The rest of the nest, part 1

Back in April, we very oddly and unexpectedly found ourselves in the market for a new place to live. Our two bedroom duplex in Murray just wasn't going to accomodate our computers, toys, guitars, AND a baby. We started cleaning out the office in an attempt to make a bedroom for the baby. Alas, it was not to be. We ended up with an office full of crap we'd pulled out of the closet. Luckily, around the time we started half-heartedly looking for a place to live, Brian's stepmother mentioned that the mother of a friend was looking to sell her house in Mayfield. It was the perfect location (near Brian's job), the perfect price, and the baby could easily have her own room. Because of the time constraints, we ended up having to move fairly quickly. We had about a week to get this place entirely together and in move-in shape.


The biggest undertaking was the kitchen/breakfast nook area.



We knew the breakfast nook had tongue and groove walls underneath the hideous grandma wallpaper. The original plan was to paint over the existing wallpaper and put up a chair rail to cover any seams. Well, that plan began to fail almost immediately. As soon as work began in the breakfast nook, it became clear that wallpaper would need to come down. We knew there were layers of wallpaper, but we were unaware that there were 7 or 8 layers of wallpaper. You could see the decades tick by as we stripped each layer. Once we stripped the walls, they looked a little something like this:


Once we saw the walls, the age of our house became apparent. We found St. Louis newspapers from the 19020s stuffed in what appeared to be an old stove chimney in the ceiling. It also became clear that we'd need to drywall. Brian's grandparents took on that task, and within a couple of weeks, we had an adorable little breakfast nook. Today it looks like this:




We also did a bit of work to the kitchen. We did have to paint over the wallpaper there, but it went much more smoothly. We also painted the cabinet, replaced the cabinet hardware, and installed a new washer and dryer and dishwasher. Here's our kitchen today:





View from the breakfast nook into the kitchen and Brian looking both insanely happy and slightly demented: