Horror in the Attic! Our Attic Renovation Journey Part 1

We're finally taking the plunge and renovating our attic, so that it can be year-round livable space. We have no idea how much we can afford, but we're going to do as much as we can. Here is part one of our journey. We have a designer and contractor coming soon to see the space and we should have a much better idea how to proceed from there. Wish us luck!

Sneak Preview of the Finished Room!

We are DONE painting the bedroom and I love the pink! It makes me so happy and makes me wish we'd done this a long time ago. We're not done because we need a new closet system in there, so it remains a work in progress, but I'm thrilled with the results so far! My inspiration for the room was this poster, which used to hang in our dining room:

Which, ironically, got damaged last week when our clothing rack collapsed. So I re-ordered it and expect it soon. See what I mean about everything in this project costing extra?! I can't wait to get my replacement poster and hang it! Also, we're still customizing the headboard for the bed, so shots of that will come later, too. In the meantime, here's one shot of the pinkness!

I love my new bedroom!

Progress

After a miserable night of sleeping on the living room sofa (I mean both of us. And it's not a pullout.) since the bedroom was choked with paint fumes and wet paint and our guest bed is inaccessible because everything from the bedroom is on top of it, I'm pleased to report there are two coats of primer on the walls and we expect to get a coat of pink up tonight! Hallelujah! As with all of our home improvement projects, it has now cost twice as much as we anticipated, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the crackhouse vibe is gone!

In other news, I updated our website and now there are links to both our Amazon affiliate store and our merch store on our shopping page! Between the two stores we have everything from glassware to cocktail parasols to bitters! Click here to visit when you're in the market for cocktail paraphernalia! 

This Week I REALLY Need That Cocktail!

Last Friday I shared the early stages of our bedroom re-do project, which we need to at least need to complete the paint on before we shoot our upcoming music video. I said at the time I really needed a drink. Well, file under "It's going to get worse before it gets better" - this week I really need that drink! The paint under the reed that we'd tacked to the walls peeled like crazy, so we've been scraping and sanding like crazy. Also, if I ever again take it into my head to undertake a project which involves putting about 175 nails in the wall I hope someone will shoot me. I've dubbed the current look of the room Crackhouse Chic. Wish us luck, because we need to make significant progress, quickly!

Crackhouse Chic

The smiling stage. I've since transitioned into grimacing stage.

I Need A Happy Hour Cocktail So Badly

A couple of weeks ago I was all excited because we'd taken a production design class at the YouTube Space here in New York. I have big plans for three of our rooms, all of which will benefit the show and make our backgrounds more fabulous. However, fabulousness seems like a distant dream at this moment. We've started with the bedroom, since we want to use it in our upcoming music video. The walls have been covered with matchstick blinds for almost 14 years. We tried to paint when we first bought the house, but the walls rejected paint like petulant children, so we hid them with the blinds and went for a "Gilligan's Island" effect. Well, it's time for a change and this time we need to face the horrible paint job. At least we know what we're doing now and are armed with the correct primer, etc. But we have a lot of work to do, as you can see. I'm trying to keep my eyes on the prize. And a couple of cocktails won't hurt a bit. Quitting time!

"Hint of Cherry," here we come!

After we deal with THIS.

Powder Room Redo: We Have A Sink!

After several weeks with no sink, the third sink we tried in our powder room worked! Paul valiantly installed it today, solving some plumbing problems along the way, and I'm so thrilled to have a sink again!  I will never take sinks for granted again.  All that's left to do in the powder room now is more tile cleaning, paint touch ups and decorating!  I'll definitely be giving thanks for the end of this project this Thursday!

Our wonderful, beautiful, fabulous, WORKING sink!

Powder Room Redo: Seeing Sparks!

I'm THRILLED to report that almost all of the tile is DONE in our powder room! All that's left is the tub surround, which needed a new backer board and which Paul is working on as we speak! After that, up goes the tile, then as soon as it's dry we can grout it all! Tiling the walls took forever, but I'm pleased to report that we got it done in under 24 hours. I cannot WAIT for this project to be over, but after this we're moving on to the fun parts: a new curtain, a new sink and hanging art on the walls. A lot of touching up and cleanup needs to happen, but that's okay - there's light at the end of the tunnel!

It's the 4th of July in our powder room!

Powder Room Redo: TILE!

It's not grouted, since we have to wait for the mortar to dry, but our powder room floor is finally tiled! It felt as though the day would never come, especially since I don't think either of us thought that the floor prep would take two full days. Next up: tiling the walls, which will probably happen around the middle of next week, due to our schedules. But at least we can replace the commode. The little things means so much.

Tiling...

Tiled!

In other news, we're planning to do our second live "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" broadcast tonight at 9:00 EST. I'm planning on making some "cold medicine" for the broadcast. I really need to kick this cold in the...wherever...since we're headed to Philadelphia tomorrow for a marathon day of fun activities.  If you'd like to join in the broadcast, but don't have Periscope, click here for download info. It's easy! 

Powder Room Redo: Hell Doesn't Have Tequila Shots

I admit that I reached a point today where I didn't know whether or not I could go on. Everything to do with our powder room redo is taking five times longer than it should, if there is a roadblock to hit, we hit it, and it's all becoming a bit too much. This is all on top of our work on the show and Paul's job, which he really needs to do if he wants to continue being employed. Also, I now have a nasty headcold. I hit rock bottom. However, there was a point when I was trowling cement over the floor when Paul brought me a tequila shot. He also plugged his phone in and played Devo. Between Devo and the tequila, I realized that it could be worse. Not much worse as far as the house goes, but worse in general. Tomorrow we'll have tile on the floor and probably a couple of walls, too. Eventually this will all be behind us. Our episodes will get shot, we'll have Thanksgiving - life will go on, although it doesn't feel like it at the moment. Right now all I want to do is mix up a cocktail, watch the worst classic TV I can possibly find and forget we ever took this on!

Always trowling mortar...

Next stop: tile!

Powder Room Redo: Slow Descent Into Madness

Remember how I said that, just when you think your room couldn't possibly look worse, it does? Behold today:

Truth be told, it's not quite that bad right now. We currently have no commode OR sink in there, but it's cleaned up, the giant hole in the wall is filled and spackled, Paul is laying the floor leveling compound as I write this and I'm confident that we'll have tile tomorrow. Either that or we'll be abandoning this house tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Powder Room Redo: It Looks Worse!

Oddly enough, the more work that gets done in our powder room, the worse it looks! It's a strange phenomenon. But Paul has been prepping the floor all day, getting ready for the tiling process and, oh, boy, it's a process!

• Leveling compound
• Mortar
• Subflooring
• More mortar
• Tile (in what feels like the distant future)

I have tremendous hope that tile will happen this week. Stay tuned!

He works so hard.

Serious Powder Room Progress

I am so happy to report that serious progress has happened in our powder room and the Renovation From Hell may be finished within the next couple of weeks! I painted, so it's pink again, and Paul installed our fixtures, plus rewired our medicine chest, which hasn't worked in the entire time we've been in the house. Now it provides warm ambient light!  He also stripped decades worth of paint off of our door hardware and it looks so much better. As he says, now it's shabby chic, instead of just shabby. We still need to tile both walls and the floor, plus there are some crevices that need to be patched, and so on, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's a HUGE relief!

Paul and the fixtures he installed today

Vintage medicine chest, working for the first time since we bought the house in 2003!

I Hate Painting

Specifically priming.

I've been priming our powder room and our "one coat," oil-based primer clearly needs a second coat, plus I haven't even touched the doors, since we're going to take them off to paint them.

It's also really hard to get the paint to adhere to walls and ceilings  (yes, unfortunately we're doing the ceiling, too), since they're so lumpy and uneven. So I end up pressing on the roller, which sends a shower of oil-based primer down on top of me. Fortunately I'm onto these shenanigans and covered my hair and eyes this time, but the rest of me still looks like I have a tropical skin disease that would no doubt make homeland security stop me from entering the country. And I can't have a cocktail for an hour, since I have to pick Paul up from the train station.

Maybe after that I'll hit Cousin Glendora's box of wine. Hard.

Breakfast Nook and Apple Salsa

Our breakfast nook renovation is practically done and I'm so happy! I made the curtains for the new pantry today:

And Paul installed our new light fixture:

I love that fixture so much! I've dubbed it Flintstones Modern, since it looks like something Wilma would have chosen if she'd moved into a mid-century modern home.

All that's left is the finishing touches - putting stuff back on the shelves, hanging pictures, etc. I'm glad to have something done!

Paul has been busy filling holes in the bathroom walls that had to be cut out to install electricity. I guess that's why they add electricity when the house is being built. They had to cut out huge chunks. More wall patch!

In other news, I quickly improvised this salsa last night and it turned out to be really good! All you do is chop an apple, half a cucumber and a few jalapeño peppers (I was using what I had) and toss with fresh lime juice, salt and pepper and a little garlic and red pepper flakes, if you like. It was great with salmon and today we're having it with chips!

I Can't Handle All This Improvement

If you thought our powder room looked bad last week, with exposed wallboard and holes in the walls, wait until you see it today:

Lovely, isn't it? Paul and the electrician opened up walls and ceiling for our new fixtures and it rained insulation. It was so messy I was coughing two rooms away! The good news is that we DO have power in there now. The bad news is that none of the fixtures are actually in place yet, so we don't currently have lights. SOON, I hope!

Breakfast Nook: Light At The End Of The Tunnel

After an anxiety attack, which involved our new shelves NOT bearing the weight IKEA promised, we're back in business! Paul shored two of them up with supports that claim they'll now hold 200 pounds of weight and now I can move the food back into its rightful pantry (right, which currently harbors cookbooks). Next up: our new light fixture, our new utility cart, curtains for the front of the pantry and, eventually, more painting.

If  you're ever home improving, I recommend watching the film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, on a continuous loop, if possible. There is no better inspiration or, frankly, antidote for delays and other frustrations. 

Progress

Slow, slow progress.

Our breakfast nook is painted!

Breakfast nook: painted!

Paul is currently assembling the new "pantry" that will live in there. IKEA calls it a shelving system, but with the new fabric I purchased today (70% off at Jo-Ann Fabrics - make sure you're on their list for coupons and be sure to give them your phone number, so they can text them to you), it will be a mid-century modern fantasy, particularly when Paul installs our new light fixture!

He works so hard.

Lest you think I've been idle since finishing the paint in the breakfast nook, I've been helping to patch walls and I think the holes may finally be covered. Paul made a fascinating discovery today: a former rodent's nest (RIP - he excavated the remains) inside one of the walls that had been feathered with a hot pink feather boa. I don't remember any pink boas disappearing, but I have so many that who can tell? UGH. However one might feel about rodents (I'm not a fan), this one was definitely a kindred spirit!

Our Lives Are So Glamorous

The powder room and breakfast nook here at the Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en are in the awkward, "ugly duckling" stage of their development, but they will be gorgeous swans when they're done. At this point that date seems far off, but the good news is that I finally got a coat of paint on the walls of the nook! The paint prep was a six hour nightmare and the priming wasn't much better, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! Another coat and we should be in business  to hang our new shelves and put together our new "pantry" (IKEA didn't consider it a pantry, but we do!)! Here is the first coat. It looks more green than it is in this shot, but you get the idea:

Breakfast nook. Can't wait to have our kitchen back!

The prep for the painting was so awful that, when I was at Lowe's buying the paint, when the woman asked me if I wanted Valspar's "Signature" paint, or the more premium "Reserve" line, and explained that they claim the Reserve gives better coverage, I went for it. Best $10 I've ever spent. That paint went on like a dream! Thank you, Valspar Reserve!

In other news, the powder room looks distressingly like it did last week, but work IS getting done in there. I patched some walls today and Paul has been cutting out bad sections of wall and floor and adding new. This is the dirty, unrewarding part of the project, but we'll be glad we bothered when our walls don't cave in.

Mudding walls. It's good to learn a trade.

Should I be worried?

Powder Room: I'm Obsessed!

Here's a little more from our powder room demolition, to give you the idea of the scope of the destruction. I love the paint sample taped to the wall. It feels so optimistic right now. Eyes on the prize, eyes on the prize!

Here's what taking out your frustrations looks like!

Ex-wall board.

Powder Room: DESTRUCTION!

I have taken my frustrations of yesterday out on the powder room by ripping out the tile board, taking down all of the stuff on the walls and generally getting it ready for the electrician, who is coming back next Thursday! We'll be ready for him this time. All we need to do is cut a big hole in the ceiling, along with cutting holes in the walls and floor, plus one to the exterior of the house.  It's exhausting and messy, but I'm keeping my eyes on the prize!

Molding above the wood tile: GONE!

Demolition. Take that!