost chair, or black salon shelf or a floating shelf. Is it weird to have a salon shelf in your washroom? I think it is fun and surprising....

Lost in reno madness...

Sometimes I am so thrilled with home renoing. Then there are other moments where I wish I was not renoing and had just sucked up the ugly house syndrome. If you need to know anything about me its that I love cleaning and organizing. However, when you are renovating it is impossible to maintain a sense of order and meticulous organization.

This week I've been vacuming around boxes (trying to justify the Dyson purchase) and doing many visualizations of the end product to preserve my sanity. So, in order to make myself feel better I've been sifting through pictures to remind myself of where we were and where we are today!

Upstairs Floors ----

(They are done!! I just have one small teeny tiny patch to poly-urethane out the door). A* ripped up all the carpet and sanded the floor down. Together we looked every where for the right stain colour. Luckily, Benjamin Moore was the only place that had such a dark stain. Most paint stores looked at us in horror when we asked for "dark dark stain" as if we were committing a crime to stain floors so dark.

(Kitchen floors after - On a side note, we hate the kitchen cabinets. Not a fan of the vintage aka dirty antique look. They will soon be painted white. Will post on this issue later).

(Black floors - Small dinning room area after the staining! Please ignore the hideous chandelier and ugly 80's curtains that we have since removed)

(My office floor during)

(Upstairs living room - during - this floor was covered with carpet before)

(Main entrance floors - before)

(Living room before the staining - Notice the yellow shine!)

The good news about re-doing floors:

• It is significantly cheaper to refinish your floors than to put in new hardwood
• A great way to modernize your home
• A dark stain hides the imperfections on the wood

The bad news about re-doing floors:

• Poly-urethaning sucks! If you suffer from any type of allergies be wary of doing it! We both have asthma and it was brutal! For months afterwards, guests can still smell it!
• If you are staining your floor a dark colour -- think twice, especially if you love things looking perfect at all times and if you have dogs!!

We will be laying down new hardwood in a couple of years, however this was our interim solution to old carpet.

What do you think? Would you do it?

Quick Bathroom Update

We have been too busy to post! We are enjoying the last moments of the weekend and procrastinating about getting on with our renovation. Last weekend we went away at a cottage and this weekend we have been dinning and shopping with friends. The good news is that we are slowly inching closer to being done and I have pictures!

Like most home renovation projects, things don't always seem to go as expected, but we are continuing to enjoy the process. :) On the upside, we only went to Rona and Home Depot once!

We had to return the medicine cabinet mirrors that we originally bought last weekend. We wanted them because we wanted to make use for extra storage. Unfortunately when we went to put them up we hated the look since they stuck out an inch from the wall. So, in the car and a race around town we came up with some great mirrors (and cheaper mirrors). What do you think? Do they go?

Then we decided that the deer head should not be used as a hook and just put it up on the wall. It would have been fun, but we are going to try and find some real hooks.

I found these wall decorations on the clearance section at Winners. I have spray painted them and will be putting them up on the wall beside my makeup station.

What do you think so far?

In the meantime we are cozying up on the couch watching Flipping Out.... Any other Jeff lovers out there?