Home Improving....

Hi Blog Friends,

WARNING LONG POST!

As promised, this post is some of the home improvements I've been working on since Christmas.

With the new year ringing in, I just could not stand the thought of another year living with walls I could not stand!

You see, this old farmhouse is covered with paneling on the walls because the old plaster and lath walls underneath are crumbled, cracked and in disrepair. I've threatened to tear down the paneling and try to fix the old plaster, but that would open a whole can of worms I don't think I could handle.

When I moved in 5 yrs ago, I put wallpaper on the walls in the living room and at that point was pretty happy.  But as time went on, like most of you, I got very tired of the look and wanted a change.

Well, I did not want wallpaper again, I wanted smooth walls to paint. I know there is a type of wallpaper out there that was paintable, but it's still wallpaper!!

I had watched a show a little over a year ago, which showed how to turn paneling into wall board that could be painted. It looked like it was a lot of hard work and did not really believe it would work.

After many days of contemplation.......

I thought what the heck.... just do it! It can't turn out any worse that what it is now!

So I removed all the wallpaper off the living room.

See the blue paper in this picture below.

Of course I did not think to take before pics.

Here's the living room walls after days of scraping, filling in all the paneling grooves, sanding and painting.

The paint color is called Natural~ put out by Lowes.

It's a paint and primer in one.

I think the best paint I've used thus far.

It only took 2 coats to cover up a dark brown paneling!

It looks so nice next to the white trim.

I moved the pie safe into the living room from the dining room so I could put my hutch/apothecary  in the dining room.

I was so pleased with the way the living room walls turned out that I did the same thing to the dining room walls.

See the paneling grooves on the walls and the stark white paint too boot .

Another before of the dining room.

And the after pictures, below.

Same paint color as the living room.

Excuse the messy cabinet~ It's my bf's and I'm not aloud to touch it~ it's his own filling system.lol.

And my beloved hutch standing proudly in the dining room.

right now it's holding all my craft patterns. Eventually I want to make a pattern cupboard to hold them so I can get some of my treasures out of storage.

Now I want to do the 3 bedrooms and the hall/ stairway. Then I'll tackle the bath.

I figure one or two rooms a month, I'll be done by summer....maybe.

I'm still playing with the wall decorations and have been promised a new sofa and chair for the living room. Fingers crossed!

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I want to thank you all for the sweet comments and well wishes for my Lil' Snoopy.

He is improving each day with taking the antibiotics.

I also ordered some homeopathic meds my SIL Amy recommended.  Thanks Amy!

They came on Saturday and I've been giving them to him since.

He has some spunk back in his step and a sparkle in his eyes.

I'm hopeful we can get his gallbladder healed and him back to feeling better again.

Prayers are the most powerful thing we have, so please keep him in prayer.

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I have lots of crafts I'm working on and the gourds are coming along nicely.

I hope to share them with you soon.

Oh and I will be hosting a giveaway in February~ so keep a lookout for it!

Have a great week blog friends!

Sorry for being so long winded~ I don't do that too much....

Blessings,

             Jean