DIY: deep cleaning woodwork

Steven is away from home a few days for a work-related seminar. No fun for him, and well, no fun for me either. I am wrangling our four busy boys and trying to keep the house in some sort of order. Progress has stalled a smidge on the dining room since powersanders and toddlers don't really mix.

Anyway... In the effort to appear efficient, organized and productive, I spent a little quality time with the staircase. It is the first thing you see when you enter the house, and even though it gets cleaned every now and again with some nice citrus cleaner, it really needed a deep Spring cleaning.

For those of you doing your own Spring cleaning, follow along. It's easy!

Step One: Deep Clean
Spray down your woodwork with some TSP substitute. You can pick this up at Home Depot, Lowe's, or most any hardware store. Let it sit a minute. Then wipe down with an old rag. To get in the nooks and crannies, I put an old rag on a plastic putty knife. You can drag the edge around and get into the edges. And when you look at the rag, you will see just how dirty it really was!
Step Two: Restore & Polish
After you deep clean, your wood will be dull and ugly. You will wonder why the hell you spent all that time scrubbing just to make your wood look that bad. Don't fret - you just need to nourish it and shine it back up. Pick up some wood restore/polish. I used one called Howard Feed-N-Wax.

Note: Old wood does not like oil. Always use a wax instead of oil.

Step Three: Watch your kids walk all over the wood you just spent hours cleaning
Look how shiny! Before it was grungy, even though it was just dusted! The steps will shine up more as well. Usually, you put the wax on for 20 minutes or so and then give them a nice buff.

Entry Way

It was killing me that the first thing people saw in our home was nasty, peeling wallpaper, broken plaster, and grungy carpet. Right before Halloween, I decided I didn't want half the neighborhoood seeing our ugly entry way again this year.

After steaming off the wallpaper (that is my other half, Steven, working on the stairs), I repaired the plaster over the pocket door and all over the ceiling. Steven replaced the missing trim over the pocket door and updated the electrical. Now here is where I will make a few people cringe... I liked the existing light fixture, and it was original to the house. They are gas/electric lights and very pretty... only I wasn'r grooving on the finish. So, Steven painted them flat black and I picked out pretty etched glass shades. (We don't have a full set of the original shades).

After priming with Kilz, I mixed up some sand texture in a light grayish ceiling paint (Valspar "Irish Mist") and rolled the ceiling. The walls were painted Valspar's "Dockside Haze," an airy light blue with a hint of gray. Finally, the carpet was removed (ask Steven how much he enjoys using a screwdiver and vise-grips to pull out staples!) and shined up.

We have yet to hang our artwork, since it is a complete pain to locate studs and pre-drill the holes in plaster, so you can see a few of our pieces leaning up against the wall. Steven's mother gave us the beautiful metal trunk in the corner that we will use for the boys' hats, coats, etc. The wooden painted umbrella holder I found at Goodwill for $4. The little plant stand to the left of the door was also from Goodwill. I left the metal alone and painted the shelves white. I chose new hardware, curtains and sheers from Bed, Bath and Beyond. The rug is from Target.

Here is a nice close-up of the push-button switches we are putting in through-out the house. The original switchbox was hanging outside of the wall and butted up against the door jam. Steven moved it over (and into the wall), and I patched the plaster.

Here is a close-up of the front doorknob. It is pretty and original to the house. I hung a jingle bell for the holidays. Can you believe the flaming on the wood? I suppose you HAVE to have a 100 year old door to get wood that pretty anymore.

Here is the pocket door all fixed up. We were told by an appraiser that to replace this door would be $3000. I think we will take really good care of the one we have!

Until my office/studio is completed in what is now our backporch... I have set up my desk in the entry way. Here is a shot of my black desk. The top is just wrapping paper and Steven cut a top out of plexi. I lined the drawer in the same fabric I used for the sidechair (which my cat has totally destroyed and already needs recovered). The sidechair came from Goodwill and was painted in a BRIGHT pink to match the Tina Givens fabric. My desk chair, again from Goodwill, I left in the original gloss black. The rug I got on super-clearance from Pottery Barn Kids. The piece sitting on the desk is a portait of Robert Smith (The Cure) which I did in watercolor. Sitting on my desk is a watercolor I did of our house (pre-remodel, of course). The lamp was on sale at Hobby Lobby.

Let me take a moment to justify my obnoxious chair and desk... Eventually, these will be going into my office/studio in the back porch. The back porch walls are made out of the same stone as the front of the house. It has small conduit for wiring (rustic!) running along one wall. Currently, it does not have any windows or door. (When we get to it, windows, awnings and a door with a doggy-door will be added. The door from the kitchen to the office will be replaced with a dutch door.) With all that dreary stone going on, I thought a nice pop of girly color would be nice. And since it will be my creative space, I should be able to "do it up." Until then, I will be forced to camp out in the hallway that runs from the entry way to the dining room. Grumble grumble.