Sorry about the Silence!

I can't believe it's been close to two months since I've posted anything here!  We took a little bit of a break from working in the attic...I think dad & I were both a little burnt out after a couple of months straight of spending nearly all of our free time up there.  That, & there have also been a few family things we've been dealing with.

But...I'm back!

In the last week or so we started taping & mudding the other half (landing/bunk/office area) of the attic.  It's going a lot faster & a lot smoother than the bedroom/closet area - woohoo!

If you remember what this view looked like a week ago...

And what it looks like today...

We're a touch-up coat & final sand away from being ready to prime & paint the walls.  The ceiling has a little more work to be done.  I have high hopes of getting it all primed this weekend, but I'm on my own with Grady, so we'll see how much he lets me get done!

We're slowly inching toward the finish line...

When we first started working up here, I thought it would maybe take 4-5 months to complete.  Here we are over a year later & still chipping away at it! 

We're planning on getting all of the mudding & priming done by next weekend, the painting, trim & planks, & light hung in the following week.  After that, we'll work on the stair rails, floor, & storage areas.  Then, we'll finally be able to move in!

I.Cannot.Wait.

Chalkboard Valentines

This weekend we hadn't quite worked up the energy to start mudding the landing area in the attic, but since Grady requested to "create" something, we decided to tackle his Valentines.  Lo & behold...the Valentine's Day message board!

We thought it'd be fun to make chalkboards by slicing up some logs and painting them up for Grady's friends.  No such luck.  We found the "perfect" logs at my parents' house, but after slicing one section off & letting it dry out, we realized that it just wasn't going to work.  So. Many. Cracks.  He sure had fun digging through the wood pile in below zero temps though.  Seriously...when will it warm up?!?  This polar vortex will be the death of me...brrr...grrr...brrr.

The remaining log did make a great stool for Grady to lounge on in the shop though, so it wasn't a total loss.  (How tall does he look here?!?)  He's not a little babe anymore, but he still melts my heart.  Take that polar vortex!

Back up plan...we cut out a bunch of ovals from a few cedar boards my dad had laying around.  They were the perfect size for an avant garde headpiece.  (We watch Project Runway too much.)

Or perhaps a necklace?

Grandpa sanded down the edges for us.  Nice & smooth...

Grady picked out a few "Valentiny" colors of craft paint, & we brushed them on the edges.

I painted one side with chalkboard paint, let it dry overnight, & had my handsome assistant "season" the chalkboard.  He's a pro...& a perfectionist...& loves helping me.  I love him.

Then I doodled around the chalkboard with some white craft paint...they needed some flair.  Does anyone else immediately think of Office Space when they hear that word?  :)

Ooh-la-la!

I'm obsessed with the arrows...we'll be keeping one of them!

We thought the back would be a neat place to write a little message to his friends, so we flipped them over, I left the room,  & Grady decided to surprise me by drawing some circles with a paint marker.  We collaborated with me adding some doodles to his art.  :)

Then we attached some white ribbon with thumbtacks.  Grady's friends can hang them with either side out!

The project took a lot more time than I'd normally spend on Valentines, & we probably won't do anything this elaborate again, but it was a nice way to spend a very COLD weekend indoors.

Anyone else doing fun projects indoors during this frosty winter?

Happy Valentine's Day friends!

Putting down the paintbrush...for now.

The bedroom is painted!  (Well, everything but the floor...but that's a project I'll tackle at the end of the remodel.)

Everything is painted Benjamin Moore's Simply White.  The walls & ceiling are satin, the mouldings are semi-gloss.

I've never used it before, but while I was at Menards picking up paint, I saw a display for Glade paint additives.  You mix the packet into your paint & it's supposed to freshen your space for up to 6 months!  So far I love the smell...I'm curious to see how long it actually lasts!  The only thing that I didn't like was that the additive seemed to make some of the paint "chunk" up.  At first I thought the roller head was shedding, but I switched to a brand new head & it was still doing the same thing.  Of course, it could be the brand of paint I used as I've never tried that kind before.  I'll update next time I use it with another brand of paint...

A few pictures of the space...the next step is organizing the under-eave storage & moving everything out of the landing area & into the bedroom so we can start all over again with the tape & mud.  Womp womp.

Here's a glimpse of the wall our bed will go on, & the access to one of the storage areas.  My dad is building custom doors for those spaces.

The other side of the room, more storage, & Eli's closet.

Here's hoping we'll be able to get started on the landing area this weekend!

Attic Update #?: The fun stuff

This weekend, in the spare time between basketball games & a late Christmas celebration, we'll be finishing up the priming & painting of all the trim in the bedroom.  Cue angel voices & ringing bells!

In the last few days, dad & I finished nailing up all of the trim & door jambs in the bedroom area, have filled all of the nail holes & gaps with joint compound & caulk, primed a lot of it, & hung up the new medallion/canopy above the barn light.

My amazing mother is at my house as we speak priming trim on her day off work.  She's the best.  No, really...she's actually the best.

The wall & planks are the only areas that have their final coat of paint applied to them.  All of the trim around the window as well as the board & batten trim & baseboards are only primed & are waiting for 2+ coats of Simply White paint!

Hopefully early next week I'll be able to post some pictures of the room completely painted (except the floor) & cleared of miscellaneous tools, paint, trash, etc.  :)

Happy weekend!

Getting Trim...

I didn't have a chance to break out the camera this weekend, but wanted to share a quick Instagram shot of what we were up to yesterday.  Trimming out the master bedroom!  Woohoo!

You can't really tell in the picture, but we put up some pine paneling on the upper half of the window wall (& got it primed & painted), got the window trimmed out, put up 1x2 and 1x3's under the paneling on the window wall, got a lot of the base boards up, & even glued up a few of the 1/4"x2 slats for the board & batten.  Dad was the measurer/cutter/gluer, Grady was the "fitter", & yours truly was the sander/taper.

I can't wait to peel off the tape tonight & start getting everything caulked, primed, & painted.

I'm finally starting to see the light!  ;)

A Light in the Attic

You guys...I knew I was going to love the barn lights in the attic...I just didn't realize how much.

I ran home to let the dog out on my lunch break & snapped a few quick photos so I could drool over them at work this afternoon - on my allotted "rest" breaks of course!  :)  This was the first time I saw the lights in daylight as I worked until dark last night when my dad hung them, & left the house while it was still dark this morning.

Eek!

The shot on the left below is the most true to color - a perfect blue-green.

You probably noticed the gap between the top of the light & the ceiling.  The canopy that came with the light ended up being a tad smaller in diameter than the box in the ceiling.  Enter the object below.  Over lunch I dabbed on a quick coat of ceiling paint so we can put this in that in-between space tonight.  Problemo solved.

Can't you just picture white planks on the window wall below with board & batten trim underneath?  I can...& it is good.

For real - I feel like there should be little hearts floating around my head...so excited!  Isn't it amazing how the smallest of things can make you so happy?!  :)

This is what's up(stairs)...

Things are pretty insane around here.  Eli is busy coaching basketball - constantly - we hardly see him.  We're still recovering from the holidays.  Grady was sick all weekend with a fever, cough, & ear ache.  He also starts swimming lessons today...on one of the coldest days of the year.  In the middle of all of that, Dad & I are chipping away at the attic project...slowly!

We're "this" close to being done mudding the bedroom portion of the attic.  There are just a couple of small spots that need one final coat of mud & sanding.  Most of the surfaces in there have already been primed & painted BM Simply White, though!  I should be able to finish up painting the bedroom & closets tomorrow!

Here are a few quick Instagram (@reneestarzl) shots of what we've been up to...

Prime & paint on the walls - mud on the ceiling.

Painting barn lights in "Catalina Mist" by Krylon.

Ta-da!  (Cage is from Barn light Electric, barn light from Menards.)

Gathering some bedroom textile inspiration.

What's next?

• finishing up the last coat of mud
• prime & paint ceiling
• hang lights (eek!)
• hang paneling on window wall & paint
• repeat above bullet points in landing
• paint & install stair rails
• paint floor
• trim, trim, & more trim
• closet systems
• storage doors
• DECORATE!