Our baby's nursery

[JakeOfAllTrades]

This is a job that has taken me several months, because I did all the work myself. Had some friends & family stop by on occassion to help out, but this most mostly my baby.


We own an older home that was built in 1920. 12' ceilings, and not insulated very well. My plan is to redo each room in the house the way that I have the nursery. I tore out all the panelling & insulated every wall, filling any & all cracks with foam....believe me, there we plenty! I went through a case in just this one room.

Here are some pics of the early parts of the project.









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[mrcaptainbob]

A lot of work, there, Jake. Isn't it fun to try to match up the new dimension stuff with what was used back then? Interesting how a 2x4 has shrunk over the years!

[JakeOfAllTrades]

quote:Originally posted by mrcaptainbob

A lot of work, there, Jake. Isn't it fun to try to match up the new dimension stuff with what was used back then? Interesting how a 2x4 has shrunk over the years!

It is fun....and trying to hide the imperfections in the unsquare old house is quite a challenge.

This hole in the ceiling is where the closet used to be. There was a wall there, but I tore it down. Not sure why they didn't put a ceiling in the closet...







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[JakeOfAllTrades]

Here's the one window in the room. I tore out the old wooden window and replaced it with a vinyl, with high efficiency glass. This house loses so much air to the outside, that it was imperative that I conserve as much energy as possible.

The top trim of the window came from another house in town that I'd worked on nearly 5 years ago. I saved it, knowing I'd use it one day, and it fit perfectly on the nursery window.

[JakeOfAllTrades]

I used the original closet door as well as some of the original trim. Most of the trim was in bad shape, but I salvaged what I could.



Here's a pic of the inside of the closet. Put up the same kind of crown & baseboards that I used in the room. Didn't plan on doing this, but plans changed at the last minute.



Perhaps the most aggravating part of the project was sanding, caulking, and puttying the ceiling. You would not believe the difference it makes when all the cracks are filled, though. It looks like a brand new ceiling. I couldn't be happier with it. This pic is right before I applied the ceiling paint.

[mrcaptainbob]

Great job! Tons of hard work. How did you handle the possibility of leaded paint? I really like the old time hardware. That door latch is great! Incidentally, to remove paints and such from hardware like that or the hinges, boil them in baking soda water. It'll soften the paint and won't harm the metal surface. Just keep an eye on the boil so it won't foam over the pot sides! Oh yeah...DON'T use a good metal pot for this! Boy! Can THAT cause problems in the household!!!!!

[JakeOfAllTrades]

quote:Originally posted by mrcaptainbob

Great job! Tons of hard work. How did you handle the possibility of leaded paint? I really like the old time hardware. That door latch is great! Incidentally, to remove paints and such from hardware like that or the hinges, boil them in baking soda water. It'll soften the paint and won't harm the metal surface. Just keep an eye on the boil so it won't foam over the pot sides! Oh yeah...DON'T use a good metal pot for this! Boy! Can THAT cause problems in the household!!!!!

Thanks for the info, Bob.....I hadn't decided how to freshen up the hardware.

As for leaded paint, I only had to worry about it with the ceiling & the doors. I worked on the ceilings while wearing an approved-for-lead-paint-respirator. That may have been one of my better investments during the project. It cost all of $40 at Home Depot, and I ended up using it while sanding my sheetrock as well.

[JakeOfAllTrades]

Close up of the baseboard. Used 1x8 with a base cap.


Believe it or not, this wall actually ends up being everyone's favorite in the whole room.


View of the closet door from inside the closet.

[mrcaptainbob]

A LOT of work, but it's going to look great when done.

[JakeOfAllTrades]

Thanks, Bob....

Here's a couple more.




Family stopped by to lend a hand with the painting. Why does everyone like painting so much? Everytime someone would come over during the remodel, they would say, "Let me know when you're ready to paint. I want to help!"

Where were you when I was putting up the closet wall or filling the cracks in the floor & wall? How bout some help with this sheetrock? Nope, they all want to paint!

[JakeOfAllTrades]

Here's where we started on our block wall.

We decided we wanted to go with 7 colors, so I divided the wall up accordingly. Made 7 columns, with 5 rows. With the pattern we chose, I realized that it would be impossible to finish all colors at once.

Had to tape off all blocks of one color at a time. I couldn't start on another color, as every color would touch those first blocks at some point. So this wall took a couple days. I'd paint one color, then pull the tape off before the paint dried. Then give it a few hours before taping off the next color.

It was a job, but we're very happy with the way it turned out.

[mrcaptainbob]

Any help is appreciated, but you're right....the same thing happened with us after this last house purchase.....

[JakeOfAllTrades]

Here are pics of the completed project. Well, not totally finished, as I still have to put the final coat of paint on the doors, and need to repair the sheetrock that I busted out as I was installing the bookcase(which I made as well).

The only thing I had to pay someone to do was lay the carpet. That was money well spent IMO, as I have no experience at all doing that.

[Marvelsaws]

Looks good Jake, I like to see folks restore older homes. I like the fact that you replaced the windows with the appropriate size. It's a pet peeve of mine to little windows where big windows go.

Nursery colors are nice, she'll probably like those when she's a little older, too.

[JakeOfAllTrades]

quote:Originally posted by Marvelsaws

Looks good Jake, I like to see folks restore older homes. I like the fact that you replaced the windows with the appropriate size. It's a pet peeve of mine to little windows where big windows go.

Nursery colors are nice, she'll probably like those when she's a little older, too.

Thanks for the kind words, Marvel. We're excited about fixing up this old place. The dining room is next. I had actually started on it, but had to put a halt on it when we found out we were pregnant. I had already built a tray ceiling & ran the wires for the recessed lights in the dining room, so I have a bit of a head start. I'll post those pics as well once I get started back on that project. We hope to use this room as our permanent nursery, so I'll have to make her another room when the next kid comes along. Again, thanks for the props.

Jake