mad maison

We’re getting much closer to the “big reveal” (apologies for the HGTV language) in the living room. Last weekend, the brother-man built a beautiful, sleek mantle to surround our fireplace hearth. Yesterday, as a follow-up, mad learned about countersinking nails. For those of you who have never installed moulding, countersinking is the process of hammering a nail below the surface of the wood. This requires a nail set, and it isn’t as easy as it sounds. However, I’m happy to report that our mantle is countersunk and completely ready to be painted. This would have been completed today except that mad joined my family to celebrate my folks’ 41st wedding anniversary. Fun was had by all, and it was totally worth taking a day off. Our window coverings should be ready by Tuesday, and as soon as they’re installed we’ll share after shots.

The aforementioned nailset; disturbingly medieval, no?

I didn’t realize how much I would miss having any rugs in my home until we went for almost two months with only wood and linoleum under foot. Today, for our recently painted living room we got our rug cleaned. And now, it is lying wonderfully on the living room floor. And just like Bruce Willis in the first Die Hard, I was able to take off my socks and make fists with my toes (which really does work). While we’re not ready to reveal the living room (it’s not quite done), I’m happy to report that the room looks much warmer and more cozy than before. And just like Bruce, I feel much better.

Our rug in our old living room-it looks just as good here in SF

Yes, there’s plenty of work associated with renovating an old family home. We spend most of our time here at mad maison discussing those various challenges. Of course, there are warm and fuzzy moments as well. For example, imagine you’re working on a beautiful Saturday afternoon painting your living room. You’re working in front of the window that you’ve opened to ensure quick drying time. As you gaze out the window for a moment you notice something in the driveway of your neighbor. You notice your father’s name carved into the pavement. And you know, many decades ago, long before you were a twinkle in his eye, your young pops was enjoying the same streets and the same home you now occupy. While most of the time I discuss the price of living in a house that has been occupied by my family for over 60 years, there are moments that make me smile and remind there are benefits as well.

My dad's name in the pavement of the driveway next door. Coincidence? I think not.

. . .to the living room. Yes, you know what that means–we’re done painting the living room. I’ve never been so excited to move furniture and unpack boxes in my life. There are still many things to be done in the living room–but those things don’t conflict with uncovering the couch from its plastic shell and moving the TV out of the dining room. What other things, you ask? Here’s what I can think of off the top of my head:

1. Install molding around the fireplace hearth
2. Replace the less-than-charming light fixture.
3. Replace the less-than charming window coverings.
4. Repair the windows. They look good from afar–but two out of the three don’t open and all are in need of help.
5. Patch areas of the doorway where the hinges used to be.
6. Get our area rug cleaned

Tomorrow, however, we won’t do any of those things. Instead, Mike will be uncovering our couch and moving the rest of our living room furniture into the room. Wahoo!

Many living room tasks remain, but the painting is done.

Yup, the ceilings and molding are painted as well

mad is officially DONE priming the living room. To sum up, here’s what we’ve done so far:

1. Laid plastic on the floor.
2. Scraped 1,000 year old, painted over wallpaper off the walls.
3. Removed the old (though not antique), hollow, huge mantle from the fireplace hearth (increasing the width of the room by what feels like five feet).
4. Scrubbed the walls, baseboards, ceiling, and moldings with water/tsp.
5. Re-plastered the wiggly walls to the lath.
6. Spackled the cracks from the wiggly walls and the holes we created to fix the wiggles.
7. Painted the first coat of primer.
8. Spackled all the spots we missed.
9. Sanded all the spackling.
10. Removed the sand-covered plastic.
11. Laid fresh plastic (sans sand) on the floor.
12. Painted the second coat of primer.

So it’s with great excitement that we move on to the painting phase. mad has decided to go for a subtle light brown/taupe for the walls. We’ll make a final decision at the store tomorrow, but there are a few colors that are in the running. It’s hard to not allow the name of the color influence our decision. For while Mike thinks “Broken Arrow” might be a little too pink for his taste, how can one resist painting your walls the same name as a bad John Travolta action movie?

It might be too pink for Mike, but can I really go for "Clay" over "Broken Arrow"?

that with spackling, there is sanding. And when there’s a lot of spackle, there’s a lot of sanding. Today’s post honors Mike, who finished sanding the living room today. And he did it just so mad could have a home with a living room. With this kind of dedication, we may sit on our couch before September!

Res ipsa loquitur

Ahh, sweet progress. This weekend mad applied the first coat of primer to the living room. I know what you’re thinking–first coat? Well, these walls are in pretty rough shape–priming them was the best way to tell what additional spackling needed to be done. Regardless, it does feel less depressing to walk into the room and see white rather than a combination of yellow, green, and don’t even ask. Take a look at the before and (slightly posed) during shots to see for yourself. We have a little more spackling to do (please send your thoughts to Mike who will have to spackle part of the ceiling, yikes), one more coat of primer, and then the painting can begin!

Post Wally's, pre-primer corner of living room

Mike during the prime process; fun was had