We are rocking along on the house. I’m down to the last big room to be painted and that is the den. Yowza, at the brown wood paneling in that space. I have never been a fan of wood paneling and vowed if I ever inherited a house that had it, it would be painted in no time flat. That time has come and I tackled it last week. This paneling is actually made of real wood (thin for sure), but I don’t have a problem covering it up. Bye-bye 1970’s!
If you have wood-paneled walls and want a lighter look, don’t hesitate to paint them!
Use drop cloths to keep paint off your floors. A thicker roller helps get paint into the panel grooves. I used an oil based primer on my paneling. It will definitely not chip off with this primer, but you can also use shellac as well. Open windows to keep the fumes down. Use rubber gloves to keep paint off your hands.If you want to be extra careful, use painter’s tape to mask off trim and baseboards. Keep a damp cloth handy to wipe up any spills.
In its brown glory, the befores. I’m still debating on what to do with that ceiling. It’s a drop ceiling, not my fave, but underneath is ugly ductwork and pipes and so I can’t just take down the ceiling. I’m sure those tiles are original, cause they are very saggy and stained and even the vents are duct-taped in the top, which will have to go.
I’ve painted over some of the stains to make them less noticeable, but eventually I’d like to just replace them all with fresh new tiles. That seems to be my best bet on this one, but I will probably live with them for awhile and then change them out. I haven’t even priced them out, so I need to take one down and haul it with me to Lowes to see what they have that will fit this grid.
UPDATE: I may have found a great solution, just need some $$ to do it. Saw this website, Ceilume, on another blog (Dixie Delights) that I featured in one of my Feature Fridays and they used a drop ceiling in their basement. They have a nice selection of 2×4′ tiles which is the size I need and look at these:
This is one of their best sellers (and most economical) and these break it up into 12×12 squares which would pop right into my ceiling. Love this look and that could completely update my ceiling. All I need is about $600 to replace with these. This will definitely be on my list of things to do!
So, back to the walls. I know painting the paneling will lighten this space up so much and I’ve been dying to get it all primed and painted. That door sitting on the floor will get painted black and it will replace the open door there going up the stairs. That one has a hole in it and the door on the floor came from closing up the door going into the kitchen from the living room. Got that change-out?
Once again, Zinsser cover stain oil base primer came to the rescue (big thanks to the Rust-Oleum folks for sending me so much primer for my project). I’m currently on gallon 6 of primer, this house needed a ton of white to cover up the ugly. It’s an oil based primer and will work great for covering this paneling and preparing it for latex paint. I rolled it on with a thick roller and a paintbrush for the cutting in. The thicker roller helped get into those grooves. Be sure to wipe down your paneling before starting to paint.
I don’t think there’s a need to use grit sandpaper before painting, since using a good stain-blocking primer takes care of that.
It takes some muscle to move the roller around and get it all into the grooves, but for the most part that roller worked great.
All primed and ready for the real paint color, which is Comfort Gray by Sherwin Williams.
From the stairs and door looking down the room. All primed, yay! I’d love to add another window to this room eventually on the left wall. A nice big double window would be nice, since this room is not below ground, it’s level with the ground and another window could easily be cut into the wall. On my list!
After two coats of Comfort Gray, we have a room really starting to look like a room I could live in.It’s amazing what a new coat of paint can do for a room!
I love this soft blue/gray and it will look great with my existing den furniture. I wanted this space to be light and airy too and this color should do the trick, especially after I change out the overhead light fixtures.
I am not sure what I’ll put up there, but something besides what is there now. Those are UGLY! You can see I’ve already got two coats of my Dark Brown door paint on there too. It’s so hard to photograph carpet that is beige. This carpet is not pink-toned at all, but comes across in these pics that way. It’s a nice medium beigy tone.
The door to the left of the stairs goes down to the garage.
Other side with Comfort Gray. Looking good! So, this room is coming along. I still have all the white trim to paint, but I’m getting there.
If you have old-style 70’s paneling, by all means paint that stuff! It is not precious wood at all, so talk your husband into it and you won’t be sorry. Men sometimes have a really hard time painting wood, but this is just a wood facsimile and deserves to be painted. Go for it!
If you have REAL wood paneling, that’s a different story, so you’ll have to duke it out with the man at your house. You know what I’m enjoying so much on this renovation? I don’t have to argue with a man over what I want to do. Yeah, that’s awesome! 🙂
Moving upstairs to the front door, I got out my black paint and got one coat on the inside of the front door. It’s already black on the outside and now will stand out from the inside too.
There is not a really easy way to paint a metal door, but I used the foam roller on the flat parts and brush in the grooves. Hopefully, the 2nd coat will smooth things out. I did tape up the doorknobs and inside the glass with FrogTape.
And it’s looking better already. We still have to rip out the old wood down there and repair plywood that is rotted inside the door. The reason I haven’t painted the trim yet is because it’s all wonky and weird and has to be worked on. Whoever put the door in didn’t trim it out right and we will have to try to fix things with some additional molding, so I will get to that eventually and get it fixed and painted. I did get the railing painted and installed again with my newly sprayed hardware on the right.
Outside, we got new gutters installed. That was huge too, since the house had no gutters at all. We found out from the neighbors that about 2 years ago, the new concrete siding was put on this house, as well as a new roof. When that was done, apparently, they didn’t replace the gutters and it has been gutter-less all this time. Not anymore! Yay for the new siding and roof, that is a biggy!
My dad worked on getting some shingles up on the little roof over the backdoor, so that is coming along too. It will be awhile before he finishes trimming it out completely and I’ll wait a bit before painting it all white, but one day it will really be cute.
He added some trim to the ends too and has a little more trimming out to do and then it will be ready to paint. He’s going to put some metal up in the ceiling part and I will paint it out. Pretty impressive, isn’t it, this little roof. How many almost 85 year old men can still do this? That Daddy o’mine is amazing!
Back in the kitchen, it is finally time to tear out the last wall of base cabinets that houses the sink. We left it as long as we could and now it’s time to rip it out.
He got off the old faux butcher block backsplash that was oh, so ugly. Behind that was more filth! This was such a dirty kitchen, it was unbelievable. But tearing everything down to the bare walls at least lets me get the walls primed and clean again.
Dad worked hard on getting those nails out that held the cabinets in place and finally we got them all out and in the backyard.
The old cabinets were so rickety and unstable and I’m so happy I didn’t try to keep them.
Because look what was behind just this row of cabinets. YUCK with a capital Y! More roach crap to get out of there.
Disgusting, I know!
So, I brought my primer out and got busy priming all those walls and at least covering up and sealing the filth.
And now at least it looks better and feels better.
Clean and white, I will take that. Now we have a blank canvas for those new kitchen cabinets from Ikea. Can’t wait to start on that, but first we’ve got hardwood floors to install. That’s going to be a big job and we are tackling that ourselves. Bought an angled floor nailer from Floor and Décor and we are ready to start nailing now. It might take us weeks, but we will get ‘er done eventually.
That’s it for this week. Hardwoods arrived on Tuesday and I’ll tell you all about those later.
Thanks as always for stopping by and following along on this house renovation journey! I appreciate all of you out there reading along.
Renae says
Rhoda!
Your house is taking fantastic shape. Your daddy is quite a handy feller. Don’t ya know he’s tired at night! What a wonderful blessing he is.
Xx
Rondell says
It’s coming along so beautifully and what a great man your dad is…85 I never thought he was even close to that age! Anyway, I can’t wait to see all your furniture in the rooms!
Paula Lusk says
Rhoda, you have gotten a lot done. You are right about the kitchen, it was really yucky. I really enjoy seeing the updates every week. You are a trooper. Blessings Paula Lusk
Susan says
Hi Rhoda, The transformation of your home is amazing–You all have accomplished so much!! I think the Ceilume ceiling tiles look great but…once, when in your situation, we pulled the drop ceiling and sprayed ceiling/ductwork etc with dark paint. It was our best decision! The ceiling “disappeared”. The high “ceiling” made the space much more airy & pleasant and not at all like a basement room. I think you could use white paint & get the same effect, actually. Anyways, we used the saved money on lighting–another good decision 🙂 If you did that, I wonder how lantern style lighting would look–bringing “outside in” (brainstorming!)
Kelly @ Eclectically Vintage says
You could have titled this post, ” paint that paneling Kelly’s mom & dad” because they still have the 70’s brown ugliness surrounding them! Love the ceiling panels you chose – the room will be amazing. My girlfriend (who is a fabulous swimsuit designer) just painted her interior doors and window trim black and it’s amazing. So dramatic – love your front door.
Kelly
Amanda @ Dixie Delights says
The work y’all have done is remarkable! I always look forward to these updates. Those ceilume tiles were great for us. They gave us a 5% discount on our order and they will provide free samples. Not much but every little bit counts 🙂
Sandi says
I’m loving watching your progress and seeing all your choices. I look for a new post every day, hoping to see some new magic transformation you’ve completed. It’s going to be beautiful.
John@RemodelingBIBLE says
Looks like Super Dad is at it again! Thanks for sharing.
Suzy @ Worthing Court says
Hi Rhoda. I can’t tell you how much my hubby and I are enjoying your reno journey. We really admire what you’re doing! You’re so right about painting that ugly 70’s paneling. The tiny house we lived in back in 1978 had that awful stuff in what became my daughter’s nursery. You better believe that I painted that stuff, but a lot of people thought I was crazy! Not only is the lighter color better, but I’ve always loved the texture of painted paneling. Kudos to you and your awesome parents!
shirley@housepitality Designs says
Rhoda…I don’t know what I love more….seeing your house transform from the ugly caterpillar to the gracious butterfly or seeing your dad in action….he is my hero…!!…He is truly remarkable…he reminds me so much of my dad…maybe that is why I have such a soft spot in my heart for him…!…I truly love all the great changes you are making to the house….It must give you such great pleasure and satisfaction.
Laura says
Rhoda,
I have no idea how you can tackle a whole house reno like this. As you make your paint color-ceiling tile-flooring-light fixture-and-so-on decisions are you thinking of an overall scheme or as each room separately? How does your existing furniture fit into that scheme? Are all your rooms sort of interchangeable – if you can’t use a piece in one room you can use it in another?
Rhoda says
HI, Laura, that is a very good question! I am taking all of my existing furniture into consideration. I chose the light Moderate White as a good backdrop to my living room furniture that I already have & wanted to go really light this time.
In the den, I already have all that furniture from my old den & I know that Comfort Gray will go nicely with all my fabrics in that room.
My master bedroom will get mostly neutral walls with a punch of colors & I’m using my same fabrics in there, getting rid of the yellow/golds and adding green instead.
The office is getting those green walls and I’m bringing in more turquoise blues too. So, overall I have a good vision of what I want for the house and I’m looking at everything I already have, using what I can without starting over, but freshening up with a few new fabrics and paint colors. That’s my thought process!
Karen says
Have you thought about putting up drywall? It could be a lot cheaper thank the ceiling tiles. The second house we lived in had ALL ceiling tiles. I hated them so much! We wound up putting drywall on all the ceilings. What a difference it made. What about putting wood on there?
I am so impressed by all you do! Wish I had your energy.
Martha says
i love your little home. And love it more that your daddy is a part of it. He makes me smile
Heather Spooner says
I can’t wait to see what window treatments you put up in this room. My den is very similar to yours and I have plans to paint the paneling. I’m just stumped on what blinds/curtains to use. I know that’s down the road on your to do list, but I will be eagerly awaiting that post. You are doing an awesome job, Rhoda!
Missi at havoc-to-heaven.com says
WOW! What a huge difference with the paneling painted! Having been there to see it in person, I am thrilled for you! It is going to be amazing!
Alice says
Rhoda, you house is looking terrific…..I love what you’re going to do to the dropped ceiling….Your Dad is quite the trooper; he tackles any job put in front of him….I look forward every week to see what other new things that you have accomplished in your house….soon it will become a home…So happy for you….
Michelle says
Everything is looking so Beautiful!! You’re making a lot of progress every week. Though I’m sure it doesn’t feel that way to you sometimes!
Lisa Conley says
I feel like I am on this journey with you. ♥ I am excited to see how everything is coming along that I check for updated posts often. I am so excited for you. I love the white wall trim that you are using and am getting ready to paint over 100 year old “stained” board and batten. I will be using the same primer you did and also the same white trim color of paint. You SOLD me. I am so happy for you in this new journey of your life. It is great to see God working in your life with all the blessings that he is giving you.
~ Lisa from Indiana ~
Jewelee says
Loving all you design choices and the progress you are making each week!
tina says
It’s looking great Rhoda! Can’t believe all ya’ll have accomplished!
tina