The bad news is, (maybe you’ve already noticed) I’ve not been spending as much time online as I used too, I’m beginning to feel quite guilty ‘cause I just don’t seem to be visiting the way I'd like. And truth to tell……………..I actually miss it. On the other hand......The good news is; progress is finally being made in the kitchen.
Guess the story of my kitchen is much like any other decorating story, as soon as you start one job you find something else that needs doing. Once stripping the walls began in earnest great clumps of ancient plaster began leaping from the walls, crashing to the floor, crumbling into dust and then enveloping me in a noxious cloud of debris. It’s a case of dust masks at the ready in my kitchen.
I think these apartments were built in the early 60’s which makes them 55+yrs old and what I have uncovered is obviously the original plaster. To add to my problems, at some point in the buildings early history someone thought it would be a great idea to cover the bottom third of the walls in something that resembles old fashioned lino floor covering. It has a beige and red tile pattern and is bonded to the walls with an adhesive akin to old black tar, most unpleasant. I tried to strip it off one wall, the result is a wall that has huge lumps of plaster missing but also small fragments of this ‘lino’ like stuff still stuck firmly in place, bits that refused to budge. It’s quite a mess; this one wall will need re-plastering. After that I decided not to take any more of it off but to try to put the new wallpaper and tiles on top of it.
My wooden ceiling
So……………state of the kitchen now is; no old wallpaper left, walls washed down and ready for the next stage, loads of plaster/filler waiting to be mixed and applied to all the holes, dents, bumps, lumps and cracks. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?? I have also been out and bought every thing I could possibly need. I have the wallpaper (decided on the one with the cafe theme), the tiles (mostly white with the odd black), the white glass paint for the old units, the filler for the holes, in fact absolutely every thing I could ever possibly need. My kitchen now looks like a demolition site.
Another development is my shelf unit that I’m in the process of renovating. I had some work done on my garden shed last week and during this work a very old and battered shelf unit was removed. It was going to get thrown out until I took a closer look. I think at one time it may have been an old fashioned shop fitting or something similar. It has a tongue and grove back and sturdy shelves.
It was riddled with woodworm (now treated), but seems very, very sturdy. The ceiling of my kitchen is also tongue and groove and I was considering painting it, but now that I have this shelf unit I’m going to keep the ceiling as it is. The plan is to have a black and white kitchen, as originally planned, but to keep the tongue and groove ceiling and the tongue and groove shelf backing and use it to break up the black and white. I also thought I could keep the rest of the kitchen very minimalist with only black and white bits left out and use the shelf unit to display a variety of bright and colourful objects, a sort of focal point. Well anyway…………..that’s the plan.
The horrible lino like stuff stuck to the walls
Like I said…………….a work in progress, I’ll keep you informed.
Good Luck with all that work! I know you will be proud of the result. We're contemplating a big remodel since the housing market is very flat & it looks like we'll be in this one for the rest of our days. Might as well fix it up to suit ourselves, I say. Bravo on your inspirational update!
ReplyDeleteThis all looks so familiar. We remodeled three rooms, two years ago, and while that was in progress we had tornado winds and two days of rain. The short version is that the master bath and the room under it had to be added to the work in progress, because of flood damage. So we had most of the house looking like that for a year. I still haven't recovered from it and can't imagine that I will ever be inspired to try anything like that again. I think there are still boxes in storage that haven't been opened since they were packed up two years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a big project, Loretta but I know the results will be amazing. Hope you have a good remedy for sore muscles!
ReplyDeleteLove the progress. The shelf is a great find. What you have in mind sounds wonderful. That tile. I suppose with the proper undercoating it can be salvaged into a more modern look. Yikes, what did these people use in days gone by...I've come across what looks to me like railroad nails just to fasten the 1/4 round stuff around the baseboards. Don't become disheartened...just rest enough so that each day will be a new adventure. Smiles.
ReplyDeleteOh I wish I were a little closer I would love to be there helping you.The oil cloth looks love.In the spring I will paint my kitchen again but it can wait till it is a litel warmer.
ReplyDeleteoooh i know the feeling of oh do i have to re-plaster this...why did i have to strip it down n not just bung another coat of paint over the top..luckily i live in a very old cottage that looks ok with lumps n bumps "character" i think they call it lol.....i'm full of "character" lnbao
ReplyDeleteI just luvvvv makeovers. What a challenge!
ReplyDeleteIt's all going to be well worth the effort, you're going about it from the 'ground up' so the end result is going to be great.
ReplyDeleteI've found just lately too, and I have cycles of this, that I can't spend a lot of time social networking. When the freed-up time comes I'll spend more time visiting other's sites. So, don't worry, it will all happen!
Ohh thanks, glad you like it.... with me its a case of do what I have too and work with the rest. I have been in this house for 6 1/2 years and have just repainted over what was there, now the time has come to start tackling the decor in earnest. Good luck with your remodeling, keep us informed of how it goes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments every one. Guess this does look like a bit of a challenge at the moment but it's at its worst stage right now. Most of the dirty stuff is done it will begin to look better soon...........(I hope). Been in this house 6 1/2 years and never done any more than paint over what was already there......... the time has come when that just isn't enough.............so.... for the first time in ages I am decorating in earnest.... and quite enjoying it, will keep you posted with the progress reports. :)
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