Rental Remedies

Rental Remedy In Progress: Massachusetts Farm House

I’ve been a bit lax in my blogging this week, as my friend and I took a road trip to Massachusetts to help my college roommate move across the state.  We knew we’d be helping her pack, unpack, and fix up her new home – a shared apartment in the first floor of an old farmhouse.  What we didn’t know is just how much work it would take, and what surprises it had in store.  We had plenty of adventures in rental remedy-ing, including the following:

Using up an entire container of spackling just to fix the walls in two small rooms:

Repainting this room that had previously been marred by the unfortunate choice of white walls and red molding:

Cleaning up and fixing a vintage light fixture, and removing thousands of dead bugs from it in the process:

Removing dead plants from a previously boys-only bathroom (while dressed in our Sunday best, no less):

. . .  scrubbing 3+ years worth of mold and mildew from aforementioned boys-only bathroom – something too horrifying to show a photo of . . . doing the same for the kitchen – again, will not subject you to a photo . . .

Convincing my dear friend Melissa that function and use-what-you-have decorating should be accompanied by form – and that the combination of this maroon velvet sitting chair, the wooden table, and the blue and white painted chairs does not an attractive dining area make:

But most importantly, helping a good friend and sharing plenty of laughter, good food, and great coffee in the process.

Whew!  I’m exhausted just remember how much we did.  I’m home now, and after being out of town for almost ever weekend since my move, I’m thrilled to be home this weekend (and the next) to work on some projects of my own.

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9 Comments

  • Reply Robin at 3:20 pm

    What a cute post! I love helping friends. That red trim is very, very unfortunate I agree. 🙂

  • Reply Michela at 5:37 pm

    Ooh, yeah that red paint is an unfortunate choice. Also, that table in the last photo looks familiar. In fact, I think I have the same one. =)

  • Reply Jeannine @ Small & Chic at 6:28 pm

    Oh my gosh…unfortunate is an understatement for that poor room! Amazing that someone thought that painting trim red was a winning decision.

    What an awesome friend you are!!!

  • Reply Anna at 6:52 pm

    Hey, it’s exciting to get to see pictures of what’s happening… you should post photos of what it looks like after you finished!

  • Reply Julia at 8:09 pm

    Only a great friend would convince someone such a dining room scheme would work. I love the maroon armchair! I own two green ones and have toyed with sticking them in my dining set… in my already overcrowded great room.

  • Reply Becky at 8:23 pm

    You should know by now that helping Melissa move is *always* a huge undertaking.
    The white walls/red moulding sounds awful. I’m glad you fixed it. Did you manage to find an appropriate place for the giant cactus?

  • Reply Jane at 8:55 pm

    @Becky – when we left, the giant cactus (supported by a horrid looking metal pole and some plastic ties) was sitting forlornly on the porch. You’ve reminded me that I wanted to suggest to her that she replace the metal support with a bamboo pole.

    @Julia – Oops! I meant that we convinced her not to combine all of those dining area elements, because it just didn’t work.

    In Melissa’s defense, she was incredibly well packed and organized for the move. There was none of the “throwing things blindly into trash bags” approach this time. 🙂

  • Reply Candy at 2:19 am

    You are a true friend, Jane! Melissa is certainly blessed to have you. I thought this move might not be as bad as the one to Chicopee, but it sounds like it was rather challenging.
    The metal support was on the cactus because it was all we could find last time I was there and the cactus was falling over and attacking folks as they walked past. It is getting rather out of control. Bamboo would look much nicer if it will stand up in the pot.
    Thanks for posting the pictures. I’m anxious to see the place, but maybe I should wait until the cleaning is finished 🙂

  • Reply Melissa at 2:50 am

    Jane, you are the best roommate ever. Thank you guys so much for the assistance. I painted the second coat of buckskin in the studio and started priming the trim. I’ll send you some pictures soon!

    @Julia – Ahha – I’m glad someone else likes the idea of putting comfortable chairs at the dining table. I think with the right tablecloth it could work.

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