We’ve been hard at work in the room that we’re calling “the office”- we’re calling it this mainly because it will have some desks in it. Jimmee and I don’t really need a home office, but I thought it might be helpful when school rolls around again to have a quiet and organized place to study and type papers.
It was hard to start back at square one with a room, but I managed to find some motivation and get started. First I had to sand down the horrible spray texture that someone put all over the walls, light sockets, and moulding. This took forever and was not pretty. At one point I couldn’t even see the wall in front of me due to the thick dust clouds swirling around. I took a picture at some point in the process, and you can even see the dust on my eyelashes.
In the photo below you can see the dustiness, and you can also see the lovely mauve color that the room used to be painted. I found this color underneath the tan color as I sanded, and then as I sanded further I found a powder blue color. Now that I think about the mauve color matched (exactly) the comforter and decorations that were in the previous homeowner’s room. I’m pretty sure the realtor had her paint over the pink after the house was on the market for over 2 years. Almost everything in the house- walls, doors, crown and floor moulding- was one color when we moved in, and now it’s all making sense.
Once I had finished the sanding, there was lots of cleanup… walls needed wiping, mirrors and blinds needed cleaning, and the carpet needed to be carried out to the curb. Here is what I found under the carpet.
And the decaying carpet pad continued across the entire floor.
Not to mention the large number of warped staples buried in the decaying pad.
At this point, I sat back and wondered how much it would cost to hire this job out. I measured and did the numbers ($3.50 a square foot) and called Jimmee in Wyoming to let him know I’d be calling someone that week. Then he reminded me of all the plants I had been planning to buy. It was either the plants or hiring out the floor job. My motivation was back.
So here is me trying to save money by using an orbital sander for the entire floor.
And it actually went pretty well.
Eventually I did rent the large machine so I could go over everything with the smaller grit sandpaper, and it looked really great when it was all said and done.
So that’s all for today, but I will try to get more pictures up tomorrow of the finished look. The room is freshly painted, new quarter round has been put on, and the furniture is back in place so it’s ready for photos tomorrow morning (when the lighting is better). Hope you all have a great night! xo
A Date with Design 
The floor looks awesome Anne! The office looks like it is really coming along. I can’t wait to see it all finished! You really know how to get a lot done in such a short amount of time. It was only a few days ago when we stopped by your house and you were just getting started on the office. Keep up the hard work!
Seriously, Anne! I totally agree with Erin. You just see a job, you tackle it, and you get it done. I probably would’ve said screw the plants and just called a guy… then bought the plants anyway, haha, and then have Christian give me a talking to. :) No, seriously, you did an amazing job! It’s just so unbelievable, your photos. If this were some other random person’s blog I’d think it was a hoax or something, or that the timeline of getting things done was a joke. You really are amazing and inspiring! I love it! Hugs!
you are so hardcore!!!
majorly impressed:)
Thanks ladies! It’s been a lot of work, but I’m so happy to have it done. I didn’t want it to be a mess when my mom came into town. I’ll post more pics later today….
Eww…. wow, that floor was disgusting under that carpet! Isn’t it gross what you can find? Under the carpet in our Studio room, we guess at some point pets had been kept in there (or choose that room as their favorite spot to “let loose”) because there was pet urine that had soaked through the carpet, padding, and into the wood floors underneath – it had completely saturated the wood floors. :( Absolutely disgusting. Anyways, I’m so impressed that you sanded the whole floor with a tiny orbital sander! Wow. That room looks 100x better already! Isn’t it crazy what DIY adventures we will do to save a little money? Haha! It’s looking great, Anne!
~Chelsea
That sounds terrible, Chelsea! You never know what you’ll find under carpet, and I’ve decided it’s usually not good. It felt good to sand off the nasty carpet pad and see the fresh, clean floor underneath! I will do a lot to save a little money, especially for plants. :)
I discovered your site through your comment on ThisFreshFossil, and I’ve been clicking through here for 45 minutes already. We had a house fire, so we’re going through a lot of the same projects you are, and I’m loving your site! Do drop by Rehab sometime, and I’ll be back here often.
Thanks so much, Sunny! I’m glad you like it. I’ve seen your comments on Fresh Fossil, too, and I checked out your site. I love your cement block planter idea, and I’ll definitely keep checking back to see what you’re up to. Thanks for stopping by!
Anne, this is pretty neat that you’ve got random visitors to your blog. I love that about having a blog. It’s always so much fun to find out who’s reading. Last weekend at a family’s wedding I discovered that I had quite the German audience… totally unbeknownst to me, and it’s so cool! Keep up the great work, Anne. I love your blog!
Thanks so much, Savannah! It’s always great to have new readers, especially German ones. That’s so exciting, and I’m sure they love hearing your new experiences there.