My posts have been a bit sparse over the past week because I took on another renovation project.  My upstairs hallway was really bothering me, since I have recently redone my bedroom and my daughter’s playroom (which as of today, is serving as her bedroom, since the room she has been in is next on the renovation parade).

While the hallway is a small space, it had a big problem.  When I had pulled down the drop ceiling and revealed an ornate tin ceiling, it was all good until I ran into a big patch of corroded ceiling.  Yuck!  I started to take off the tin crown molding, to put up a new ceiling, only to realize, that if I took it down, it would never make it back up.  I had no budget, nor inclination to purchase expensive molding to replace it with, and the thought of a plain old ceiling did not appeal to me at all.

My solution was to re-secure the small piece of molding I had partially removed, and cover the damaged ceiling with 1/4″ drywall, rather than the slightly thicker width I had originally planned to use. This would allow the egg & dart portion of the molding design to still show.  Since the 1/4″ drywall is considerably weaker, I made sure to remove all the corroded tin and broken plaster and used plenty of screws to keep it secure.  I cut the pieces as flush as possible, so that I would have less to fill in around the edges.

After enduring nasty plaster down my bra, lots of plaster dust in my hair, and Egads! … two broken nails …. all signs of the ghastly old ceiling are gone.

The seemingly never ending saga of my bedroom renovation is finally about to move on to the interior decorating phase!  I am proud of  all I have managed to do by myself.  I laid the walnut laminate flooring last week.

My jig saw worked perfectly for cutting the flooring.

The Victorian architecture called for some weird cutting angles, but all went smoothly.

The baseboard heat covers went back in this weekend, and I touched up the paint.

Reinstalling the baseboard heat was a royal pain, so I took a break with a nice glass of wine.

Ready for curtains and furniture... still waiting on ceiling fan issue to be resolved.

I’ve picked up some inexpensive curtain rods, so the drapes will be hung this week.  I am also picking up a new mattress set tomorrow. Dresser & night stand  makeovers and upholstered headboard project soon to come… I have already  set up a work area in the basement for these projects.

Oh, and I am already contemplating the next room to renovate…lol

Remember that soft blue-gray-green color I had painted in the bedroom… It’s  gone.  Not only had it become scuffed up in a few spots, but the color was quite light.  The ornate tin ceiling, which is my favorite part of the room, just wasn’t “popping”.   I grabbed a gallon of blue-gray paint a shade or two darker, and repainted.  It does make the room appear a little smaller, but the ceiling and trim work definitely stand out more now.  I also think it compliments the walnut flooring better.

Now I am just waiting for the floor leveler to dry, so I can get to work on laying the flooring.  I made it a little wetter, since I was pouring it by myself and didn’t want to risk it starting to set before I could get it down properly.

Although I haven’t been covering my home renovations here over the past few weeks, they have been ongoing.  We had a hurricane related power outage here for about 4 days, that stalled me the projects I was already working on, so I stripped the wallpaper in my staircase and landing.  This of course, led to skim coating the walls, since my Victorian Era home has old horsehair plaster walls.  By the time we got power back, I was fully invested in this new project.  Two tubes of caulking, a bit of wood putty & many hours wrangling odd trim corners and a stubborn tin ceiling rewarded me with a staircase I no longer loathe.

No more chippy paint and yucky wallpaper.

I brushed rather than rolled eggshell paint, to accentuate the texture of the walls. Reminiscent of Venetian Plaster.

Colors are more accurate in this pic.

Rather than tackling disassembly, I painted these in place. Went with wall color on the back plates since I really didn't want to bring attention to them.

I have painted all the other tin ceilings I have done with flat enamel paint. This time I didn't have any on-hand and the ceiling for the landing was small so I used semi-gloss. I won't do that again, coverage was a nightmare.

I wish I had gotten some before pics. It was a sad site before…lol  I still plan to make a custom graphic for above the railing, using a roll of art paper I have, but that will need to wait until the bedroom project and minor bathroom makeover I started are complete.   I just can’t seem to keep myself to just one project at a time.  Fresh paint can be addicting