Toilets, Popcorn & Sponge Paint….Oh My

Renovations: where glamour goes to die and toilets are what we talk about.

Yes, we have new toilets. Please hold your applause. Ignore the walls behind them—their current zombie house chic will soon be leveled up. Also, you’re welcome for not posting pictures of the before toilet. Some things should remain a mystery for the sake of our followers.

In a shocking plot twist, the plumber delivered good news: the pipes are fine. Fine!! After being frozen solid during a dramatic mid-Atlantic deep freeze, no less. The real villains? Ancient toilets and their disintegrated, turn-of-the-century seals. For once, the problem was simple and affordable. We wept with joy.  Well, maybe not wept but there were smiles and happiness.   

Now let’s talk ceilings. Popcorn ceilings, specifically—the textural crime scene of decades past. Turns out, no one makes that stuff anymore. Go figure. Anyway, we (meaning Mark of course) scraped it off downstairs, and for once something was relatively easy. Compared to the cement stucco trauma-inducing experience upstairs, ceiling popcorn scraped off easily. A little skim coat on the scraped drywall, some paint, and voilà—smooth ceilings that won’t look like they belong in a 1990 time capsule.

And then… sponge painting. Remember that phase? Bold. Artistic. Questionable. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad. But yes, it’s getting painted over. We’re aiming for “cool bright neutral” instead of “artist gone wild” in the kitchen and adjoining room.  Coming soon: actual “after” photos where things will start looking like we know what we’re doing.

Meanwhile, outside, Mother Nature is having an identity crisis—winter one day, spring the next. But the dandelions knew what to do. They woke up and took over. Knee-high, proud, shameless (but no match for Mark and his lawnmower). On the bright side, the backyard tree is showing off like it’s in a magazine shoot. It’s going to be the centerpiece of a beautiful backyard with a little more cleanup outside.

Stay tuned. This journey continues.

Pay no attention to disgusting walls behind the toilet. They will be history soon

What’s a popcorn ceiling again? Not in our very fine house!

A conversation from 1992: “Let’s just put up some wide trim and then paint blue over the green sponge paint”

Lots of cleanup to do in the backyard but it’s going to be sweet when we’re done