Butterball

So...our tenants of the nine years since we bought the place moved out in January. They left the home in very good condition, however we wanted to make a few improvements.

With $40 worth of soft gray* paint purchased from the Habitat Restore in Modesto, Bill was able to paint every interior wall in the entire house, taking them from old and drab to fresh and clean. Some accent walls were poo-colored so that definitely had to go!

Another $20 or so took care of bringing the doors, trim and upper kitchen cupboards into the 21st century with a crisp ultra-white. 

(Sorry the lighting sucks so bigly on that left shot. I tried to fix it and only made it worse.)

 

The cabinet next to the interior garage door was chewed up from being banged against for years so that had to be repaired first with a ton of wood putty and sanding. I gave the kitchen cabinets a more modern look by rehabbing the doors from 1980s flat, beveled (boring) to a pretty grey-blue shaker-style by adding rails and stiles (that one's for you, Bill) to each door face.

That after photo shows the actual wall color that we used throughout the house.*

I had to repair some other areas of the house, as well. At one time there had evidently been a leak that caused mold to form at the top of the master bedroom window frame.

After Bill made sure the window wouldn't have any further leaks, I performed Mohs surgery on the molded area, replaced drywall, mudded everything smooth, and then repainted the whole window frame.

Presto-change-o, good as new!

The only room we managed to not paint was the bathroom. There was a funky area around the sink, though, where there was no backsplash. So instead of getting roped into repainting the whole room, I decided to create a new backsplash with a modern look.

Not what I would have chosen for my own home but, hey, it's a rental.

Last but not least, a $4 reject can of high-gloss cobalt blue gave the front door a fresh new look.

While Bill and I worked on the home, we took our sweet time, laughed a lot, sang really loud to a lot of Tom Petty (R.I.P.), and went through a few bags of chips and jars of peanuts. We also met our kitty-corner neighbor, who wrapped on the door one rainy evening to tell us her nephew and his wife might be interested in renting. They came over to look at the place while it was a giant in-process mess and, long story short (don't you love that phrase?), they now live there!

* Due to crappy iPhone photos and inconsistent lighting, you'll have to take my word for it that the walls are now a lovely, soft gray.