With the floors all done in the two bedrooms, they are all dry and ready to walk on. The sanding did kick up a bit of dust that stuck to the woodwork and wallpaper so before I hang the curtains, I go through both rooms and dust off all of the surfaces. For the woodwork I use a cleaner from Waterlox since all of the woodwork is finished with Waterlox. For the wallpaper, I use a microfiber mop. At some points where there’s a heavy buildup, I use a damp microfiber towel to wipe the wallpaper down. After the dusting, I hang the curtains and for the master bedroom I assemble the bed frame that I purchased from Amish woodworkers.

Speaking of woodwork, with the cottage porch light oiled, I apply some wood filler to various diviets in the wood. After that dries, I do another round of sanding and put on a coat of alcohol based dye to try and even out some of the colors in the wood. Once the dye dries I start applying the stain. The mixture is the same I used for the bedroom woodwork with the primary color burnt umber via linseed oil paint.

The door gets more scrubbing as I keep trying to remove any remnants of paint. There’s a few blotched parts that I’m not sure if were originally there or caused by the stripper. I’ll need to apply some wood bleach to see if I can get that out.

Outside, the pine tarred fence is ready for installation. I dig a small trench using a staked line as a guide. I then pound the fence in with a mallet and plant some grass seed next to the fence.

The outside shower has a stone pathway to the door. Right near the door, there was a doormat that didn’t seem like a good idea because it just kept getting caked with dirt. I remove the doormat and notice some missing stones which is why they probably threw down the doormat. I get a few pavers at Home Depot to see if I can fill in the gap. I get most plugged in, but looks like I’ll need a few smaller stones to fill everything in.

Last up on the exterior is continued stripping of the doorframe. This is proving to be more challenging than inside. There’s far more layers of paint on the exterior and the paint seems to be more resistant to heat and chemical stripping. Looks like I’ll need a few more passes to get this all off.