# Maine Cape, re-renovating



## bluelinebrotha (Jun 15, 2011)

We are in the process of renovating our newly purchased and newly renovated 1870's era Maine cape. The previous owner put 50000 into "cheap" renovations, but also provided some more expensive ones like wood floors and decent bathroom fixtures/floor tiles. Attached I have 4 pictures of the Master Bed/Bath which is attached and the first room to be overhauled:

*Bedroom:* It is dark, with only two lights in the room and one cave window (upstairs) we are looking to paint the room a very muted and light gray. We would also like to add some spice to this room and make it less bland. The bed, nightstands, dressers will all be painted black, and all wood trim painted white. The rug...well, we'd like some ideas as to the color, but i like the carpets deep 

*Bathroom:* The bathroom is attached to the bedroom as you can see. We'll need to run some custom trim to block off the rooms so we can paint the bathroom a light blue color. Wallpaper will be going away in favor of the light blue paint and the wood panel trim, my wife wants to paint it white. The floor tiles, fixtures will all remain the same. The tub surround will be painted white and the tub itself will need to be painted if we can figure that out. Any other ideas for this room, please let me know! I know it's got good potential, just really don't want to mess anything up. We're DIY amateurs.


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## hyunelan2 (Aug 14, 2007)

I think your taste and color selection for the bedroom may be working against your desire to eliminate the room being dark. Gray walls, black furniture, and deep colored rugs are not going to help make the room brighter, even if you double the amount of light fixtures. 

You are not going to have much success trying to paint that tub without a lot of prep-work. Porcelain can be painted, but it requires sanding, bonding agents, primer, certain paint, and for it to be sprayed. If you are a DIY newbie, and don't have access to a good paint spraying system, you may want to look into contracting that out (or even replacing the tub with a color you like). 

I do agree with the bead-board looking better in white and the wall paper has GOT to go. Wallpaper should be outlawed.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That's one strange looking room.
Wood paneling behind a drop in tub.
You can forget about the DIY panting of the tub. Not gong to hold up.
Painting dark colors to brighten up a room
Some solor tubs or a sky light would bring in a whole lot more natural lighting.


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## bluelinebrotha (Jun 15, 2011)

Believe me, I want to keep the gray as light and muted as possible, even if its a soft/subtle shade. The white walls are just getting too dirty and doesn't work well with the rest of the bedroom. The bathroom has plenty of light and a light blue would look pretty good. 

Since that picture was taken, I replaced a couple of the fixtures with upgraded, modern light throwing fixtures that have increased lighting in the bedroom by around 20% I would say. 

I want sunlights (BAD) but my wife said she does not. We both are in agreement that a light colored rug is the way to go, and since it's a small square area, we think we can tackle the install by ourselves without messing things up too much


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

A rug in a bathroom is almost never a great idea.
I've pulled out a few and all had floor damage or at least mold issues.
Sorry to sound so negative but some of use that have been around for 40 plus years dealing with houses have seen some things that look better on paper.


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## hyunelan2 (Aug 14, 2007)

If you want a rug in the bathroom, find a bathroom rug. That way you can take it out and put it through the washing machine to get the mold and mildew out of it (along with the residue from the over-spray of your wife's beauty products. I keep telling my wife I'm going to build her a paint booth for her to get ready in).


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Get her a HVLP sprayer and run a lne from your compressor so she can just plug it in for less over spray.


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## bluelinebrotha (Jun 15, 2011)

Sorry I should have been more clear. This is an attached master bath to bedroom. The bathroom won't have a rug, it will remain with tiles as I think they look pretty good. The rug under the bed (that 12x12 square) will be replaced from that ugly dark and dirty red maroon rug they decided to never replace, with a nicer light colored one. Hope that clears things up a little bit. I know my house is kind of awkward!


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