Specifically, we've only done a few things that cost more than $2,000. Specifically, we did the drywall and plaster work that we had to do to get into the house, and that was about $3,000. We bought all new appliances for the rental-side kitchen and that was about $2,500. But the majority of stuff has been small, very small. In fact, we've really spent nothing but our time in a lot of cases.
We have now spent weeks stripping wallpaper, a task made worse and more complicated by the fact that the victorians wallpapered everything, and they generally wallpapered over old wallpaper. So we have wallpaper on the walls and ceiling up to six layers deep. Many implements are sold to make this better, and we tried using dissolving solution. But we finally just bought a steamer. It made the process both faster and less dusty, but still very slow.
Another thing we did was use orange oil on most of the wood. I know most people would call this "cleaning," but I don't think anyone had done any such things in our house in over a decade and what should be beautiful wood was looking pretty dry and awful. A few liberal slatherings with oil and we had lustrous, gorgeous wood. Of course, given how dry it is and the length of time before we did this, we'll be doing it again. A lot.
My dad also managed to break a few windows open -- some had been painted shut. He and Chris also installed the original shutters, which are blackout shutters and were mercifully left in the attic by whatever idiot thought it was a good idea to take them down.
Chris did a ton of small electrical work -- which, of course, is why I married him. (not really, honey)
And we installed a lot of lights, since the prevailing fixtures were decidedly 70s trailer park. In the parlor, the light cost a mere $42. Crucial difference between Lowe's and Home Depot, as far as I can tell: Home Depot really sells the hell out of clearance items. We got two and the other will go in our bedroom.
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