Our old farmhouse needed a facelift. Last year, with the help of Johnny’s dad and our good friend Curt, tore out all the carpet and redid the floors, added some tile, tore off old wallpaper and repainted the walls on the lower level. This year we are updating the lead infested upstairs by stripping it down to the bare bones. Johnny and I have been doing all the demo work ourselves, and it has been a dusty mess! Wool-like insulation, 5 kinds of plaster, backer board on top of that, mud wasp nests, lots and lots of lath, lead-based paint and a brick chimney! We are almost done! Then the pros come in from Quade Construction to do their thing.

We had some pretty crazy wallpaper in each room of the upstairs including the hallway. From kittens, to old-time street scenes, to flowers of all sizes. But this one is classic, and I have to say I will not miss it:

I did find one treasure among our demolition week. It was tucked just right behind a window frame, as if someone intentionally placed it there. With my dusty safety glasses on, I almost missed it. The photo is only 1″x 1″. It is a mystery as to who it is and what year it was taken.