Four Months Ago...
As part of our homeschooling curriculum this year, I decided to make it a bit more fun with teaching the kids some DIY hacks and tricks while we upgrade small area's at home. It has to be small enough to fit the budget but big enough to learn something fun and new.
Our first job is done! It took us four long months because once I pulled away that wall paper we opened a can of worms we did not expect. I chose this wall first because it was our clutter corner. Everything just went there. Secondly the wall paper was peeling on the corners, and honestly I just had enough.
A small DIY home renovation turned into a massive job. We are thankful that we found the problem because this one can of worms opened worms in other rooms of the house as well. And we would never have known. The wall paper was hiding everything!!! We did a video on part one and part two of fixing the wall.
I think the hardest part was letting everything dry because it was such a rainy season.
Here is the link to our YouTube Video Part 1.
We first had to fix the problem from the outside before we could fix the pretty part on the inside. We needed some professional advice and then we ordered what we needed, sealed the windows and fixed the problems.
After we fixed the "actual" problem from the outside of the house we could move on to my happy place. Planning and designing. This is one of my big passions and what I decided to study all those years ago. At first Barry didn't agree with me but eventually I got my own way. (maybe I am a brat)
Here is what we did and used to finish the wall. We removed the left over wall paper glue from the wall with a wet sponge. Using a scraper, we scraped the sticky glue from the wall. We used RhinoLite and drywalling to fix all the areas that was damaged after we allowed the wall to dry completely and treated the rust. We removed the small piece of carpet and replaced it with tiles. By the time we did all these things the wall was fixed from the outside, the window was sealed and treated so it won't ever happen again.
The Rust was bad and we had no idea this was happening underneath the wall paper.
Once the wall was painted with an undercoat and paint we could finally start the real job! Or the nice part of the job.
Instead of covering the wall with paper again, or just leaving it painted we decided to clad the wall with corrugated polycarb in bronze. At first we had no idea if it would work but I had a picture in my head and I was determined to get just that picture in my dining room.
"Wie nie waag nie sal nie weet of ooit wen nie!" Right?
So we did it. We did the cladding on the complete wall in the bronze corrugated polycarb. Then we used an Aliminium corner profile which we sprayed to our preferred color (charcoal) to finish it off neatly. To finish the wall where the wall and tiles meet we used a quarter round and also sprayed it the same color. The spray we used has a primer in already.
The beautifully detailed side unit you see in the picture was made by my Barry and Luke. All from a picture I had in mind and they brought it all to life. I am so proud of them.
You can watch the YouTube Video over here: Luke explains in detail what he did and what he learnt while making the beautiful furniture piece. https://youtu.be/cHA7wE3Mbt8
The only thing we did not make ourselves was the steel window frames. We had that custom made to fit the windows. We had to cut it ourselves a few times, but it was ordered in the color to match the existing windows.
I would like to get a huge pot or glass vase for this table but I am sure the right piece will come at the right time. I have seen some nice pots but nothing quite right or big enough yet.
And this brings me to the end of our very first homeschool DIY job done and dusted. You can watch part 2 of us finishing the wall here. https://youtu.be/l_6_EQSbK6Y
We would love to hear from you. What do you think of our new wall? I know it's very minimalistic but it's our style. We like straight lines and less is always more. I think that is why this wall irritated me so much to begin with.
All the renovations we do, we try do it as "cheap" as we can but still make it look and feel inexpensive. Not everything has to cost an arm and a leg to look beautiful. If you have any questions about the how's, the where's and the prices, give us a shout. We are happy to share.
Remember to subscribe to our channel. Mamma bear has the perfect new project in mind and goodness I can't wait to share it with you, but first I need to run the idea past Pappa bear. Luckily this is one area where we see eye to eye most of the time.
Chat soon friends.
Maris
xoxo
