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blueshoefarm at gmail dot com.... and that would be how to reach me

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Painting project - Wilder's room

Our house has three rooms and a forced bathroom upstairs. I say forced because it was definitely added late... like in the 90's late.... and a creative mess of plumbed octopus arms supply water and drainage. Next to the bathroom at the very top of the stairs is a room that we have never used. The night I took possession of the house we yanked all the carpets and threw them out the window. There was so much wicked stuff in those carpets it sent my daughter into one whopping asthma attack and was our first foray into Kitsap emergency services and their strengths, or more apparent, weaknesses. But, as usual, I digress.
So this room. It had the carpet pulled, and then it sat. For three years. It became a dumping zone for all things extra. Or, if I had clutter about the house and people coming over I just put it in a bag, opened the room door, set the bag down and closed the door. (Should I be telling this story showcasing my ineptness at project completion or clutter control?) Wilder's current room is next to Rose's, but you have to walk through his to get to hers. I figured he needed his own privacy, so began to tackle the nightmare I made in the room at the top of the stairs.
How To Finish A Room:
1. Luckily, I have friends with mad organization skills and first we cleaned it out.
2. The floor was the original unfinished wood, which I am painting. (After much soul searching about refinishing vs. painting. The rest of the rooms upstairs are painted wood flooring so I might as well be consistent.)
3. As usual, the previously done finish work is uneven and haphazard... like there is base molding ON THE CEILING but none on the floor. I am going to put molding where it normally goes. Radical, I know.
4. My other friend Tina told me I needed to paint it. I argued, which is my way, it was a somewhat retroish teal green- very sixties farmhouse. She worked me hard, and I ended up repainting it. I am so glad she argued back. It took a week to pick the color, a radical manly yellowish green... which once it was on the wall immediately turned a bland neutral "off-white." I have mini (really really mini) photos on a blog page I will link to. To see the vibrant green the room used to be click here...
5. To do the finish molding.. I bought a new toy, which somewhat terrifies me. And got a 30 minute tutorial from Dan at Lowe's. It has been so long since I haven't been helped by a kid 25 years my junior at those stores that I really appreciated his words of "how not to lose a finger." I don't even know what it is called, but it will cut things quickly at an angle. I included a photo. I am a tool chicken. (But not afraid to learn! Ok, technically I am scared, but not enough to stop me from cranking that big puppy on and slicing me some base moulding...)

4 comments:

DirtyKSmama - Nikki said...

Your new toy is a miter saw (compound miter saw if it tilts - probably does.) You will love it, and feel mucher safer with it than with a circular or table saw. Just don't put your fingers under the blade and you will be fine.

I also have the housekeeping skill of "grab a bag and throw in the random crap, throw it somewhere" when guests arrive with little notice. And somewhere, perhaps in one of those bags, are the hinges to closet door I finished for my daughters' bathroom.

Linda said...

gotta love power tools!

My issue would be getting the angles right with corners on moldings.

Have fun with it.

Blue Shoe Farm said...

Linda, That is what I am going to use caulk for... there is no way my walls are even!
Nikki, thank you for the id. Completely easier than our circular saw and faster than the miter box!
I think my hinges to the basement door must be in a bag with your stuff....
When I put things in a strange place I actually think - you should not put this (hinge, box of nails, drill, screw, car key) here you will never remember- and I do it anyway. Good luck finding your hinges!

Karen Anne said...

When I installed the hardware for curtains in my old California house, I was astonished to find that I actually had one level window :-)

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