Yesterday was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the speech Ronald Reagan made at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin challenging Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”. Of course this was in 1987 so I only have vague memories of the actual event since at the time I was busy spiral curling my hair, teasing my bangs to new gravity-defying heights and wondering if George Michael from Wham! would ever love me back. As it turns out, communism had better odds for success.
And since I’m such a knowledgable history buff (as long as by knowledgable you mean that most of what I know about the Revolutionary War I learned from watching Mel Gibson in The Patriot) I decided that I’d commemorate the historic challenge issued by President Reagan by tearing down a wall of my own. Specifically, the walls in our guest bedroom.
That’s actually not really why I decided to tear down the walls in our guest bedroom yesterday, but it makes for a compelling story. Plus it’s a lot more interesting than the actual story and you have to admit it feels serendipitous that I chose June 12th as the day to tear down a wall. It’s like it was meant to be and I’m hoping it bodes well for the overall success of my spontaneous decision.
What really happened was the Texas drought. We live in an old house on a pier and beam foundation and the severe drought caused our house to undergo some shifting. Which is a nice way of saying that the walls in our guest bedroom bore the brunt of the damage and the sheet rock was actually cracked and jutting out from the walls. It looked terrible. Like so bad that Gulley’s son Will was scared to go in there because he thought spiders might live in those holes in our wall.
But P said there wasn’t any point in fixing it until the house stabilized a little because it would just crack again. So we’ve had gaping sheetrock for over a year. It’s super classy. Think Martha Stewart in a crack house.
About a month ago we began to get bids from various people about fixing the cracks in that room along with some other more minor cracks we have in the living and dining rooms. And it was at some point about two weeks ago when one of the men bidding on the job said, “You know, you could always just tear out this sheetrock in here and have some really cool exposed wood walls even though it looks like they might have some wallpaper on them.”
And I thought that sounded mildly interesting but like it had the potential to be a lot of work and trouble and mess. Then Gulley and I went to visit Jen and I noticed that they have exposed wood walls in their house which was built around the same time as ours, as in the days when walls were made of solid rows of 2 x 10s or 1 x 10s or whatever it took.
Then I realized that Gulley’s husband had created a similar look in their master bedroom. And, finally, I saw this picture on Pinterest.
Source: thecastingdock.com via Halley on Pinterest
So Monday night I casually mentioned to P, “What if we just tore out that sheetrock in the guest bedroom and had exposed wood walls that we could paint?” And he got up from where he was sitting, walked into the guest bedroom and tore an enormous chunk of sheetrock off the wall while he said, “It would be easy enough to do. You could totally do it.”
And I was so pleased with his enthusiasm and the ease with which he appeared to tear part of the wall down that I missed the emphasis on the word “YOU”.
With great enthusiasm and vigor I set out to tear down the walls yesterday morning after Caroline and I got home from swim practice. I even had a crow bar. The first section of the wall tore away with almost no problem which gave me a false sense of confidence, but the other sections didn’t budge quite so easily.
Fortunately, Gulley’s boys came over to stay for a little while so she could run a few errands and I sold the kids on the fun of tearing down walls. Otherwise known as free child labor.
But I quickly realized they all needed to have on some sort of safety goggles.
Or maybe just goofy-looking goggles. Either way.
By the end of the afternoon we had created an unholy mess, enough dust to give us asthma for years to come, and fun summertime memories of that time I made them think tearing down the walls in our guest room was better than summer camp.
But it must have worked because the last thing Caroline said to me as I tucked her in bed was, “Mama, I can’t wait to tear down some more of that wall tomorrow.”
I bet that’s just how Gorbachev felt.
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What’s so funny is the bed is still sitting in the room…and the bed skirt is still on!! Had to laugh…It’s exactly how I would have done it!!! LOVE the exposed wall!!!
Think Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn 2012
My exact thought. LOVE the exposed wood, love the painted wood look, too.
That’s going to be beautiful! And I love the kids in action photos. They are precious x 1000.
The wall is great! (I always thought pier and beam made better sense for Texas than slabs.). Keep us posted.
That.Is.Awesome. I am seriously in love with your walls and so jealous that under our plaster, just have little rows of lath – nothing beautiful about that. I cannot wait to see the finished product!!
You crack me up! And the walls look super promising.
Love the safety glasses!
Those wood walls look absolutely amazing already! I think there’s a lesson here. At least for me. We have projects going on that have been drug out for a century. Because we’re really that old. {Funny, I’ve taught my five-year-old a new vocabulary word recently–exaggeration. Because she does that a lot. Hmm. Wonder where she got it from?}
We have a landscaping nightmare that has been going on since February when we hired someone we knew with a too good to be true offer. Turns out that offer was way too good to be true and I totally wish P lived next door.
My oldest daughter’s bedroom has been in the middle of a floor redo for the youngest to move in since forever ago {again, not exaggerating at all or anything}.
My point is that with these projects and a deep desire to get the little one out of her current bedroom so that I can have a new office and an even deeper desire for a window seat in my supposed to be breakfast nook thanks to Pinterest and it’s teasing ideas–I’ve realized something. {I’m getting there. Really} Sometimes in the long wait the Lord challenges us. For me, to be thankful for right where I am and sometimes to put in some of the hard work myself. Or ourselves in the case of tilling up the old landscaping. Because that’s just a man’s job in my opinion. And the rewards are far greater. The process drags on so much longer. But think of if you’d had those walls redone at an earlier time. Maybe like, when you wanted it done yesterday. They would be finished. No cracks. But the amazing discovery of those original walls would be lost.
God is so good in His infinite wisdom to make us wait sometimes. I would absolutely love to have those walls and now have to be thankful for my sheetrock and not pout that I live in this house without beautiful wood walls.
Can’t wait to see your finished project. {Maybe that’s too anxious a closing seeing as how I’m trying to drive home a point on patience and what God does in the wait.
}
The walls look great. Can’t wait to see the finished product. I loved free child labor, but now mine are teens and they want $. ; )
Love the walls… My son and daughter bought an older house and they have the same kind of walls, matter of fact the wall paper looks the same that was on your walls. Can’t wait for your to finish and paint so that i can show them a picture. My son wants to put sheet rock on theirs. We have been trying to get him to paint it. I think it will be beautiful painted. Good luck. Post pictures of the finished wall after you paint. Good luck on it..
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Oh my gosh, I am so jealous of those wood walls. It’s going to be gorgeous!
Bravo! Awesome post…made me laugh out loud! I love me some free child labor…you are brilliant.
The photos of the kids are great! What a ‘fun’ project for everyone, and hopefully P will get in the spirit of the renovation and help out too. Those home project make for great conversations later on. As in……. remember when we decided to put in a covered patio and it took 3 years (I’m not making this up, really!) to finish and then it still didn’t look good so we finally hired someone to redo it? Yeah, great conversations later on, and the kids still laugh at my husband and me.
I am SO impressed with your work! It looks so good already! Now I’m trying to decide whether to google “pier and beam foundation” to find out exactly what is it, or just decide that it’s one of those things I can live without knowing. Something in the back of my head is telling me that in the time I’ve spent writing this, I could have googled it and found out…
I already like the look of the exposed wood. Can’t wait to see pictures of the finished product!
The wood walls are in great shape! It’s going to be lovely. Smart on ya for using the kids. Ya, I totally got that phrase from an Australian TV show I’ve watching.
~FringeGirl
How fun!! I can’t wait to out of this post-op phase (another 3 weeks) and get back to our projects around here. Very inspiring!!
What a great idea–the inspiration pic is so cool! And the memories created with & for those sweet kiddos are priceless! The action pix are pretty priceless, too.
Love it. I have a chunk of the Berlin wall and I dare say East Berlin looks much better without it. Your extra bedroom will too.
I think I can safely guarantee that your room will be put back together much easier and quicker than any former Soviet country- at least the one I live in!
I love it that you had the kids in there and the goggles are awesome!! Can’t wait to see the afters!!
when I win the lottery, I’m going to build my new house with walls just like that. Now to buy a ticket. Seriously, I love that look and wish my house was old enough to even have that possibility, They didn’t do that in 1992.
I can’t wait to see what you do with this room!!!
Love the walls!! I just love the pictures of the kids! Also, your post yesterday was so wonderful! You all are so special and dear to my heart and I am so glad you and Amy got to spend time with Jen. I just adore all three of you! You are gifted with writing and using your words in wonderful ways! Love you and am so proud of you!
LOVE those walls- I can see them finished already!
That is going to look awesome! I can’t wait to see the “after” pictures!! Wish my house had character like that!
That is going to look great! And I love the safety goggles.
So jealous…I would love to have an exposed wood wall…of course my house was built in the 50′s so it’s old and ugly not old and cool!
Big Mama, you have to head over to Layla Palmer’s blog: http://theletteredcottage.net
She is all about the exposed wall look. TONS of great ideas on her blog too. Can’t wait to see your new room!
My gosh! That is some gorgeous wood! Can you sell the kids on the idea of wearing dust masks?
That’s going to look great! My mom always had us doing projects with her like that when we were kids. We loved it and actually learned how to work and be helpful. Can’t wait to see the final look!
Love the look. LOVE your labor force! You might want to cover that bed..your guests will be sneezing for years to come!!
Girl, I would be doing that in the rest of the house too! How fabulous to have that behind your sheetrock. We used to live in a hundred+ year old home in Florida — pine floors, tung and groove paneled walls AND ceilings throughout… by far my favorite home we ever lived in, the smallest home, but most definitely my favorite. I cried when we had to move. To rebuild a house like that today? A fortune, it would cost a fortune.
Can’t wait to see your finished product!
You are hilarious! I love that the kids were so into it. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I believe Tom Sawyer got someone to whitewash a fence in the very same way. Kudos to you. Tearing out two layers of linoleum is how we found out we really had hardwood floors. Totally free. Well…okay…not totally.
Our house was built in 1911. Yes, 101 years old. The walls are wood and are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I have been contemplating painting them in order to lighten the rooms up a bit. I am in turmoil over it because first of all, I hate to think of ruining the walls by painting them instead of leaving them in their original, 101 years of glory. But then I think painting them white, as shown in your Pinterest picture, would really lighten up our very dark rooms. I know this is your blog Mel but if anyone could help me with this decision I would appreciate it.
Okay, I was laughing before I even got past the first paragraph, because there’s a car dealership right next to our church – Larry Miller somethingorother. They had a giant cinder block wall that we drove past every single week on our way to Costco after church and they recently tore down that eyesore and put in grass and landscaping. And now every time – EVERY SINGLE TIME – we drive past it my husband says “Mr. Larry Miller, tear down that wall!!” in his best Ronald Regan impersonation. (Which, now that I think about it, also sounds a lot like a Clint Eastwood impersonation.) And I laugh. Every. Single. Time.
Way to go on your walls, btw. It’s going to look awesome!
not sure why but this made me giggle!!
how fun !
First, smart move on getting the kids to help. They love to make messes and this was a productive mess.
Second, love the exposed walls. Are you going to pain them or leave it as is. I love it as is but could see it might be dark… unless you decorated in white or light colors like that pintrest picture.
Looking forward to seeing the finished room.
Have a blessed day!
Jackie
you are a hot mess and i love it!!
hilarious!! i love the kids goobles as my kids call them:):)
so much fun for them!
cant wait to see the finished product:)
What a funny story! I love how kids will get so excited about the simple things in life like tearing down walls. Can’t wait until my girls are old enough for some free child labor!
They’re 2 and 1, so I guess I’m gonna have to wait a while. haha!
That child labor, it sure is something. Love the exposed wall look. Love the protective eyewear, even more! Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Ooohlala…what a treasure you had hiding under that sheetrock! That’s going to be gorgeous! You may be onto something with the summer camp idea. Would make a great HGTV series
Cade would be first in line. His current favorite show is House Crashers! I may have to send him over to your house for some demo fun. He’s never used a crowbar before but I’m pretty sure he’d love it. 
Can’t wait to see how the room turns out!
That is going to be so beautiful. You use that child labor!
What an adventure for the kids! Cool wall too
Big, it’s gonna be beautiful! Wish I had wood behind this sheetrock my boys keep puttin’ holes into……
When is the book coming out?
Ooh!!! I can’t WAIT to see the finished product!!
I kind of want to come slam a hammer onto that wall, too. But, that would probably be weird–since you don’t know me in real life and all… “Uhm, P–WHO is the woman hammerin’ our walls?”
Cracking up at the swim/safety goggles! Love, love, love the wood walls!
That wall is already super cool. (Yes, I grew up in the 80′s, too.) It’s going to look amazing when y’all are done.
After a bit of a bummer of a day that goggle picture made me actually laugh out loud. Thanks for a smile!
LOVE the walls! LOVE the safety goggles! Great post! Those kids will always have fun memories of the wall.
I’m great at demolition…terrible at the rebuild. I had a blast tearing down wallpaper so that I could texture and paint my bathroom. It took me a year to do that last part. In fact, I still haven’t finished the second coat. The paint can actually sits under my sink…mocking me.
Great post! And you know, being “Reagan-esque” seems to be quite popular these days!
I love the paint color, and those boards look absolutely phenomenal. I also love the “safety swim goggles.” My {then} 4-year-old helped with our basement demo, and he used goggles from a Halloween costume. Safety first!