Category: Renovation Time

Friday was spent in a whirlwind of getting things done around the house, then I left right as the carpet cleaning kissimmee team arrived to shampoo the bedroom carpet for me. I headed back to Ikea to get the bookcases, where I learned you should never go to Ikea alone. You have to abandon your bookcases while you go get your car and move it to the loading zone. Fortunately, there was an employee out there helping someone tie their merchandise down in their truck and he watched it for me.

Meanwhile, when my Mom finished shampooing she & Jason did a ton of other things around the house for me. I arrived home from Ikea, my Dad came over to put up the curtain rod and the curtains he got from the curtains on sale store, and then Elaine arrived to help me build the furniture. It is very handy to have your own Ikea furniture building expert, because that bed would have never come together otherwise. Matter of fact, there is a whole saga behind the bed, but I’ll save it for tomorrow. After we finished the bed, we put together the TV stand, and by then it was some crazy late hour like 3 am. I was so wired, I think I was awake until 5 am.

Needless to say, I’m a bit punchy now.

I slept until 10 am this morning, then hopped out of bed to try and get as much done as possible before Mike arrived at 6 pm tonight. My Dad came over to help with the bookcases, and my Mom came over to help with the rest of the stuff. We made the bed, arranged furniture, zoomed around doing a million other things, and then dashed off to TJ Maxx to try to find another throw pillow and then over to Pier 1 to get a trunk for the end of the bed to finish everything off. Mike arrived home, but went upstairs to take a shower (so he wouldn’t see the bedroom, which is downstairs) and then … the big reveal.

Mike really, really, really loved it. He said several times, “Oh. Wow.”

The pictures below don’t even do the room justice. I’ll take better ones in the next day or so with the real camera. I just didn’t have time, and I wanted to snap a fast shot for Tara so she could see the final creation.

Now I’m exhausted, I’m taking tomorrow off, and just enjoying my new bedroom. Oh, after I put up the drapes I got tonight, because it is somewhat odd being able to just look out the windows. Good thing no one can see in them! (We have no houses directly behind us, and the fence blocks out anyone’s view from their backyard.)

After that, photographs. Then the returns begin – I have a lot of things that just didn’t work in the final room, so I will be going back to all of the same stores once again to return things!

Many, many, many thanks again to my parents, Jason, Tara & Elaine for helping me pull this off. I seriously could not have done it without everyone’s help. It is so fabulous to have a bedroom that is a sanctuary, a refuge from the day to day world. Now, if you need me … that is where I will be!

When you watch Monster House, they do all the tear down and renovations and stuff over a week. Then at the end the companion maids shows up with the pillows and rugs and fluffy goodness and stuff and everything gets magically cleaned up and beautiful

Speaking of rugs, Choosing the right size of rug for your room depends on your design objective. A rug can be a focal point or accent. It can unite, extend or separate a room. The design objective is up to you and how you want the room to function. Order now at NW Rugs!

I just want to know where my Cleanup & Fluffing Crew is at? Huh? Huh? Where are they?

Starting this painting project has taken research for the past few months. I actually thought I would be painting the living room first, and since it is such a prominent room in our house I wanted to be sure to do it right. I’m glad I did the bedroom first so that I could make mistakes as needed.

The most helpful site I found was this one: How to Paint a Room: What Your Mother Never Told You. Just some good, practical basic advice. Here are some of the things I did when painting in our bedroom:

1. Choose a piece that inspires you, something that you love. Base your room around that piece. Tara told me this originally, and I heard it again last night while watching last season’s Project Runway on the Tivo. My inspiration is the bag above, and the walls and comforter are a close match to the leaves in the William Morris print. I am still not paying $110 a yard for fabric to make matching pillows. No matter how much I wish I could.

2. I only taped surfaces on the bottom of the room – paint goes down. So there is tape around the trim and on top of the doors and windowsills. I did not tape the crown molding in the room.

3. I didn’t paint any of the trim – I planned to keep the crown molding and the rest of the trim white, and it was in good condition. I washed it all down before I taped it and let it dry overnight. If you tape too soon, your tape won’t stick. I learned this the hard way.

4. I wore one of those fancy dust mask things while working on the floor. It made me hot and my glasses fogged up, but the allergies from the first day of work kicked my ass hard. I could not handle a repeat.

5. Prep, prep, prep. It takes forever and it will wear you down and beat you, but it is *SO* important. I painted all of the edges out first, from the ceiling to the floorboards and the corners and around the windows and doors. And then hired a Epoxy Floor Contractor to come finish the floors for me. My bedroom is HUGE. Something crazy like 18 feet long. Probably about 12 feet wide. With three doors, three windows, and a lot of trim. I didn’t time it really, but I think it took me longer to do the edges than it did to paint the entire room. And I don’t regret it at all, because it made the actual painting that much faster.

6. If you don’t have a steady hand, tape the crown molding. And even if you do have a steady hand, keep a damp cloth nearby for the times when you get the latex paint on the enamel paint of the crown molding. It wipes off easily if you are fast.

7. Don’t skimp. If you are painting a darker color over a lighter color – say a medium tone over white – use two coats. You don’t want to have to do it again. Just do it right to begin with.

8. Paint sample cans from Sherwin Williams and other places are in a satin finish. If you are painting with a flat finish, the sheen from the satin finish might show through. The first guy at Sherwin Williams said that I could just paint over my swatches on the walls. The second guy – the one that sold me my final paint – said no. (He also pointed out that the other guy was new.) I had to go and get some primer just to put over those spots to get rid of the satin sheen, which wasn’t that big of a deal. Just good to know in advance, because it would have driven me crazy to have shiny spots on my walls.

9. Prep. Really well. It is so important I had to say it twice.

10. Be patient, work hard, and then sit back and enjoy the room. It will be so worth it. Then think of all the money you saved since you didn’t hire someone else to paint it for you!

Time for my break to be over – I still have windows to finish painting!

I started off the day thinking that all I needed to do today as far as painting was finish out the windows and fix up any spots that needed more paint. Then I talked to my Mom, and she pointed out that it probably needed a second coat. After I whimpered and whined a little, I looked at it and she was right.

So instead of my hour or two of work, I spent about 4 hours putting on the second coat. I still have to go back and do the windows, but I was hungry and just needed a break.

My hand hurts, my shoulder aches, and my arms are sore. The only consulation is that it looks FABULOUS and awesome and beautiful and wonderful.

When I’m done painting, I have furniture to take out of the room and Ikea furniture to put togethter. Who wants to come over and help? Anyone? Anyone?

Tara told me that my master bedroom was huge. It is actually longer than our living room by a few feet. Tonight I think it is growing though. I keep working on cutting in the trim, and it just goes on and on and on and on and on.

Ugh.

Please tell me that rolling the paint in the center of the walls is not going to take this long. I don’t know how much more I can take.

Mike has been told not to read the blog so that I can post pictures. Now I just have to find the energy. I’m not sure if I can lift the camera. Why can’t the decorator fairies just come and take care of it for me?