We closed the deal on our house yesterday and are officially, once again, Boulder homeowners. Yay! The house needs a little work and we also opted to remove a wall between two bedrooms. So this week, before moving the stuff in, we're doing a major bedroom remodel, carpeting about 700 sqft of the basement, and painting 4 rooms.
The remodel of the master bedroom: This house has 3 small (11x10) bedrooms upstairs and two larger, sunny, bedrooms in the basement. Since we obviously don't need FIVE bedrooms, we are taking out a wall to make a large 12X20 master. I hired a contractor named Michael Harrington (he was one of the 20 guys who answered my craigslist.org ad) for a ridiculously low rate because he is just getting started in the area. Turns out that when he was living in SoCal he participated in an HGTV episode of Designer's Challenge! So far he is doing a great job. Laura said she has dibs on him next.
The carpeting of the basement: While watching an episode of an HGTV home improvement show (sensing a theme here?), I got a really good tip. When you're in a showroom looking for a bargain on materials (granite, carpet, tile, etc.) ask the boss what has "been around a while" that they can give you a deal on. Before that show we were leaning toward a special order of a soft nylon carpet that cost $18/sq yard. Once they measured, Jon and I decided to return to the showroom to see what they had "in the back." What we found were two amazing wool carpets. The one for the bedrooms is usually $100/sq yard (the "Park Avenue") but they were selling it for $25/sq yard due to a minor flaw. The off-white wool one for the stairs/hall/home theater was even less expensive at $16/sq yard. So for nearly the same price we were going to spend on the nylon we got some really top quality stuff.
I never knew I could be this excited about carpet.
The painting: Well, I love the idea of painting. But in reality, after the prep is done and the first wall is halfway into its first coat, I lose interest. Coupling my unfavorable disposition toward painting with the enormity of the task ahead, I decided it was time to pay a visit to my old friend craigslist. Over 30 people responded to my ad for someone to help me paint and unpack. From students and retired contractors to bored housewives and obvious slackers, I was amused just reading the responses. I contacted a responsible-sounding female student first, but she wasn't available right away. Next I contacted a retiree moving to Arizona with his wife in May, but he also did not have immediate availability. Finally, I settled on Jeff Willy, here was his response to my ad:
"This is in response to your ad in craigslist wherein you have sought for help in your new house. I am interested and available. I have experienced in all kind of house work, child care, gardening, painting house etc. I worked for the family as houseboy/houseman/housekeeper for the last several years. I am a man in 30s originally from the himalaya. I am reliable, hard working, responsible, detail oriented, caring, friendly and respectful. I do not smoke and have clean driving record. References available. Should you have any questions please send an email or I can be reached at 303-875-xxxx any time."
So tomorrow morning at 9am, Jon is meeting with Jeff the Himalayan Houseboy (sorry, I just can't help myself) to get cracking on the paint job. Jon wants to know when Jeff graduated from Houseboy to Houseman. I would tell you my answer (how a houseboy becomes a man) but my family reads this blog.
It is good Jon is meeting with Jeff because I am already worn out from the wall paper removal fiasco today. By the way, is removing wall paper ever not a fiasco? I thought it was going to go well after all the vinyl top peeled off easily. Now I had a porous, papery surface that would easily soak up the removal solution. Yay. So I mixed up my solution of Hot Water (1 gal), Wall Paper Remover concentrate (8 oz), and Fabric Softener (2 oz) and used the preferred method of paint roller to begin applying the mixture. It soaked up the solution quickly and wonderfully, exposing, to my dismay, butterflies? Yes, there was another layer of butterfly wallpaper beneath. Papered over, presumably, because it was basically at one with the wall. In retrospect, it should have stayed there! But, thanks to my new friend the Papertiger, it is down now and prepped for Axel's new lemony colored paint.
The remodel of the master bedroom: This house has 3 small (11x10) bedrooms upstairs and two larger, sunny, bedrooms in the basement. Since we obviously don't need FIVE bedrooms, we are taking out a wall to make a large 12X20 master. I hired a contractor named Michael Harrington (he was one of the 20 guys who answered my craigslist.org ad) for a ridiculously low rate because he is just getting started in the area. Turns out that when he was living in SoCal he participated in an HGTV episode of Designer's Challenge! So far he is doing a great job. Laura said she has dibs on him next.
The carpeting of the basement: While watching an episode of an HGTV home improvement show (sensing a theme here?), I got a really good tip. When you're in a showroom looking for a bargain on materials (granite, carpet, tile, etc.) ask the boss what has "been around a while" that they can give you a deal on. Before that show we were leaning toward a special order of a soft nylon carpet that cost $18/sq yard. Once they measured, Jon and I decided to return to the showroom to see what they had "in the back." What we found were two amazing wool carpets. The one for the bedrooms is usually $100/sq yard (the "Park Avenue") but they were selling it for $25/sq yard due to a minor flaw. The off-white wool one for the stairs/hall/home theater was even less expensive at $16/sq yard. So for nearly the same price we were going to spend on the nylon we got some really top quality stuff.
I never knew I could be this excited about carpet.
The painting: Well, I love the idea of painting. But in reality, after the prep is done and the first wall is halfway into its first coat, I lose interest. Coupling my unfavorable disposition toward painting with the enormity of the task ahead, I decided it was time to pay a visit to my old friend craigslist. Over 30 people responded to my ad for someone to help me paint and unpack. From students and retired contractors to bored housewives and obvious slackers, I was amused just reading the responses. I contacted a responsible-sounding female student first, but she wasn't available right away. Next I contacted a retiree moving to Arizona with his wife in May, but he also did not have immediate availability. Finally, I settled on Jeff Willy, here was his response to my ad:
"This is in response to your ad in craigslist wherein you have sought for help in your new house. I am interested and available. I have experienced in all kind of house work, child care, gardening, painting house etc. I worked for the family as houseboy/houseman/housekeeper for the last several years. I am a man in 30s originally from the himalaya. I am reliable, hard working, responsible, detail oriented, caring, friendly and respectful. I do not smoke and have clean driving record. References available. Should you have any questions please send an email or I can be reached at 303-875-xxxx any time."
So tomorrow morning at 9am, Jon is meeting with Jeff the Himalayan Houseboy (sorry, I just can't help myself) to get cracking on the paint job. Jon wants to know when Jeff graduated from Houseboy to Houseman. I would tell you my answer (how a houseboy becomes a man) but my family reads this blog.
It is good Jon is meeting with Jeff because I am already worn out from the wall paper removal fiasco today. By the way, is removing wall paper ever not a fiasco? I thought it was going to go well after all the vinyl top peeled off easily. Now I had a porous, papery surface that would easily soak up the removal solution. Yay. So I mixed up my solution of Hot Water (1 gal), Wall Paper Remover concentrate (8 oz), and Fabric Softener (2 oz) and used the preferred method of paint roller to begin applying the mixture. It soaked up the solution quickly and wonderfully, exposing, to my dismay, butterflies? Yes, there was another layer of butterfly wallpaper beneath. Papered over, presumably, because it was basically at one with the wall. In retrospect, it should have stayed there! But, thanks to my new friend the Papertiger, it is down now and prepped for Axel's new lemony colored paint.
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