Mouldings and Such

Member how I was obsessed with achieving the perfect shade of gray flooring? And how I did the steel wool in vinegar experiment and absolutely nothing happened. Then Door 16 blogged about a similar floor and through her I discovered this (for your drooling pleasure) which drove me insane and made me want it even more.
Well then I read THIS and decided to try again.

This time I used some of the hand cut iron nails that I'd collected from the house and cooked them in a jar of vinegar over night with the lid on (ahem controversial).

If you're still interested here's some more info on a similar process.

I only had a teensie area to test on so forgive the weirdness - but I finally got it!
This is the oak floor that's in the living, dining and hall. I stripped and sanded a small test area that will be covered in moulding.

It's not super revealing I realize, but when you enlarge it you will see that I think I've finally got the look I was going for. I've been dreaming of old, dried-out, silvery barn wood.
It's the most peaceful, relaxing color I can imagine and damned if I don't wanna live in it.


Oh we finally got casings inside this doorway. Thanks for bringing that to my attention Bernie.

Nuther view.
Man! I hate that front door. But whatever, focus on the good, focus on the good.

This is what's going on moulding-wise around the door. Almost done!
We have those salvaged rosettes stripped and primered now - I'll do a photo update as soon as they are up. They really make the new boring mouldings look more custom and less sterile.

The wall is pretty much ready for it's finish-pretty coat too. Can't wait to have time for that proj. It'll be so satisfying.
All for now.

Fall Out

Although Joe did all the walls (and the entire kitchen) we actually let Chester's dudes demo the paster ceiling in the living room. They didn't close the doors to the one room where we were storing everything so I came in to find everything looking like the aftermath of Mt. St. Helens . This is my prize leather rhino which my parents bought at Liberty of London before I was born. needless to say I wasn't thrilled - but I got it cleaned up pretty quickly and all is well throughout the land.
I'd also moved a bunch of art up there which also got really dirty. These two on the left were done by my old friend Matthew Brannon. He's in the friggin Whitney Biennial this year (maybe you've heard of it?). So yeah, I'm going to have to start taking better care of all my beloved paintings!
Arg....

A Preview Of Hell To Come

Joe and Mat pulled off a few
rows of acoustic tile to see what we are dealing with on the ceilings. This one looks pretty good which is a relief. Aaaaaaaand then here's a picture of what not to do when attempting to remove fabu-fake wood paneling. I'll let you guess which one of us was responsible for that... actually it was a family affair and we will happily share the blame.