(Mis)Adventures in Painting

We finally got all the ceilings painted in the new house. I wanted to have all thepriming and painting on the walls done this past weekend, as well; however, that expectation was before I had ever painted a ceiling. Walls I have painted in the past. Sure, I'm a little achy and sore after painting walls, but not to the extent I was after painting ceilings. Everything hurts - neck, back, legs, feet, arms, shoulders - the works. All burned and ached after the contortions and pressure needed to paint 8' tall ceilings.

On Saturday, Jamie's friend Spencer came over and helped us paint the ceilings. Jamie and Spencer took turns painting the edges (where the walls meet the ceilings) with a 3" brush all the way around the room, while I did the roller. Both tried to use the roller, but neither was quite tall enough or had enough upper body strength the keep up the pressure needed for a smooth, consistent layer of paint. On Sunday, Jamie's friend Jackson came over and helped with more trim, and I turned the two of them loose in the whole house with my drill and a screwdriver (they took turns on using the drill) to take down all the ugly blinds on all the windows. Then they got to carefully wrap up and stack them on the workbench in the garage.

I also got to be a spacklin' queen yesterday. There were several places on the walls where previous tenants had knocked fist-sized or smaller holes in the walls and - rather than patching the holes as any sane person would - they merely placed a solid switch-plate (no hole) over said hole. When I had Jamie take down all the switchplates and electrical outlet covers in preparation for painting, we discovered the holes. So I got to learn how to patch holes. This is a useful skill to have, as I accidentally knocked a hole in the wall at the old house when putting Jamie's bed together for the first time. Now I can patch it and not lose part of my deposit because of a hole in a wall. I also spackled over the grooves in the fugly 1970s dark faux wood paneling in the breakfast nook of the kitchen, then turned both boys loose with sanding blocks and the step ladder. This way, I can paint over the ugly thing without it being too obvious that it was once paneling.

Unfortunately, we had a mishap of epic proportions yesterday, though. I was using the putty/spackling knife to scrape paint lumps and such off the walls. What I thought was a big long glob of dripped paint in the living room happened to actually be a wrinkle in the wallpaper UNDER about six layers of paint. So when I scraped it with the putty knife, it took a huge swath of wallpaper off with it. Too large a piece to just spackle over it and keep on going. In fact, it is textured wallpaper. So all the other walls in the living room have that orange peel texture, while there's a large section that is smooth where the paper and paint were removed. Luckily, it was the short wall in the living room, the one where the front door and double window are located. So I figure I can get away with just taking down the paper on that one wall, then sanding and painting over that section. Also luckily, it's coming off without me having to steam or anything. I just grab a piece and peel, and a large section just rolls right off. But still, it's frustrating that I've hit yet another roadblock that is delaying me getting the darn thing done. I still have packing here at the old house I need to do, and I'm stuck working on stupid mishaps at the new house.

Happily, though, Jamie and I are going to have some help today at the new house. Jackson and his mom and going to come over after I get off work today and help me and Jamie prime the walls. The walls are something that the younger ones can help with. I have five rollers, so there are plenty to go around. I'm hoping between the four of us we can get the whole house primed tonight.

House Progress

UPDATE:
I didn't cry when they called Jamie up to get his graduation certificate; nor did I cry when they called him up for certificates for Safety Patrols and Strings. However, when they showed a slideshow of pictures from the entire year, with him looking so little at the beginning of the year, and pictures from the end of the year where he looks so much more like a young man, I had to look up at the ceiling and chant under my breath "do not cry. do not cry. do not cry." I managed to hold it together through the ceremony and the meet-and-greet afterwards. But when I got to my car, I put my head down on my steering wheel, and had a little cry. Seems like just yesterday (literally!) I dropped him off for his first day of Kindergarten, and today he's graduating to go on up to middle school! Sniffle, sniffle, sigh.

Well, here we have episode # 511 of how the new place is coming along. I now have a permanent crick in my neck from standing on a step stool and taping the walls right next to the ceiling. All the tops of the walls are taped, so ceiling painting can finally commence tonight. I know, I know, it sure did take me long enough. I put Jamie to work taping off the molding at the foot of the walls so that will be one less thing we have to do before we can start priming the walls. He actually did a fantastic job. He got mad at me last night because I ran out of tape before I ran out of wall to tape off, so I went to where he had been taping and stole some of his tape. Then when I said I was going to let him paint a few stripes on the ceiling, he got over being mad. We have to go get more tape at Home Depot so that Jamie can continue taping what he can reach while I get started on the ceilings. Someone is supposed to come over tonight at 7 to look at some furniture. Honestly, I'm not holding my breath on that one. I've had waaaay too many people tell me they're coming at such and such time and they never show up, don't respond to e-mails I send or phone calls. I have found that the people who are the worst about it are under the age of 27; the older people who I have talked to show up when they say they will, and if they cannot show up or don't need it anymore, they call or e-mail me to let me know. I have noticed a definite generational difference in how courteous people are! Anyway, I'm off to finish my coffee then get ready for Jamie's graduation. Jamie already informed me that if I cry, he'll be "mortified" (his word). At least I know he's got a great vocabulary.

Oh, and BTW, he still has straight A's. I'm so proud!

Postponed

I have very heavy living room furniture. The loveseat is a dual recliner, the couch is a sleeper sofa. This means that one grown woman and two tween boys cannot move them alone. One of the techs at work had said he would help us move, but I had forgotten he was going to be out of town this weekend and couldn't help us until next weekend... S0, the move is postponed a week. But this actually works out better for me, as it gives me longer to pack and longer to paint. Last night was spent in taping around the tops of the walls. I haven't gotten to actually touch paint to ceilings or walls yet. Part of the reason for that is the fact that people keep scheduling times in the late evening to come look at furniture, then they don't even bother to show up. If I hadn't had to come back here last night so early, I could have started on the ceilings. But, neither person who had scheduled to be here showed up. Grr! Inconsiderate people really hack me off! If you make a stinkin' appointment, KEEP IT. Especially when the person selling the furniture tells the prospective buyer that she will drop everything she's doing at the new house to come back to the old house to show the furniture. If they had called to say they weren't coming, at least then I could have stayed and painted. But no... didn't even have the decency to call. Twerps!

Anyway, I have to tape off the bedrooms and bathroom still tonight, but they are small rooms, so I fully expect to at least get the ceiling painted tonight. While I'm painting the ceiling, I'm going to have Jamie tape off the trim. That way, tomorrow night, when the ceilings are dry, all I'll have to do is tape off the ceilings and I can start priming the walls. Hope to have the whole house painted by Sunday, so then we can spend the rest of the week packing. Friday night, the tech will come over for us to load the truck of all but the air mattress and cot, then Saturday early we'll throw the last little bit in the car and truck and head out.

I'll be glad when this is all over with!

ETA:

FYI - tomorrow is Jamie's 5th grade graduation. I'll be sure to post pics tomorrow if I get a chance. If I don't have time tomorrow, I promise to post them soon.

400th POST! and Paint Angst

According to Blogger, this is my 400th post! Woot! Can't believe it! Although, content importance wise, this is probably only about my 100th post. I'm not the most relevant writer to the world - most of my writing has to do with me and mine, rather than the state of affairs in the world or rants about the frickin' media being so yakity-yak about Michelle Obama's fashion sense, but practically ignore the fact that she's one smart cookie and has made many decisions and changes at the White House that are soooooo relevant to the financial mess we're in right now (my favorite: the White House vegetable garden)! But don't get me started on that. I'll blow a gasket. I have to turn off the stupid news anytime someone starts gushing about her clothes and acts like that's all there is to her.....ARRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! Now I'm all batty thinking about it. I'll just stop now.

The rest of this post will be dedicated to the bedrooms of the new house, and the heart attack I had over the weekend regarding the price of paint. Ai yi yi! Yes, the landlord is going to reimburse me, but DAMN paint is expensive! I'm looking at about a $200-$300 investment, and that's just for the low end stuff. But paint is a necessity. This house is ugly, and I will go batshit insane (to steal a phrase from Suze) if I have to sit in my living room and stare at shit-brown walls. (Upon close inspection of the walls over the weekend, I've decided they aren't pretty enough to be chocolate brown. Instead, it looks like shiny poo has been smeared all over the place. I refuse to sit and look at poo all day!) So, since the investment is more than I thought it would be, instead I'm painting the whole house one color and all the trim a bright white, then as I have money I'll add the accent walls in one room at a time. It won't be as pretty in the meantime, but I'll be there two years. I think I'll live. Besides, even the one color I choose to paint it will be soooo much better than poo. I don't like feeling like I'm sitting on the inside of a dirty diaper.

Anyhoo, here's pics of the smallest bedroom, which will act as our office/music room/playroom/guest room, as the need arises. Normally, I would like this pretty shade of yellow; however, it is too yellow for the tone of the rest of the house, so it will be painted over, as well.

Bathroom & Hallway

Here's the teensy little hallway area and pics of the teeny tiny bathroom. At least the floor in here is ceramic tile put in within the last year, and it matches the color scheme I'm going for in the whole house. My shower curtain is beige with itty bitty little palm trees on it (and the occassional monkey), and my bath rug is a light beige. Since the palm trees have a nice neutral green in them, the bathroom will have green accents to make the beige/tan/whatever neutral color I pick walls and white trim "pop". Oh, and in the picture where Jamie is lurking outside the door, you can see what pitiful shape the bathroom door is in. All the interior doors in the house are like that. They all need to be replaced.

The hallway will probably be a slightly lighter shade of whatever color goes in the bathroom, (since the hallway is so small), well.... maybe. That one wall between the doors to my room and Jamie's room is crying out for some artwork, pictures of Jamie, maybe a tall bookshelf, SOMETHING right there. It's such a natural focal point that I want to take advantage of it. I only have the one picture of the hallway; it was so teensy, I didn't see much point in getting it from several angles. It's basically just big enough to turn around in and decide which door you want to enter.

Kitchen/Dining Room

So, the kitchen/dining room has a lot of potential, but it also needs some work. Luckily, the creamy yellow countertops will work with my "theme" for the kitchen (blue/white plates, yellow and beige accents). Also luckily, my side-by-side frige will fit in the designated frige space (whew!). Paint and putting drawer pulls and door knobs on the cabinets will help a bunch in this room. And that paneled wall has got to be painted! I'll be taking down the lateral blinds from the back sliding glass door and the blinds from the window above the sink. I'm torn between my light blocking curtains or installing some of that super-duper dark window film and not putting any curtains up at all back there. I know for a fact that, even at night, you can't see inside that tint stuff, and it does a great job of keeping out the heat and UV rays. I've also got an insulated doggie door panel and brace I'll be installing on the back door. I'm SOOOOO tired of having to let the dogs in and out! Also, you can't tell very well in the pictures, but at some point in time they apparently had a leak under the bathroom sink, so they had to cut out a large square from the paneled wall. It's being held in place with packing tape! That definitely needs fixing! Also, if I can find some cheap, the whole house would look better with some plain crown molding up by the ceiling. Don't you think so?

The Living Room

We begin with the living room. Note that the walls currently look like they've been Hersheyed. Great in your food; awful on your living room walls.

Note how the high gloss (supposed-to-be-exterior) paint reflects the light on the walls. Not only does the dark color make the room feel tinier than it already is, but the high gloss makes every single imperfection and nail hole stand out. It also shows the fine layer of dust and dirt on the walls, and where other people have swiped their fingers through it. Furthermore, the warm undertones of the paint do not really go well with the cool undertones of the carpet. At least, I don't think so.

My couch and reclining loveseat set is oatmeal colored, maybe only a couple of shades lighter than the carpet. The other furniture (TV stand, media tower, end table) is black. The light-blocking curtains (a necessity with South Texas sunshine) are a dark red. I have accent pillows and a throw afghan on the couch that pick up the deep red color. I'm also planning to get a large floor carpet that picks up the red and black with various shades of browns in it, as well. I'm thinking the walls in here should be a creme color to make the room lighter and seem bigger. Should I do an accent wall in this room, since it's so small, or would the red curtains and pillows/accessories be enough to make it "pop" in such a small room. It's so tiny, I'm afraid an accent wall (or two) might overwhelm the room a bit.

I appreciate the comments on the last post. Really. Please don't be afraid to tell me your opinion. I don't expect expert advice, just gut feelings would be great. So please, give me your "two cents worth" on this room. Accent wall, yea or nay? Would it overwhelm the room or make it look fantastic? Opinions on wall colors, throw rugs, and your great Aunt Myrtle's secret recipe you had last night for dinner would all be welcome. Thanks!