This is the story…Part 2

of how my Family Cottage got its first make over in 50 years.

Ok,  so you saw my first post with the before pictures of the cottage.  It was “woody” to say the least and not the nice kind of woody…

This kind of woody:

To paint over this 50 year old ply wood took a lot of doing.

First I had to sand it out,

Then prime in a shellac based stain blocker because I was blocking 50 years of smoke ( yup Nana loved the smokes – I memorized it:   “Craven “A” Light Regular Please” – then I handed a permission note, hand written from my Nana – so I could buy them…ahh those were the days..I digress).

Water damage from when we often left the windows open or from a particularly horizontal rain storm, ( it wasn’t all ways my fault!)

And still, to this day, to block the resin in the boards – the smell of the primer was horrible and anyone with asthma was staying well away – thank goodness that was over -

To repeat for those who might not have read the first post:

The catalyst was that we wanted to rent it for the summer to cover the maintenance costs and if you have ever owned a cottage you know that it adds up. Plus the fact that it just plain needed re-claiming!  Our cottage has been in the family since it was built on a snowy Thanks Giving Weekend ( that’s in October up here in Canada) 50 years ago.  I tell you it pretty much looked the same for 50 years.  So going up to the cottage was like stepping back in time.  Once I started bringing my family up, I wanted to help the cottage be a bit brighter!  My love of colour was being drowned out in faded browns and pinks.  I love the place but it needed a spa day – a “face lift”.  My Mom loved it and frankly wanted it to stay the same.  But once she came over to the bright side (5 years of nagging) …she let me loose!

Let me show you the difference paint can make:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I think the paint make the true spirit of the cottage come out:  refreshing, light and open.  A place to relax and get away from it all.

So here is my extra gift to you.

The view from my shower:  Don’t get too jealous -  It will likely have its own posting in the summer -our renters say it is the BEST SURPRISE the cottage had to offer. I  tend to agree with them.  Now we just need to get a larger hot water tank!

Love Barb

Tagged as: cottage life, hand painting, painting