Last Friday during lunch, my husband and I decided to paint the living room...over the weekend. We didn't really have time to do it - it's a big job for two people and we had two parties to go to, along with all the usual weekend busyness. Factor in the fact that it IS the middle of the December in Chicago (making open windows a far-off memory) and it seemed like even less of a good idea.
But once the idea took hold, we weren't going back on it. The thought of having a nice, freshly painted room to enjoy time off in over the holidays in was irresistible. So, thanks to zero-VOC paint (which really doesn't have any fumes or odor) and a strong desire to knock this job out, we were able to complete it all by yesterday early evening, in time to go to our friend's movie party.
Here's how it worked out...
Friday Evening:
Made a trip to the store and a quick decision on which paint to purchase. Picked up a long extension handle (we decided to do the ceiling too), a roll of blue painters tape and a pack of new roller covers, along with a special triangular brush for doing the corners.
Came home, took down all the artwork, moved all the little things (tchotkes, books, magazines, etc.) from the living room to the bedroom for storage. Rolled up the rug, pushed the furniture to the middle of the room, covered it with dropcloths.
Realized this was REALLY happening.
Saturday:
Vacummed and cleaned the walls and floor well. Taped off the floor. Got the paint trays and rollers from the storage locker in the basement. Grabbed all the free Saturday Red Eye newspapers from our buildings front step so we could put paper under the paint trays. Removed the light switch and electrical outlet covers. Did the first coat on the ceiling and walls. Realized this was a really big job AND that we forgot the semi-gloss for the doors and baseboards. Stopped working at 6pm to go to a holiday party. Came home from the party to a big mess and lots of work to look forward to.
Sunday:
Ran to the store first thing for semi-gloss paint and got to work. Did second and third coats on the walls and two coats on the doors. Slaved over the baseboards. Realized the second coat on the ceiling wasn't going to happen this weekend after all. Wrapped it up in time to put all the furniture back in place and get ready before heading out to the party. Came home from the party to our freshly painted room, still somewhat in disbelief that we pulled it off, but very satisfied with the results.
(BTW, we're happily ignoring the ceiling for the moment - we'll knock out that second coat next Saturday morning).
Have you ever been struck with the "have to do it now" decorating or home project bug? How did it go? Let us know in the comments below....
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Most of my decorating happens like this. When inspiration strikes I have to act immediately, or I could lose my motivation... Where's the after pic?
I woke up one morning a couple weeks ago and first decided to pain my bathroom and then move all of my furniture around. I don't know what spurred it on but it was such a nice feeling when it was done! :)
Sweet! Say, is that a bucket of asphalt seal-coat? Now THAT would be a bold step.
Decided to re-upholster my old Ikea couch into a completly different style couch one Saturday morning - ran out to the fabric store right away and was pretty much done by that evening. I didn't finish the last bit of hemming for several months, but it turned out great and I'm really happy i did it - much more comfortable & fits in with the rest of the livingroom much better.
I'm in awe of all of you. I never do stuff like this. The closest was when I had to (unexpectedly) take everything out of the closet to replace the water heater and then realized it was a good time to paint, ran out and got the paint and supplies, and did it fast. But, that was just a long closet. Felt great to do it though.
I just did it today. Started stripping wallpaper in the bathroom. Not sure if it was such a good idea. Having a busy week ahead and the guests are coming on Saturday.
We have guests coming in and a party to throw in less than a week. This weekend we decided to pull up the carpet upstairs (wood floors underneath- condition unknown).
http://cozylittlecave.blogspot.com/2009/12/adventures-in-flooring-part-1.html
2 rooms and the landing were pretty decent with a few days of major elbow grease.
http://cozylittlecave.blogspot.com/2009/12/adventures-in-flooring-part-2.html
The master bedroom? hehehe.... well, it's an 'adventure!'
http://cozylittlecave.blogspot.com/2009/12/adventures-in-flooring-i-live-in.html
We did something similiar a while back - A Saturday morning we just suddenly looked at each other and said "We really should paint this white" and two hours later we had bought paint and were painting all we could.
We had invited alot of friends over that evening, and one hour before the guests were about to arrive all our furniture was still clamped in the middle of the room, but we eventually pulled it off and was so happy with our new room. Sometimes it's just a matter of doing it, not planning too much.
Wow. I've been intending to paint my bedroom for a year and a half and I still haven't done it... maybe this will inspire me.
This is how I generally operate for decorating and projects. I decide, then I announce, and then I do. Because if I allow any room for hesitation, the boyfriend will pounce on it and make it impossible for me to get anything done. He wants to discuss and debate until action is impossible. But if I just say, "This is what I'm (or we're) doing," he'll go along with it.
I guess sometimes I do plan things in my head, and I just don't give any hint about my plans until the last second... but it still feels very whirlwind.
After pic! I had a moment like that when I just HAD to paint. I was inviting other designers over for dinner and I that was motivation enough for me.
It's not just me! This basically explains the month of October. Every weekend my husband and I "suddenly" decided to paint a new room. Once you start it's hard to stop. In fact, yesterday I e-mailed my husband a picture of something I wanted to do next...off to home depot...
Wow, my boyfriend would probably run screaming if I tried to do something like this. Good for you getting it done, that is inspiring! And yes, we need to see the "after" pic!
We did this over the summer and fall. What started as putting in a new patio next to the garage turned into painting the entire garage and then painting all of the exterior trim on our house to match the garage. Whew!
We love it, and we've almost (almost) forgotten about all of the scraping and sanding we had to do before we painted. Painting was the easy part!
You people probably don't have a lot of trim!
Seriously, I envy those that do projects like these and its much better to share the work with someone else, I just do not have the patience to do alone and I end up getting more paint on me and the floors than what I am painting.
I can think about a project for years, but sometimes I just suddenly HAVE to do something immediately...
EG: I was leaving for overseas the next day, but had to paint my front door bright yellow. It looks great, but why do I do this to myself?
Meanwhile, my sister has been talking about stripping her ancient wallpaper in her kitchen for years. A year ago, over one too many drinks, we ended up ripping some of the old wallpaper to 'force' her to take it all down. I was at her house a year later after returning from overseas, and she had STAPLED the ripped wallpaper back up!!!
Some of my best decorating gets done this way. Two weekends ago I painted my bathroom. I took down the cheap medicine cabinet and replaced it with an old mirror I got from my mom. To update the mirror, I silver leafed the frame. And then went to Ikea to get the Grundtal kitchen rail system and installed that in the shower for storage. I plan to use another weekend to work on the kitchen.