Character Building

December 31, 2006 .....

To bring in the New Year this year, I jumped on a plane in Michigan and landed in Indiana. I went to college in Indiana and a few of my friends from school still live in the area. If you are new to the Westbrook Times, I have had many adventures in Indiana with my roommate in college, Lynette (the same person that was up visiting in Michigan before Christmas). Anyway, Lynette just recently bought a house; a pretty sweet house I must say. It has so much character. But as we all know, all character can be improved; so that is what we did.

In the beginning, the only project was going to be to paint Lynette’s room. The reason is clear when you look at this picture…..need I say more?

I say “in the beginning” because there is also another part of the house that is equally hideous as her bedroom wall. But this section covers a bit more wall space and is covered in some pretty vile wallpaper. Let me express the extremely strong feelings I have against wallpaper. All the people involved in this process will never put wallpaper on their walls. It is the biggest pain to remove. Some just paint over it, but if you are going to do something you have to do it right.

So the ripping down of wallpaper began in the front entrance, climbed the stairway upstairs, and ended in the rather large upstairs landing. Fortunately, a lot of it came off in big sheets; but we ran into many stubborn areas.

After many hours of tearing, steaming, and scraping; all of the wallpaper was removed and the painting process began. I wasn’t there long enough to see everything finished. Lynette’s room and the front entrance were completed and look fabulous!

I wish I could say that I have some great before and after shots, but I don’t. But here are some that were taken during the process. Pictured on the left is Lynette's room almost finished.

Sheen helping with the primer ->

Lynette and Kristi scrapping the wallpaper glue off with the stick clip. Creative. ->

.....January 1, 2007

For those sharp, observant readers out there; you might have noticed the gate in one of the above pictures. No Lynette doesn't have any toddlers running around the house. She has two dogs, Yetti and an 8 week old pup named Kiwi. Being on vacation, I wasn't to impressed by Kiwi when she decided to do a 6am wake up call. But it is hard to stay mad at a dog that is so cute! She was lucky she had that going for her.

Oh and you can't start the New Year right without a family picture in front of the fireplace. Happy 2007!

L to R, B to F: Nicolas, Bekah, Jana, Crystal, Kristi, Heather, Sarah, Lynette, Kiwi, and Yetti

okay one more...

L toR, B to F: Kristi, Crystal, Heather, Lynette, Sheena, Rachel, Yetti, and Kiwi