The first project was making the interior livable.
Everything was the same dull grey-white color you can see in these pictures below. Most of the house also had some weird texture on the walls and ceilings. Apparently that texture was used in pizza parlors in the 70's.
Here is a close up of what the old ceilings looked like. Those little stalactites are up to an inch long. The next picture is what the ceiling looks like after geting sanded down (up?) and painted. Its a neat texture now, but I wouldn't try to duplicate it.
Here is how you sand a ceiling. It isn't as much fun as it looks, but there was plenty of work for friends and family to join in.
After the sanding, all the walls and ceilings got washed and painted, then the carpet got steam cleaned. I was hoping for antique wooden floors underneath the carpet, but no luck.