Bunnies

I must report that HomeGoods / Marshalls has the cutest and most fun garden section going on right now. Wire baskets, wooden crates,ceramic pots. Greenhouses, pinwheels and garden decorations. Wire chairs and side tables. I have gone twice; I mentally, and a bit impulsively, fill the cart up with the best items but really I restrain and selectively choose a few best items and then narrow that selection down and come out with three sweet items that will surely enhance my gardening experience this spring.

The rock bunny being my favourite. I know, paying money for a few rocks and wire??! But it was too cool to pass by the second time.  And the wire basket and green planter for the seeds I have planted and the idea I have of crazy Morning Glories growing up and all over the balcony & porch posts.

Back on the farm, my favourite bunnies bounding around looking for hidden treasures.

Sprouts

Lavender, Daisy and Echinacea; Blue and Orange exotic poppies,
Red & Blue morning glories; Zinnia, & Mother of Thyme

Little greenhouse seeds are working hard and turning into buds, soon to be transplanted. Tulips and other spring bulbs are sprouting in the garden, but its well before the last frost date in my little spot on this world.  I recall last year, just as our Magnolia trees and other flowering shrubs and trees were about to beautify frost hit and killed them all.  I'll give them their due attention this year and absorb their beauty and not take it for granted.

Happy Easter, Happy travels! (Yep, that's an empty Easter basket and the side of a pineapple, amongst the paint cans!)

Old wood plank

After testing the old barn wood plank with tung oil versus a walnut stain, I decided that I prefer the colour that the tung oil brings out.  The walnut stain was too dark and brown for my liking, I like the redish tones that the oil enhances and a wet look. It is also a closer match to the exotic piece of wood above the cooktop, which is also covered in tung oil.

Its an old wood plank that my contractor dug up in his 100 year old barn.  I first washed it with water and a scrub brush. Scrubbed it until my fingers froze. Then I brought them in to dry. Hauled a piece upstairs to test the tung oil, applied on the top side. Above right is the first day, but it slowly got darker each day. 

The original rough cut appears on the sides, smooth on one side and the original, large markings on the other side. I poured the oil directly onto the wood and after trying to spread it with a fabric remnant, I decided that using my fingers to spread the oil was most effective.  No splinters so far! And then I spread the access with fabric - I had a piece of thick ticking. Once this settles, I'll flip and do the other sides.

I bought some simple black brackets to support the planks and once the tung oil settles and the smell disperses (a few weeks -  I did testing (and the rest of it) in my dining room (roll eyes) and the smell lingers!)) I'll hang them above the sink.

And to get an idea of what it will look like ... the plates. I cannot wait to have a proper and convenient place for my dishes!

Fresh fresh

Senses awaken! It has been a long time since I have fallen a sleep and woken up to the beautiful aroma of Hyacinth (or any flower).  I'll be sure to add these bulbs to my garden next fall.

Calamine Lotion

That is the colour I have managed to paint my room.

As I painted, I couldn't pin point the memory this colour stirred up.  I knew it was something bathroom / first aid related. My visual even had me in the bathroom eliminating possible items.

Slightly disenchanted upon this realization, I grabbed my paint can opener tool and started chipping away at the built up paint seam between the ancient cable cord, wall and baseboard.

Stop, think and compose myself and I get my most favourite tool, the scrapper. Start hacking away at poisonous window sill lead paint. Compose myself again, vacuum up the poison, lest my kids come home and start licking. I want to do this properly SOME OTHER TIME.

The paint isn't as dark as the lotion. And calamine is SOOTHING so back to painting I go.

*********
I was dreading the other wall. There were two shelves that I wanted to take down. I didnt have much luck with the corner tv shelf unit in my sons room. I got many of the screws and nails out, all but a few. Finally asked my contractor to pull the rest down. He ended up taking some of the wall down and  having to spackle and fill holes. I was afraid of a repeat story.

 5 minutes with my drill in reverse and those babies are down.

********

Mostly I complain about painting and prepping, (admittedly, it gets easier and I get better at it) but there are a few OTHER positive and productive outcomes that make it even better:

1. The invariable dusting that has to happen. Yay for dusting and vacuuming behind big heavy furniture that rarely gets moved.
2. Window cleaning. Deciding that now is a good time as any to clean off the 2 year old finger smudges on mirror.
3. Finding long lost clothing items. Especially a favourite pair of shorts that I have been looking for on and off throughout last summer and then a last attempt while packing for a winter vacation and finally have given up and low and behold, they fell behind the dresser! Summer wardrobe complete!
4.  Purging. Cleaning off table tops and forced to reassess things you have collected over time. Too many picture frames. Too many shirts.  Too many foot scrubs????  Finding all my lotions that were stored and forgotten about, but had been sitting on the shelf for 2+ years. (What's with all these tubes of cream, hand cream, foot scrub...never ever do I have time to massage and pamper my feet now.) Toss 'em all. Yay for purging.

5. Did I mention dusting. Yes, well over due. Paint prep = dusting.

And the best thing about painting, is being done. And this is the kick start to my room makeover!

Walls: "Fuccini pink" eggshell by Glidden (mixed with benjamin moore paint). A similar Pittsburg paint colour is "Subdued"
Trim: "White Dove" semi gloss by Benjamin Moore

The to do list
Fix broken glass pane
paint trim
paint baseboard
remove mirror woo hoo!

Paint walls
paint blue splotch on closet door.
Remove two shelves on other walls
Hang picture frames / Make gallery wall.
Remove hardware (door handles and plates) in order to remove years of white paint.
Refinish hardware.
Curtain rods.
Find a new OLD door or fix hole in door.
Create some kind of headboard.
Build wall.
Or insert french doors.
Revamp closet - either open up middle section to expose window. Or....???
Edit wardrobe. WIP
Mount a tv on the wall w/ a wooden console thing under it. Wow did I just write that, Im so anti tv in the bedroom. But I love a hotel room with TV. Small house means I may need this, my getaway place.
Paint ceiling. BUT first remove that bubble popcorn ceiling paint. Yuck (Will probably never get around to do this, but it should be done)
Install ceiling light - electrical work (probably wont get around to that either)
New linens and duvet.

Bedroom work

Using "Master bedroom" is a stretch, although it is my room and I am the master.  At one time the previous owner felt the same way and did make it a "master" bedroom by tearing down the wall separating the two rooms. Except only a portion of the wall came down.  We have happily lived like this, but I know soon I will need to build the wall back up. If not for decorating purposes and not for privacy purposes, for resale.

To premise, I have not gone to my day job since mid Jan. The contract ended in Dec. We traveled a bit to here and here.  I did set up a schedule with myself, walking to work and spending a few hours there doing admin stuff.  And then returning home to do some sort of home thing. But going in 5 days a week has turned to 3 days a week.  Temperature drops. Forget it, Ill get job status from home.  For all my "free" time, I need to be accountable for it. I need to accomplish house updates, purging and organizing.

I was able to make good progress on the kitchen. Besides putting up brackets for the reclaimed wood shelves I have done all that I can do until I make a 4 hour drive to Ikea for the pantry.  Then I'll treat myself finish off the kitchen w/ this West Elm prep counter. Love it. Have been eying it for a year. Patiently waiting.

So I started to paint.  Tried the stairway hallway, and I'm on the fence about that. Tried some samples in the dining room. Blah on all of them. Found a colour for my bedroom so made that a priority.(Again, this colour keeps changing. I only like it sometimes; when it looks nude & ballet slipper pink. But when it looks mauve, I wonder what the f' is wrong with my paint colour picking skills. I don't like mauve. )

Painting music: Sounds of Yo-Yo ma. So dramatic. Perfect!

My tunnel vision is painting and by the time I realize I should have chiseled away 30 years of other paint, I've got my wet brush stroking over the old stuff.  I accept this and realize my cutting in skills are not as atrocious as I thought and claimed. Its my foresight and preparation skills that are lacking. With a bumpy baseboard and wall like this, cutting in is as good as it can get. (this is the stairway, but the entire house has layers of paint and cracks)

While I continue to paint (sorry for all the boring paint posts, but really, it keeps me accountable) I reconcile my lack of preparation work with the fact that I don't LOVE these colours, so when I decide to paint again, I NOW know I should do a little bit more planning and scrapping.


I have to wait for the two walls, corner and baseboards to dry before I get to the other side. While waiting I finally found the gumption to pull off the mirror on the closet door. This thing has always bugged me and the one time I lamely tried, I feared 7 years bad luck. But with more time on my side and the discovery of the nail through the door I figured out how it was mounted, and not a few minutes later, down it came.

The main door requires a trip to the restore. Or some plywood. The previous owner must have had a dog and wanted it to have in and out access. On the left you can see the opening in the door and partial wall and opening into the next room. Look closer (on the right) and you can see where the door meets the wall and how uneven the wall is, the 1/4 inch gap closes in the closer to the bottom of the door frame. A job for my contractor, when I commit to the wall build up.

The beginnings of my room update and the to do list:

Fix broken glass pane
paint trim WIP
paint baseboards WIP
remove mirror woo hoo!

Paint walls. WIP
paint blue splotch on closet door.
Remove two shelves on other walls (which hold pictures, just because the shelves were already there, but they have to go.). Make a gallery wall instead.
Remove hardware (door handles and plates) in order to remove years of white paint.
Refinish hardware
Find a new OLD door or fix hole in door.
Create some kind of headboard.
Build wall.
Or insert french doors.
Revamp closet - either open up middle section to expose window. Or....
Mount a tv on the wall w/ a wooden console thing under it. Wow did I just write that, Im so anti tv in the bedroom. But I love a hotel room with TV. Small house means I may need this, my getaway place.
Paint ceiling. BUT first remove that bubble popcorn ceiling paint. Yuck (Will probably never get around to do this, but it should be done)
Install ceiling light - electrical work (probably wont get around to that either)

And once all the bedroom stuff is done then purchase these washed linen gray sheets by Eileen Fisher. Swoon.  And a darker gray textured linen duvet cover @ Restoration hardware.  See how my coping skills work ... motivate myself to finish a project w/ some pretty final touches.

A painting diatribe

Well not really. Im not going to raise my voice or get too passionate about it. But do you rinse your paint brushes between coats?

I always do. I have a fear of the paint drying and hardening on the bristles and I don't want to toss a favourite brush.  I'm not sure of the time allowed for a brush to sit and become unuseable. I may return to painting quickly or I may get side tracked and start another project. Sometimes I'm washing the brush and then return to paint 30 minutes later. Its a drag though, because water invariably drips down the wall.

Speaking of sidetracked, I got sidetracked testing paint samples. I bought three+ samples for the bathroom, 4 different whites for somewhere and a couple of tinted shades of white for anything else. A gallon for my bedroom. What I really needed to do was finish that one portion in the kitchen. Can't put up the shelves until I paint. So I gave my self an ultimatum.

I took a day for the task. I took the time to set up. Found some music. Gathered my tools and stool. Spent a few minutes taping the counters. Don't want splatters on the soapstone (learned that from the primer stage). Laid down the old towel and green airplane blanket. And then I end up painting the unprepped side. That is how my brain works.

I don't need to paint this close to my sink or counter as eventually a back splash will be mounted, but just in case that's a year later, I took no chances and went to the bottom.

My favoured painting tools. A few small brushes. The free wooden sticks that come with paint and metal can opener. I bought too many can openers' over the years before giving this small but very effective tool the respect it deserves. A stool and airplane blanket. Where's the roller you ask? I don't like to use them. I don't like the little micro clumps&dimples of paint pattern that it leaves on the wall. And although efficient, its often unruly and hits the next wall over or the ceiling or....   Small brushes for me.  My first all time favourite was an ACE brand, 2".  Eventually it died. I must have left it in a bucket of shallac.

Then I bought that stunted handle brush. ITs OK. My fingers cramp up so I don't love it. But that's the only angled brush I have right now and its working well for cutting in. And painting everything in between.

The little one has become my favourite.  Maybe a 1" brush. Found in a paint tray and roller kit.  Its not angled and its great for cutting in. Im learning the finer points of applying pressure and maneuvering the bristles. Sometimes cheapest simplest is the best.

And the widest one was great for the chalkboard door.  But a little on the heavy side.

A lot of painting going on around here.  Perhaps I'll make a meme and call it Month of Painting. Kitchen almost completed. Chalkboard sliding door done. Trim, frames and baseboard touch ups all around. Test painting in dining room and stairway. Next up bedroom.

The key to painting and liking it is figuring out the tools that work great for you.  I say this with experience now. ;). Its all in the timing and brush. All the painting I have done recently has been with brushes and I think hope the strokes are therapeutic and healing for my injured shoulder. Reminds me of Karate Kid 1.

Since the counters were semi emptied, I decided to oil them. The oil on soapstone is mostly to enrich the colour over time. It doesn't protect it from scratches and knicks, but it does look shiny and pretty. Until the cat walks across it.

And since pictures of a painted white wall are not all that exciting ... how about the knitted wash cloth. Owls, so last year, except I bought it several years ago in a little craft market! Knitted by a Nova Scotian blind, 80 year old woman. Now that's inspiring.

Music listened too while painting: 2 rounds Bebel Gilberto and 2 rounds of Tom Waits, The Early Years and the kitchen painting is done.

Do you listen to music when you paint or do you enjoy hearing the strokes of a brush? Do you wash your brushes in between coats?