patinamarie

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Getting It Done!!!

AND using the RIGHT tools....

For if you don't use the RIGHT tools, you WILL BE SORRY!!!

All these years, I've been using the WRONG tools.....!

Pictured here, is a GOOD quality roller from Ace Hardware. Premier brand.

Not a cheapy, dollar store brand.

This is after ONE use!!! Mid-way through it's first rinsing.

NICE!

This is the rinsing.

See how much paint still is in the nap? After at least 10 minutes of rinsing! That paint just keeps
leaching and leaching and leaching out of this thing!!!

This is the nap that comes off the roller.

This is the nap that comes off the roller and onto the wall that has to be picked out of the paint!

This is what throwing away money looks like!!!

(no comments from the Peanut-Gallery about the dietary evidence....Subway, Spaghettios, Take-Out leftovers, Hot Chocolate..Pepperoni.....There is a Calm tea package in there!!!

We've been busy, you know!)

This is my new best friend.

I will NEVER paint with another roller again!
The Teflon coating REALLY DOES clean up faster AND the paint goes on the wall from this roller
like butter cream. I suggest you go and throw away every roller in your house, RIGHT NOW, and
stock up. Phillip just bought me several from Lowe's, so I will never have to do without....

I am in love with a paint roller! Just like I am in love with my Dyson vacuum.

I just am.

This is the paint roller after about 3 minutes of rinsing. No nap. No leaching paint. No kidding!

Unlike most rollers, too, this one snaps into an adjustable angled paint shield. How nice is that?

Also, the roller part is centered so the wall doesn't get scraped, like the traditional single-sided

roller handles. And, maybe, because it's centered, it's less awkward to hold.

Plus, the paint just glides off the roller. No more pushing and trying to get the paint to come off

the roller, onto the wall, evenly.

I've done a lot of wall painting. I love to paint. And this just got even better.

(Attn: Peanut Gallery....Yes, that is a spoon in my sink.

It put the instant coffee in my hot chocolate this morning)

While I'm on the subject, I've shared this before, but my all-time favorite paint brush is
Purdy brand. Yeah, they cost more, but they make painting a breeze compared to the
cheap-o one's and they last F O R E V E R....trust me. Use the angled one for trim and the
squared-off one for flats!

Walls. Done!

What color, you ask?

Well, let me share.

For those who know me real well, you know I love COLOR on my walls.

My house isn't an open floor plan, so every room can be a little or a lot

different. I'm only keeping the trim a creamy white in every room.

I've got numerous shades of yellow. Green. Red. Brown. Tan. Taupe.

You get the picture...

But, for this little guest room, it's just under 9 x 12, I decided to keep it simple and cozy.

It is a North facing room. Backs up to the mountain, so it doesn't get too much sunshine.

I used Wal Mart's Color Place paint. It was very affordable and since it's a guest room, I figured

I didn't need to go expensive, like in the kitchen and bathrooms!

I like the look of flat paint, but it's not easily scrubbed. So, I went with a Satin finish.

All the trim will be creamy white Gloss.

The accent wall is...

Walnut Wash. Kind of a Sand/Taupe color. Not too dark. Not too yellow. Not too gray.

I chose the color for the other three walls from the same sample strip as the Walnut Wash.

It was the lightest in the row. Walnut was the darkest.

Looked good on the sample, but when it was on the wall, it looked too peach.

So I was going to drive into the Wal Mart - 16 mile round trip - last night. Then Janice called me. She

was still in town working late and offered to go for me. What a FRIEND!!!

Even more so...because... even though SOFT WHITE is a standard canned color, they were out!

Luckily, I had the color sample with the formula. She took the time to get it custom mixed for me

AND then drive it all the way to my house!!!

Janice....if you are reading this....

THANK YOU!!! I SO OWE YOU (and not just for the cost of the paint!)

So, there you have it.

Buy Shurline by Rubbermaid rollers with Teflon.

Buy Purdy brushes.

Get yourself a friend like Janice.

Carpet gets installed tomorrow.

I have all the trim. Just need to measure, cut, prime, paint, and install.

Move all the furniture back in.

Buy a queen sized mattress.

Decorate. A little.

I won't go overboard right now. When our guest leaves, I have more plans....!

paint the headboard creamy white

paint the dresser and nightstand creamy white

paint the closet doors chalkboard

install crown molding

decorate

decorate a little more

SIGH....

curl up with a book

take a nap

Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Ugly Truth...

Although the title may sound like a confession waiting to be told. Some deep dark secret. Some juicy gossip. It's actually just my way of sharing (and remembering) the UGLY truth of our guest room remodeling adventure.

Like most of you, I read EVERY home remodeling & home decorating magazine, book & blog. I fall in love over and over, again and again, with all the wonderful vignettes shown on every page.

I love the staging.

I love the make-overs.

I love the inspiration.

BUT, what I hardly ever see is the UGLY truth.

The good.

The bad.

The UGLY.

I dream of the finished room. The basics done. Ready for the decorating.

There has been blood, sweat, tears, bruises, smooshed fingers, broken nails, dry skin, dirty hair, no-make up, old-holey-and stained up clothing, a little cursing, mis-placed tools, and a whole lotta MOCHA!

The house gets cleaned up. Looks good for a few. Then, WHAM! Another room project. Well, really, only some areas get cleaned up. We have at least 3 or 4 areas going at once.

I think it's TOTALLY worth the mess though. I'm O.K. with it, cause I don't have a magic wand or midnight elves to do all the work around here, so until it's done, the house will be a mess!

Mess = Progress.

I'm good with that.

You always hear the phrase:

"If a couple can survive a remodeling project, they can survive anything!"

I guess, we are still o.k., cause we've been in remodel mode for 5+ years and we're still laughing in the same in-progress house!

This my dear friends, is the ugly, messy, dusty, smelly, completely turned-upside-down-house truth.

This is why people move out of houses when they remodel......if they can.....

Dining room. Walkway between kitchen and family room.

Dining room table.

Hallway from Back Door.

Hallway to Guest Room.

Guest Room. Texturing in progress.

Texturing. Almost done.

Texturing. Done!!!

Fan On!!!! Dry baby, dry!!!

Primer & Paint goes on tomorrow....Whoo Hooo...

(whoo hooo, until my arms feel like they're gonna fall off !!!!)

Closet doors....

Well, since the hallway closet door will get changed out to match the new bathroom and bedroom doors,

and not get chalk boarded, I'll CHALK BOARD these! They are really big and will make a

fun doodle board for guests.

So-and-so was here....

Welcome, so-and-so.....

Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite.....

Fun stuff. All trimmed out in creamy-white trim.

Nitey. Nite...

Thursday, February 25, 2010

What a Difference a Day Makes....

What a difference a ~~day~~ door makes.

For 30+ years, (5+ with us in residence) this house has had hollow core, dark wood veneered doors to every room. Bathrooms. Bedrooms. Closets. Etc...

Today, after collecting one door at a time, all the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom have new solid wood, 2-panel doors!!!! Whoooppeeee!

Guest room door - open. In the guest room.

Guest room door - closed. Hallway side.

Phillip's office door. This one was the first one put in a while ago. It was the guinea pig, so to speak.

A.J.'s bedroom door. Won't he be surprised when he gets home from school!

Bathroom door. In the hall way.

The door to the right, is the closet door. I have a matching door, but I think I want to paint it with chalkboard paint, so it doesn't match. I'll live with it a while and see....

eta: So, it's been a few hours. Phillip came home from work (I sort of ditched work today!). He agreed. The closet door will have to be changed out too! Even as a chalkboard, it would look cheap and out of place now that the new doors are in and looking so nice!

Now for the big debate going on in my head. At a home tour in December, I saw a beautiful home with all creamy-white trim and the doors stained dark. It was gorgeous! And so, I've been debating about doing the same. BUT, now here's the pros and cons:

Staining Pros:

easy to stain vs. priming and painting

shows wear and tear less

shows finger prints and dog-leaning less

easy to clean

Staining Cons:

stain wouldn't be as bright as I'd like it, especially in the dark hallway

wouldn't be that wonderful creamy-white I always croon over

wouldn't have that wonderful cottage-y 30's farmhouse look I'm going for

So, what's the verdict...?

I'm still deciding.

I LOVE the creamy-white brightness, but there are all those cons lurking about!

My heart says light. My head says dark.

HELP!!!

So, whilst I'm playing stain vs. paint tennis in my head, let's move on to the new guest room, shall we? Uh, 'cause we have a few-month guest coming on March 7th!!!

Welcome to my guest room - circa mid- 1970's (photo: our 2004 purchase walk-through).

It began life as a bedroom for Kyle when we moved in.

When he moved out, I removed the carpet. Removed the tack strips. It was going to become my kitchen pantry. I was going to remove the closet, that backs the kitchen. Open up that wall, etc.... (thank goodness, I didn't)

Kyle moved back in.

Lived in there with a throw rug for the last few months.

Kyle moved out a couple of weeks ago.

Guest coming in a couple of weeks.

Not going to be a pantry after all - EVER! We have new kitchen/pantry plans.

Order carpet. Need new tack strips and padding.

Let's paint before carpet.

Let's fill the zillions of thumbtack holes. Can you say teenage boy with lots of posters?

Let's peel off the old wallpaper before paint.

Let's gather up the tools of the trade!

Sprayer.

Scraper.

Rag.

BEGIN!

The last piece!

The aftermath.

Two walls worth! Whatta Mess!!!

And the smell. Old, wet wallpaper...

No texture under two walls of wallpaper.

Let's texture the ALL the walls to match. Glad I took the time to fill all those stupid holes - anyway!

While we're at it, let's scrape the popcorn off the ceiling.

Tools of the trade...Hey, I've seen these before....

Done! Man, my upper arms and wrists hurt...

Oh, gee, let's replace the old aluminum window.

You know, the one that drags in its track and makes that really horrid metal on metal sound...

(this after picture is really dark, but just imagine a nice, new, double-paned, white, vinyl window)

Note to self: When you go to Lowe's to pick up the window, make sure you ask the guy more than once that the window he is loading up for you, is in fact the window you've asked for! AND then double-check him. Do not rely on the Lowe's guy to get it right. DO NOT have him load it up before triple-checking what you know is right - not wrong, so you don't have to drive back the 30 mile drive - one-way - to pick up the RIGHT window!!!! Lesson learned.

While we're at it. Let's replace the door.

Oh, we already covered that..huh?

Does any of this sound familiar? How many ONIONS have we peeled around here???

My mom asked me the other day on the phone - "are you kids EVER going to be done with that house?"

Uhhhhh.... maybe.....someday......hopefully......I dunno......uhhhhhh.....

Now, we just need to fill all the "waves" on the ceiling.
Texture it. Prime it. Paint it.

Texture the walls. Prime them. Paint them.
Hang up the ceiling fan/light.
Trim out the window.
Trim out the door.
Prime the trim.
Paint the trim, including the baseboards ALL before carpet is scheduled for install next Wednesday.
Sounds like another busy weekend at the 'ol Schiefer house....!

Tootles....

ps.. the old doors, because they are still in good, re-usable condition, will get donated to Habitat for Humanity Restore in Medford, OR. I will not be repurposing them for any thing. CAN you believe it???