Although I have simply confirmed that this project will never end and I am just fine with that! Our overhaul of the upstairs is coming to a close of the beginning and I am too excited to not share.

When Zac and I first saw this little blue house (online) it was the only one I had sent him in nearly two months. We are obsessed with the Disney movie UP and although it is far from a replica it has the same playful essence as the cartoon fixer-upper.

And so when we actually became the owners of the house we were thrilled! But it also meant we had a lot of work to do. Originally, we planned to rip the blue carpet out and lay lament to match the downstairs living room. But after removing carpet and seeing a larger part of the floor we realized that there was hardwood waiting to be refinished underneath.

Here is a summary and photos of our upstairs overhaul.

1. Patch work- I swear this is 80% of the painting pains. But we learned a ton. Be sure to sand the sections that have dents and/or sand down any where paint has run from previous jobs. Use this to patch.
2. Primer – with walls that deep red and pink we had to pre prime before painting our actual white color and if you are painting over color this is a great idea because it is much cheaper to use primer than multiple coats of your top color.
3. Paint – If you want white walls make sure to tie it into what your accents and lighting will look like. A stark white may be what you want for that “picture perfect” look but with filters most people (including us) opt for a warmer white.
4. Sanding – now this we were just BLESSED on to have some amazing friends help us. I cannot believe how beautiful our floors look and how great they were to demonstrate how it is done. And I am amazed at how kind people are to help out friends.
5. Hanging blinds – I know that for me when I get to an old house the places that dust and dirt build up just EAT at me! So tearing down the old blinds was one of our first things to do! Home Depot is our best friend when it comes to this because they have cheap blinds (and shutters) that fit almost any window and if your windows are within reach they are super easy to setup yourself!

Still to do’s

1. Electrical – our lights are still hanging down from the ceiling since we had to paint around them because our new fixtures are a bit smaller than the old ones!
2. Baseboards – we are adding a layer of trim between the current baseboards and the floor to give it a final touch and a bit of an update.
3. Refurbishing the metal – We have a closet doorknob and a _______ vent that are original so I am going to refinish them using paint remover and a little TLC to keep the original cute little details.
4. Installing wallpaper – we are partnering with @shopbdarling to test their wallpaper and I am super excited I think it will add the perfect touch to our room.
5. Building the closet – I have more than a bit too many clothes so we are going to build out another closet in our room.
6. The biggest project to still complete upstairs are the stairs themselves. Yikes.
7. Touch up- of course after each of these projects we will still have little bits of touch up.

Wow. Yes, I realize that the “to-do” list is still longer than our completed tasks but the other night we moved our Bed up because we were too excited to start to clean up our kitchen…. which if I get my way will be our next remodel project.