Going in a slightly different direction with this new series, which I hope to add to a couple times a month: Home renovation!
As mentioned in one or two previous posts, I recently moved into a new space. A move was long overdue. The space is larger, it’s closer to a lively downtown area, and (important to me as a photographer), it has a lot of windows!
However, as with any new living situation, it needs work—a few repairs, and a lot of personalization!
Altogether there are 6 areas that need attention…
- The entryway—the floor is old and deteriorating, the built-in coatrack is missing some hooks, and the door doesn’t quite fit the frame properly
- The dining area—this room needs more TLC than I will probably get to in my tenure here, but as a transition room between the kitchen and living room, it will at least get some new trim, a nice rug, and some furniture to make it feel more like a breakfast nook than a cave
- The living room—this room has already gotten a fresh coat of paint, but it’s also going to get some permanent shelving over the inactive fireplace, some new windows, and then personal touches like plants and curtains to make it more homey
- The bathroom—the best part about this space is the clawfoot tub; but whoever did work this room last did a shoddy job. LOTS of repairs needed here
- The kitchen—from mismatched cabinets and countertops to a cluttered setup, this room will probably require the most creativity. Coming soon to the Studio: Homemade handles for the cabinets! (To be installed after the room has been painted…)
- The office—an ornate room with new floors and lots of potential, this is where we will be starting today!
As described in the videos at the bottom of this post, the room which has been designated for my office has some pros and some cons. Pro: An ornate ceiling, which makes for a point of interest. Another pro: Although in a historical building, there is a new wood floor in this room, which just makes the space feel a little fresher, like there are endless possibilities in there.
Con: The walls have been finished with panel board, which is dated, unattractive, and ill-paired for the decorative ceiling. Another con: The ceilings are low and the room is asymmetrical. Final con: There are lots of cracks, gaps, and paint drips in this room. Today we’re dealing with the cracks!
AdTech, while known for their hot glue guns, has also come out with a variety of tools for home decorating and repair. One of these is the ProTouch, which is just about the most convenient caulking gun you’ll ever use.
It’s much more compact than your average caulking gun, which makes it easier to manipulate and accessible to people of all strengths and sizes (women who want to take on their own home repairs: get excited. This tool is super handy). It comes with a snap-on cap to preserve whatever silicone or caulking you don’t use (unlike a lot of those larger tubes, which dry up between uses). And you get two tips with the gun, for laying wide, flat lines, or long, thin seams.
If you’re unfamiliar with caulk, it’s literally a filler/sealer for those spaces where you don’t want moisture to end up or where you don’t want cracks to show. Silicone, a rubbery, water-and-heat-resistant material, is sometimes used around industrial sinks; traditional caulk, a white, chalky substance, is often used around home sinks and tubs. Both can be used for a variety of other projects, as well. For this project, we’re using the traditional caulk.
As you can see in the video and the photos, there were a lot of gaps between the panel board and the ceiling in the room which will be turned into my new office. Before painting the room, we cleaned the walls and ceiling, and we sealed up the cracks using caulk, wiping away excess with a damp sponge. This vastly improved the look of the space for the final painting project, and also helped to ensure that excess paint wouldn’t get caught in the cracks and turning into drips.
We also had to sand down old paint drips, remove almost 20 nails that had been left in the wall for the last paint job (why? heaven knows!), and spackle some holes that were simply too large to fill in with caulk.
As of this post, the room is at a point where you can almost never imagine it ever looking beautiful, but we’ve got big plans for it! Looking forward to sharing how different this room looks after a decent paint job….
Stay tuned!