Back Porch Mystery

We've spent some time trying to figure out what happened to our back porch. Now that the snow is finally almost gone (hoorah!), we have been able to investigate a bit more around the house. It looks like they added on what might be considered a mudroom to the back but all they did was enclose the back porch - and not well, so now it's all leaky and yucky. We've been toying with the idea of opening it back up to its original state but we can't seem to find any other houses nearby with an intact back porch - almost all have enclosed it as well or bumped out the back. We were thinking about going to the Bangor Historical Society archives and looking to see if we could find a photo but I have a feeling it would only be a photo of the front of it.

It's not easy being green

Well, I've decided that I can learn to live with the newer green in the guest bedroom. I think with some curtains and a newly-upholstered chair and some stuff on the wall, it will be okay. I've also continued taking down the wallpaper in the hallway, painfully slow but sure. It appears that, yes, that color of green is what someone, at some point, decided to paint it. I'm not sure why, but it's funny to find that's the only painted wall we've seen so far in the existing house beyond the kitchen. Everything else that had wallpaper on it originally was bare plaster underneath. It will be interesting to see if that color is extended all the way through the downstairs hallway under that wallpaper too. I'll be so glad to see it gone. Now I just have to convince Thom that the hallway carpet is ready to go too...

Guest Bedroom - Take 2

Okay, I know how ridiculous this must seem but I woke up Sunday, looked at the guest bedroom and said, "Yuck." I couldn't handle it and had to repaint it. So, Thom and I deliberated and found another color, Sherwin Williams' Recycled Glass, and painted it. So I basically painted that room 4 times in 24 hours (priming, first coat, two coats of darker color). 

So what do I think now? "Yuck-ish." I still really don't like it. I think, however, I can learn to live with it - something I couldn't do with the other color. I don't know - I may be over the top ridiculous and repaint it again. I just can't seem to get it right!

Upstairs Hallway

I've also been tackling the upstairs hallway wallpaper and working my way to the downstairs. I was surprised to find a pretty bright green color under the wallpaper. I first thought they were strange for painting it that color but it doesn't feel quite like plaster so I'm wondering if it's wallboard but I don't see any seams. We'll see as it progresses. Here's one of the work in progress. This is going to take forever...

One more down...only 1 more to go!

I finished the guest bedroom today. The color (Sherwin Williams Celery) is not exactly what I was hoping for - it's a little bright - but it looks nice regardless. We really agonized over this color as I was afraid it would be a bit too light but we have had some hit-and-miss with their color in relation to the little strip of paper sample. For the rooms downstairs, we actually found that the color was a shade or so darker than what it looked on the piece of paper so I erred in that direction with this room and was sorry to find out that it was pretty true to form. I think it may have something to do with the base color - upstairs was Extra White and I'm not sure that was what we had downstairs as a base. Who knows. Anyway, I'll find some cool fabric and stuff to make curtains and I think I'm also going to reupholster the chair in there too.

Do you know how to fix this?

As I am removing wallpaper one problem I keep coming across is the one above. Underneath the wallpaper around the light switch and the outlets we are seeing plaster that has crumbled away from the edges. What this does is that we have to buy "Jumbo" switch plates at Home Depot to cover up the slight holes that it makes around the light boxes. I'm aware of how to mend holes in plaster that are in the middle of the wall but I'm flummoxed by how to fix them when they're at the edge of the plaster itself. Anyone know how to deal with this? 

Wallpaper removal - room 4

I finished taking down wallpaper in what we are calling our guest room, the second biggest bedroom. I am happy that it's going as smoothly as it is. The next removal will be in what Thom calls his "man village," a.k.a. his office. It's the smallest room so it should go pretty quickly. I am putting off the last wallpaper-laden space, the downstairs and upstairs hallway as I dread this task. It doesn't look to be the type of wallpaper that was in any of the other rooms (the peel off top layer and bottom layer that comes right off when it's wet). We had purchased this product online called Wallwik and it's been great. It's just an enzyme based solution and really makes the whole process go very quickly and easily. No fumes, non-toxic, and just mixed with water. It's fabulous and I highly recommend it.

Anyhoo, I think we're going to go with a light sage green color. I have been scoping out fabric to make curtains to coordinate and I think I also found some fabric to re-upholster the chair I got back in college from Goodwill in Minneapolis. I'm so domestically inclined I can't stand it.