Big Plans

Got my first substitute teaching gig today -- Whohoo!! I grabbed it from the SubFinder website before anyone had a chance to take it away from me!

On the home front, I want to start tackling one room at a time -- as much as I can. This doing a little here and a little there is leaving me feeling disorganized and unproductive.

First room on the docket? The foyer. I'm about 80% done with the painting -- still need to touch up the areas that had the most joint compound and are refusing to accept the paint. But once I get that complete, it's on to the floor.

The entryway has slate tile -- dark, dark slate tiles. Yes, I know, they're expensive. But they're so totally not my taste, but with only a limited reno budget at this point, I don't want to replace them. What's the next best thing?? Paint them!

I know that the big problem with painted floors is adhesion. But I've also been hearing a lot about a certain kind of paint that was designed by this woman in England: Annie Sloan. It's called chalk paint, a very matte paint that she created to be used on a lot of surfaces without the need for sanding, priming -- basically, any of the boring prep work that takes all the fun out of creative painting.

So my peanut brain started wondering if anyone has used chalk paint on slate tile. And thanks to the oh-so-reliable internet, I found several blogs where woman used Annie Sloan paint with great results -- some even in their foyers.

Lucky for me, there's a boutique in our small town that carries AS paint, and thanks to my friend Ellen who agreed to be dragged along, I purchased a can in a cream color.

So this is my next project. The hard part is finding the right time to paint. The bloggers recommend not walking on it for two days. The electricians are coming tomorrow and the shower door installers on Monday. Hmmm, gonna have to think on that one ...

Hope everyone is enjoying a safe and happy Halloween! Our town's trick-or-treating has been postponed until tomorrow, so the fun and candy will be extended 24 hours!

The slate floor as is. Can you say dark (and dirty)?

 

The hopefully ultimate in paint applications: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!

Third Time's A Charm ...

As we move along in this house renovation, I am more and more amazed at my total lack of experience in the world of DYI (see, I even spelled it wrong). Never has it been so blatantly obvious than over the past few days when I've attempted to hang pictures by myself.

Sure, I've banged a nail in a wall before to get something to hang mid-air (well, let's be honest; it would take several nail holes before the placement was just right). But in this house, we decided to use drywall anchors to make sure the gypsum didn't come crashing down around us, opening up the house more than we had intended.

So off I went to the living room with needed materials in my handy toolbelt (I don't actually have one, but I think I may add that to my Christmas wish list -- how cute would that be to add to my oh-so-chic overalls; I'm sure I'd be a star on Contractor Fashion Police).

I attacked the first picture hanging with gusto. I was ready to start making these bare walls look like someone actually cared about them. So began my battle with the drywall anchors. For the uninitiated, drywall anchors are like little caves that you pound into the wall, giving the screw more support than just banging it directly into the drywall without the help of a stud.

So let me tell you why and how it look me three tries to actually hang something myself.

Picture #1 -- it would have worked perfectly if I had known the difference between a drywall and screwdriver bit. The hole I drilled with the screwdriver bit was so large, I was able to push in the anchor with just my finger, which meant the screw just kept circling around and around like a shiny carousel. Mr. Hubby couldn't stop laughing when I asked him what I had done wrong. He wanted to know if I had been wearing my glasses when I grabbed the drill bit. Well, yes I had, but it doesn't matter when you don't know the difference anyway. 1st Piece of Advice: Know your drill bits or prepare to be the butt of many a tool-challenged joke.

Picture #2 -- so this time I knew which bit to use, thank you very much, but the hole I drilled into the wall was at an angle (who knew?), so I wasn't able to get the screw in correctly. This mistake didn't generate nearly as many laughs as the bit debacle when I had to ask for help, so I knew my DIY skills were improving ... slowly. 2nd Piece of Advice: You've got to be straight (that's not in any way intended to be a declaration regarding sexual preference).

Picture #3 -- I was able to hang this one all by myself! But I did have to drill two holes because I didn't like the placement of the first one. But all in all, it was a huge success, and I now have the knowledge to start hanging things all over the house, whether the walls need it or not. 3rd Piece of Advice: We don't need no stinkin' men!

Hope you have a GIRL POWER day!!!

Picture #1 -- the saga begins.

Picture #2 -- actually, a mirror.

Picture #3 -- perfection!

We're Gettin' There!

Today was all about getting something, ANYTHING, done!

So after taking LevelHead, Jr. to school, if was off to the Y for strength training, then a zip over to Lowe's for another quart of Parisian Mist paint, the foyer color.

I got most of it painted, except for two areas around the doorways -- that would have happened if my body hadn't decided it would rather throw up than paint. I don't know if it's my neurological issues or if all the mucus from my cold was waging combat with my equilibrium, but I had to finally put the roller aside and sit for a few minutes to re-set my balance.

Two hours later, and I'm pretty much back to normal (whatever that is), so tomorrow I'll finish up the last part and look for glaring missed spots. The paint doesn't seem to like adhering to the joint compound, so those areas are looking a little pale. Look at it this way, the joint compound is like 15th century England, and the paint is obviously French with a name like Parisian Mist. They just can't get along and seem to be doing battle on the wall. So far, England is winning (sorry, my LevelHead French friend!).

While I bought the paint, I also picked up two light fixtures, one for the master bedroom and one for a little area that doesn't really seem to need a light but currently has a stained glass house fixture (please see below), so it's getting changed whether it needs illumination or not.

I also ordered a teensy more expensive light fixture for the foyer from this great website: Shades of Light. Check it out if you're in need of some cool illuminators.

So tomorrow it's all about finishing up the foyer painting and shower door shopping for LevelHead, Jr,'s bathroom.

Here's the glass bird house light or whatever it's supposed to be. Let the bidding start at $5.

There's an Elephant in the Room!

But we're talking about this elephant all the time!

It's our new giant entertainment center, built by none other than the oh-so-humble Mr. Honest. He had originally scheduled us for early December since he had a cabinet job to do first for another couple. But unfortunately for them, their not-so-great handyman installed warped hardwood floors throughout the kitchen, which all have to be ripped out and replaced.

More sympathetic, I could not be. I only hope that their handyman is turned into a gnat in his next life for such shoddy work. But our world is full of yin and yang: their delay has become our windfall -- more than a month early!

It's a beauty, too. I found the design on Houzz (we've discussed my obsession with that website before, haven't we)? All I had to do is show the picture to Mr. Honest, and he was all over it like irate homeowners on an incompetent floor installer.

And the great part is that we were able to have this piece custom-made because Mr. H constructed our kitchen cabinets at such a discount. In fact, the cabinets plus the entertainment center still cost us less than just the cabinet estimate from Lowe's. So my advice to any of you gentle readers considering a kitchen reno: get a quote from a customer builder before you automatically go with the big box store. You might just be surprised.

On another note, I've decided the foyer needs another coat of paint. Ugh. It's not even the work that bothers me; it's the inability to mark it off my to-do list. I've also been painting trim in the master bedroom, but it's not all that thrilling, so I'll spare you the stroke-by-stroke details.

Today I have a cold that I'm pretending not to have. But I am taking it fairly easy. So in lieu of major painting, I'm going to fix my outside ghost decorations that were either vandalized by marauding teenagers or mischievous deer (my bet is on the deer).

So without further adieu, here's our elephantine entertainment center. I still need to get the door pulls.

Either the floor is really slanted, or the photographer was drunk.

Here We Go (Yet) Again ...

First on my new & improved reno list was painting the foyer. Many eons ago, I posted that a suitable paint color couldn't be found. I wanted a pale green color and after many sample cans plus mutations from said sample cans, I decided to go back to the original.

So off I went to Lowe's where I: how well do you know me ... Mr. Hubby could finish this sentence even if he didn't live with me ... it's so predictable ... picked YET ANOTHER color: Parisian Mist.

But this time I didn't bother with the sample, I got the real deal. No more fooling around. I decided THIS WAS IT, for better or worse.

Onto the wall Parisian Mist went. It's very pale, but very pretty. Mr. Hubby originally told me that he would paint pinstripes in white, which would look tres cool. But now he says that the green might be too pale to show the contrasting stripes. I don't agree, so I may need to do a sample to show him that they would still look fabulous -- light or dark.  

I only got a quart, thinking that would certainly be enough for the teensy area. But these walls soak in paint somethin' fierce. so a second coat is needed, I think. See, I've had optic neuritis twice, which really makes my ability to see pale colors super-funky. So I'm not really sure I got the walls covered well.

But I'm making progress, and that's the important part. Below are pictures mid-project. I'll post more when I get the second coat applied.

I'm Back, Baby!!

It's been so long since I've posted, I feel like I'm starting a new blog. And I'm sure any previously loyal reader is long gone.

So we'll just pretend this is the first day of my new blog. Let me give you some recent background: I was having a hard time balancing work and reno since my job hours were smack-dab in the middle of the day. I wasn't getting anything done pre- and post-work. After much soul-searching and boring Mr. Hubby with yet more of my  ''oh, what should I do'' monologues, I decided to quit my job and concentrate on just the house renovation, with the hopes of becoming a substitute teacher a day or two per week, leaving me full days to work on house projects.

The substitute teacher gig isn't becoming a reality as of yet. The school district coordinator was oh-so-friendly until I submitted my on-line application. Then she clammed up like a senator at an ethics hearing. She either has a problem with my full legal name or someone gave me a bad reference.

Major bummer. I think I did a good job at the school, but the fact that I left so soon after the start of the academic year may have marked me as 'flaky' and 'unstable' (although I worked most of last year in the same job). Who knows.

So this week I've been in the house with oodles of projects to start. But there's been this little part of me that fears spending too much time alone and slowly being driven mad by the Ghost of Renovation Past. So I made a point to plan social outings that would force me into the world. I got out a lot, meeting people at lunch places and Starbucks, running errands, doing a little volunteering -- so much so that I haven't had much time to work on the house ... ironic, isn't it.

So starting next week, it's all about getting things done AT HOME. I may start seeing visions and succumb to the dark side of anti-social behavior, but at least I'll have some painted rooms to show for it.

I hope you'll join me for Level Headed Part II. I've started making a list of everything I want to get done. It's pretty overwhelming, but I should have the time since I'll be home a lot -- if I can just drown out those voices with the radio ...