You probably have a focus in your house, whether or not that’s a chunk of furnishings, a window, a door, or, in Courtney Batten’s (@texasmodernist) case, a hearth, it deserves to be celebrated. Courtney’s house is a 1956 ranch, and it has nice mid-century bones.
“My husband and I had been in search of a mid-century residence with character for months after we discovered this gem,” Courtney explains. “We have been grateful that the vendor had stored a lot of the unique options and appeal … nonetheless, all the residence was painted a cool toned grey that has develop into synonymous with flipped properties.”
Not even the strong wooden paneling above the fireside was spared, and the all-over grey made the fireside fade into the background. Courtney provides that it even made the ceiling appear low as a result of there was nowhere to your eye to maneuver as much as the ceiling.
Courtney and her husband, Jered, had “by no means actually completed any DIY tasks” earlier than, and the ranch is the primary residence they’ve owned. Earlier than kickstarting their fire makeover, the couple had truly had professionals inform them the mission of getting the prevailing grey paint off the paneling can be not possible — particularly contemplating all of the small grooves.
“My husband, nonetheless, spent his faculty years working at an auto physique store sanding down vehicles to be refinished, so between that and many suggestions and tips from varied YouTube movies, we figured it out as we went,” Courtney says, including that their backup plan was to imitate the unique paneling with plywood if their paint removing plan didn’t work.
Citristrip paint stripping gel got here to the rescue.
Fortunately, with $700, quite a lot of persistence, and a bit assist from the aforementioned YouTube movies, Courtney and Jered managed to revive the prevailing fire to its authentic situation — and so they didn’t even must fall again on plywood (for probably the most half).
Eradicating the paint took many reapplications of paint stripper (Courtney and Jered went with Citristrip), which needed to sit for a number of hours coated with wax paper to stop drying earlier than being eliminated and cleaned between functions, Courtney explains. “Essentially the most tedious half, nonetheless, was utilizing a mini file at hand sand the remaining bits of paint out of the grooves between the panels,” she provides. However the arduous and messy work was value it.
“Whereas it appears like we spent quite a bit on the paint stripper, the truth that we have been in a position to salvage the unique wooden saved us a lot extra money than if we had changed it outright.”
The toughest half was the paneling behind the bookshelves.
The one hiccup Courtney and Jered skilled whereas restoring their front room again to its mid-century roots was with the bookshelf. The DIY duo was anticipating to search out wooden within the wall behind the bookshelf as effectively, but it surely turned out to be wallpapered-over drywall.
“We pivoted to matching the unique wooden with 1/4-inch mahogany veneered plywood panels lower to measurement to suit between the cabinets,” Courtney says. “The toughest half was slicing the panels such that they slid behind the bookshelf with minimal gaps. There’s nothing sq. in a 67-year-old home!”
The silver lining is that Courtney and Jered acquired to dip their toes into the world of utilizing energy instruments — or, relatively, they cannonballed proper in. “Whilst a design skilled, leaping right into a mission with out understanding how it could end up was a bit scary, but it surely has given me the arrogance to sort out bigger tasks in our residence,” Courtney says, noting that she used a brand new powered hand sander and a desk noticed for the primary time throughout this mission.
The after is a comfy MCM retreat.
The wooden paneling provides a lot character and appeal to the area and makes it a lot cozier to be in,” Courtney says. “I really like the heat that the wooden brings into the area, particularly contrasting with the white terrazzo flooring.”
“I’m past thrilled with how effectively it got here out and am completely satisfied to have ‘un-flipped’ a bit piece of design historical past,” Courtney says.
Supply: House Remedy