The Silver Lining: Spare Bedroom Makeover

BEFORE AND AFTER

My previous roommate had a blind, special needs cat, whom he mostly neglected and kept shut in the bedroom for several months. Unbeknownst to me, said cat had stopped using its litter box, staining the carpets and leaving a terrible odor. When my roommate moved out, I spent a week trying to treat the carpet with enzyme cleaner to no avail. Bottom line: it was GROSS!

Since the cat urine had stained through the carpet, carpet pad, all the way to the subfloor, I had no choice but to replace the flooring. Not exactly within my budget this summer, but the odor was so foul that a classmate for whom I was storing furniture didn't even want to leave her things in the room.

So, I ripped up the carpet and started looking into flooring options, as discussd in my previous post. Before laying new floor, however, I treated the subflooring with more enzyme cleaner, then sealed the entire floor with a shellac base primer sealer.

Fortunately, my parents were planning a visit, and my dad had 150 sq foot of leftover hardwood flooring from a house he'd been remodeling. I thought the room was 12 x 12 (plus closet), so we'd have plenty of flooring to spare. And as long as I was going to replace the floor, it seemed like the most convenient time to refinish the ceiling and walls too. So, within 8 hours of my family arriving from Michigan, my dad had removed the popcorn-textured ceiling, while I pulled up the staples left from the carpet pad. The next morning, I woke up and Dad already removed the trim, and plastered and primed the ceiling. Dad had gotten a bit plastered himself! :)

Meanwhile, Mom and I went to pick up paint, and chose a light periwinkle-tinted gray, called "Silver Lining." I wanted a fairly neutral color, that wouldn't clash or dominate potential roommates' preferences and styles. At the same time, I didn't want white or beige. I've never painted an empty room before, and without having to tape or cover the floor, we were able to paint the walls in record time. The results are clean, cool, soft, and bright. One person said the room felt like being in a tree house!

Our 48-hour makeover plan hit a bump, however, when it turned out my room measurements were short by ~10 sq feet short. Oh no! Fortunately, we were able to find matching wood flooring at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to make up the difference. For the closet, we picked up Pergo, and used a darker wood border.

 

Finally, with the trim removed, Mom sanded and cleaned all the dirt and paint from previous sloppy jobs. Then, the trim was re-stained and varnished before re-attaching it to the walls.

It is a beautiful new room, and now smells only faintly of hardwood and paint: the silver lining to a situation that literally stunk.

Biodegradable Carpet or Reclaimed Hardwood: That is the question.

Haven't posted for quite a while, though I've continued to make improvements and changes. The latest project I've decided to tackle is re-flooring the spare bedroom. I'd hoped to re-floor the entire 2nd floor within the next few years; but (unfortunately), the condition in which my prior roommate left the carpet has accelerated this project - especially since I'm hoping to find a new roommate by the end of the month!

Keeping in line with green, sustainable improvements, I'm headed over to Common Ground Green Building Center, to price flooring options and pick up samples. Yay! 

At the moment, the choice is between bamboo, reclaimed hardwood, or biodegradable carpet. A brief survey of friends and family has unanimously voted for hardwood -- better for allergies, easier maintenance, and beautiful!

Looking forward to the parents (aka free labor) visiting next week to help out!

Squeaky Clean and Green!

Today, I came home to a nice, clean home, à la Squeaky Green Cleaning. The Kiddos™ were a bit traumatized; I found them hiding under the bed. But they came out to inspect the work a few minutes after I arrived home, and, as you can see, they are feeling back at home on my homemade  afghan, knitted with love by Grandma Sparks.

LOVE

I want it all!
http://rice.dk/default.aspx

Day Two: taking form

My best friend from Argentina arrived today to help me unpack and start to settle. Although we spent most of the day running errands and napping, we made significant progress toward a more organized space. We focused on the living room/home office. Tomorrow, we'll work on the kitchen.

Day One: unpacking begins

And so the work begins.

Bedroom Ideas

I'm getting close to the final move, and by planning to locate my workspace on the first floor, I'm starting to realize how empty my bedroom seems. What on earth will I do with all this new found space?

The window faces south. The photos show the previous occupant's furnishings. As you can see, I underestimated the window size and placement in my schematic, since the photo shows a twin-sized bed fitting snugly between window and wall. Thus, I will probably rotate my bed to the western wall, or place it at a 45 degree angle, in order to place the bed-stands on either side.

Also, I intend to put a dresser or bench of some sort under the window, which will likely become Cricket & Oliver's favorite snoozing spot. Other ideas?

The Gift of Flower Power

In honor of my first week of classes, I stopped at the Harvest Food Co-op and bought myself some fresh flowers! According to Apartment Liberation Theory (as I am now calling it), flowers set a standard for attention to detail that will inspire each day the return home.

Yay for nurturing my home and taking care of it. Even if there's still a pile of junk in the hallway...

Week One: Creating A Vision

Heart
I'm still working on a vision for my bedroom, but swapping my desk and bed was a huge start. I also removed my big green carpet and replaced it with a beautiful woven rug., which is more appropriate to the small space and brings together some of the colors. I may want to find a smaller rug yet, but the room is starting to feel cozier. I realized that I'm sort of going for an eclectic cottage vibe -- so that I can imagine myself in some sylvan retreat.

Bones
I started a clipboard to hold my list of repairs. So far, one of the most annoying items is the wooden floorboard around the radiators and in some doorways. They are chipped, degraged, or black. In one case, a folded pizza box is used to hold the radiator in place. I need to do some research on wood repair. I'm also inclined to refinish our wooden floors this summer.

My most exciting accomplishment this week was to mop and vaccum all the common floors in the apartmet, including the entryway. It took three hours, but there were parts of the apartment hadn't been fully cleaned since we moved in. The whole house smells like Murphy's oil now.

Breath
I put a clock and a pair of candle holders out on the curb. It's not much, but they were taking up space and I have no intention of using them. I'm considering replacing my laser printer (in photo), since it's so huge -- but I will have to research replacements before kicking it to the curb.

Head
Having moved my room around, I am now able to observe the space from the Southeast window. I'm reconsidering my hallway and behind-the-door storage, both of which are visible from the corner. I also need to relocate my paper files to the basement.