Wednesday, September 22, 2010

making progress

Three days later and we're halfway finished.

WITH ONE ROOM.

Only four more and one loooong hallway to go.

DSC_0013

Wow, I just noticed as I'm looking at this photo ... what are those green dots in the window?!

Mr. S ... is that you?

14 comments:

  1. Wow!!! I have so done this. We had paper/paint/paper/paint to work through. We bought our house from the original owner who had lived there for 50 years.

    We now live in a new house in NC. I miss my old house. Geez did I put a lot of work into that.

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  2. Jen I haven't been to comment in a long time but I am sooooo happy for you guys. I know that this house has a ton of work ahead but what potential for you guys. I just love the pictures I have seen of the place. What a great house to make your home. :)

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  3. No, it's definitely not fireflies.

    Those green spots are not only in the "window" but they're also all around Charlie's hand. We went back and looked and LOOKED at what could be causing that reflection and we couldn't see anything, anywhere. There wasn't a window behind me and there wasn't a glare on the lens because when I took a second picture - in that same room - with the same lighting - a short while later, the "green" was gone.

    Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?

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  4. Stripping wallpaper SUCKS. But it sounds like you have wonderful plans in place - thanks for sharing the transformation with us!

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  5. I'm one to love the spooky photo but I really think those are reflections/flash flares. There is a screen on the window right?
    I'll be the skeptical one and you can keep thinking it's Mr. S approving of your renovations. Because obviously, they are happy green dots.

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  6. thought i'd send a couple wallpaper stripping pointers in case they might help you. (I did two whole houses of ugly wallpaper in the past 10 years.) i found that different types of paper come off differently. some you can actually just rip off (usually really think or fabric-y paper) and then scrub the glue off the walls with warm water (easier to do with plaster walls - be careful not to oversoak drywall). then there are some where the facing rips off but the backing and glue stick to the walls. In that case wet the remaining backing with a warm water/fabric softener mixture in a spray bottle and attack with a putty knife. If none of the paper wants to come off you may have better luck with a scoring tool and a steamer. Regardless, I found that i did most of the work with a putty knife. Good luck - it's a crappy job! - Ali

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  7. I am familiar with the home you've purchased and knew Mr. S. Now for the story . . . there's a ceiling light in your stairwell. No one was allowed to use that light for the 43 years the family lived in the house (no one wanted the bother changing the bulb if it went out). Not that it wasn't used - - every once in a while it
    was turned on - - but not very often and never for very long at one time. Thus, the lightbulb in that fixture was the same one that was in the house on the day the family moved in in 1967 . . . until the day Mr. S. passed away. On the afternoon of that day, the light was turned on and the bulb blew out, immediately.
    Thought you might like to know the story.

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  8. I too am so excited to watch your house get slowly transformed. Not to put any pressure on you...but it is exciting to see new posts from you!

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  9. The lights look like they're kind of in the shape of the chandelier. Maybe it's reflecting off the windows and the camera or some other reflective thing?

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  10. Anon: You KNEW Mr. S?! And you KNOW this house?! Do WE know YOU?!!

    I hadn't even NOTICED that light in the stairwell until your comment and now Charlie and I are totally perplexed. Not only how in the world would one ever change a bulb, but how in the world do we get up there to strip that wallpaper and paint?!

    I think we'll need to invest in some scaffolding.

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  11. There's also green lights reflecting in pictures of your dining room from the 9/13 posting! Your new house is really charming (even with green lights in the windows). Renovations are stressful at times, but it will be wonderful when you are done. I look forward to seeing the transformations.

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  12. The lights in the window and around Charlie's hand aren't as spooky as you might think. I'm a photographer and I've seen this happen many times before. They are from the camera.

    I'm tired and my technical terms are escaping me at the moment, but when there is a really intense light, it can bounce off the back of the camera and back into the image. The location will usually be as if you rotated the image 180 degrees. It happens when there is an area of light that is much more intense than the rest of the image. From the location of the glowy spots and the shape they form, I'm almost positive they are ghosting caused by the chandelier.

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