Be gentle, it's my first time

So this is my first-ever blog post! I hope to be able to write something every week, but bare with me through the beginning.

So here it is, our first house

We moved in on August 12th and have been working our fingers to the bone since! The house was built in 1963, and we bought it from Irene Guanella, the original owner! The house is in immaculate condition, as Irene and her husband never smoked, had kids, or pets!

Is one of your favorite TV shows "Mad Men"? If so you're going to die when you see the inside of my house! Here are some the highlights:

The real-wood paneling continues into the
dining room

Custom cabinets, and check out the pull-down
chandelier over the kitchen table!

The basement has the same gorgeous paneling,
and this amazing wallpaper mural of the Tetons!

We closed on August 5th, and took possession on the 8th. We purchased new living room furniture, and a new stainless steel fridge.


Next up, we had the neon green shag carpet in the basement replaced with a neutral frieze carpet. RIP green shag, you are in a better place.The only major rennovation we planned to undertake was some painting and some wallpaper removal. Easy Peasy!

I should start by saying that I have never removed wallpaper before, and was convinced that it would not be as difficult as everyone claimed ... HA!!!

Here are the steps we followed:

Step 1: Score the wall, then peel the 1st layer of the wallpaper off, leaving the paper backing


Step 2: Soak said backing with fabric softener (the brand doesn't matter, we used the cheapest we could find)

Step 3: Steam each section for at least 20 seconds. Remove steamer, and scrape like hell! We found a steamer at Home Depot for $50, and they also had ergonomic scrapers (very important)

Step 4: Once all the wallpaper has been scraped off, scrub the wall with soapy water and scrap off any remaining stragglers 

No one should ever put up wallpaper ... EVER! Anyway, once all the wallpaper was down we painted, and painted, and painted ... 

Here are the before and afters I put together, what do you think? What kind of simple home rennovations have you done?

Special thanks to Nikki Kelly for her help, and telling me I could and should start a blog! Check hers out at theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com