13 December 2011

i caved.



i've done a lot of painting in this house of ours.  and when i say a lot, i kind of mean it.  if i told you how many audio books and episodes of the office/parks & rec/gossip girl and harry potter movies i've listened to while painting, you might wonder about my sanity, or at the very least my efficiency.  but this painting thing is kind of a craps shoot at first.  like when i painted the entire foyer/upstairs hallway this very pale grey and it ended up looking like BABY BLUE.  i had to repaint it.  a nicer grey.  one that actually turned out grey.


then there are the ceilings, we left nary a ceiling untouched, and with the majority of our rooms being darker than 75% grey do you have any idea as to how many coats that takes?  also, there was the painting of some old furniture we thought needed a facelift.  the painting of kitchen cabinets, which were COVERED in grime.  and the trim.  this house has trim all over the stupid place, and it's old, and it's been re-painted, at the very least, 18 gazillion times.  oh, AND, apparently the woman who used to live here had a thing for leaving her dogs in rooms until they scratched their way through doors.  so shit had to be fixed ... or just covered with paint, which maybe took longer, because getting into those damn nooks and crannies takes a while.


so when the thought of picking up a paint brush and attacking the bajillion linear feet that was left of 6" trim made me want to hurl myself off of our roof, i called in a dude and he brought another dude and they are now currently just doing it.


i've mixed feelings about this, because really, i could do what they are doing.  i've actually turned into quite a good little house painter.  and you know what?  i wouldn't break that porcelain skull i had sitting on the dining room table either.  (yes, there was the breaking of one of these, and yes i could KILL them, and yes, it's fine, i've patched it up with some glue) but at the same time i've watched my social life dwindle since living in a city where i could actually have a social life.  i've also seen some of my favorite items of clothing become splotched up with paint because i'm just going to touch up this one spot, why would i need to change?  and then i saw nothing getting done with the bastardly trim day after day after day.


so that's it.  they came in yesterday and will leave today.  tonight i'll decorate the christmas tree and revel in the delight of just being DONE.  i've put some sparkling in the fridge in fact, just for this very occasion.  now it's on to hanging more things, like antler hooks that came with the most absurd anchors i've ever seen ...


though from here on out, this house will not own me, or ok, maybe it will, but i'm heading out for happy hour waaaaaaay more often.


{image of stairs that look absolutely NOTHING like ours via happy mundane}

5 comments:

  1. You made the right decision. When we moved into the Little Yellow House, we were horrified at the paint colors. The folks who lived there previously must've gone to Benjamin Moore and bought all of the colors that were on SALE. Then there was the wood paneling from the 1930s that was painted BARN RED and gave me anxiety. Talk about nooks + crannies. But either way, we hired some painters to fix up our walls before we had a breakdown and a divorce.

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  2. It is definitely fun to contribute to how a new place works... That being said, it is better to not go completely nuts and take time for yourself! I think you stuck it out and made a great compromise. Although I am super sorry about your porcelain skull!

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  3. gurrrl, that's not called "caving", it's called "saving your sanity".

    although, i cannot believe they broke your skull. heads would be rolling...

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  4. ditto what celia said. and it looks SO. DAMN. GOOD.

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  5. damn i was hoping those were your blue stairs

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