Paint Versus Prep
Painting is a love/hate thing with me. I love the newness of a freshly painted room, but hate all the work to get there. And for me, the worst part of any painting project is not the actual painting, it's all of the crappy prep work that you have to do before dipping a brush.
We have an upstairs back porch area that is south facing. Because it is poorly insulated and located in the nether regions of the house, the room has always been under-utilized. It started as an empty room, was converted to a sort of game room/movie room for the kids for a bit and most recently served as Ben's hangout room, with his gaming computer taking up much of the space.
The room has beautiful tongue-in-groove woodwork on the walls and ceiling. The window panes however were starting to show their age, so we decided to paint. The thought was to spruce up the room and possibly use it as an office for me for my writing. We decided to paint the windows and door frames an off white to brighten the room and give it a new feel.
And then the not-so-fun part begins. Prep.
It starts with a trip to Home Depot for primer.
Because the wood has a coat of polyurethane on it, it required a light sanding before priming it. Then, because I'm a slopper we had to tape it off. Next, all of the shades and hardware needed to be removed. And finally, because there were 50+ years of curtains, valances and blinds hung, there were a couple dozen holes to be filled with wood filler.
This of course requires a second trip to the hardware store for wood filler and more sand paper.
Ugh.
Once it was done, though the meditative part of actually laying down paint began. I don't actually mind the actual painting process. I put on some music and just start painting. I am one of these guys that can't stop until it's finished, so I did one coat on Friday, one on Saturday. When it was done, I am reminded that, like any project, preparation always precedes a job well done. This pertains to house projects, writing, art and pretty much everything.
And while it's still only primer, I am really happy with the way it is looking. It is exciting to think that we may finally be transforming a part of our house into a more useful space. Maybe it will make me a better writer. (Ha!)
One thing is for sure, it feels good to get it cleaned up.
Blogging off...
We have an upstairs back porch area that is south facing. Because it is poorly insulated and located in the nether regions of the house, the room has always been under-utilized. It started as an empty room, was converted to a sort of game room/movie room for the kids for a bit and most recently served as Ben's hangout room, with his gaming computer taking up much of the space.
 |
| Before primer |
The room has beautiful tongue-in-groove woodwork on the walls and ceiling. The window panes however were starting to show their age, so we decided to paint. The thought was to spruce up the room and possibly use it as an office for me for my writing. We decided to paint the windows and door frames an off white to brighten the room and give it a new feel.
And then the not-so-fun part begins. Prep.
It starts with a trip to Home Depot for primer.
Because the wood has a coat of polyurethane on it, it required a light sanding before priming it. Then, because I'm a slopper we had to tape it off. Next, all of the shades and hardware needed to be removed. And finally, because there were 50+ years of curtains, valances and blinds hung, there were a couple dozen holes to be filled with wood filler.
This of course requires a second trip to the hardware store for wood filler and more sand paper.
Ugh.
Once it was done, though the meditative part of actually laying down paint began. I don't actually mind the actual painting process. I put on some music and just start painting. I am one of these guys that can't stop until it's finished, so I did one coat on Friday, one on Saturday. When it was done, I am reminded that, like any project, preparation always precedes a job well done. This pertains to house projects, writing, art and pretty much everything.
 |
| After primer |
And while it's still only primer, I am really happy with the way it is looking. It is exciting to think that we may finally be transforming a part of our house into a more useful space. Maybe it will make me a better writer. (Ha!)
One thing is for sure, it feels good to get it cleaned up.
Blogging off...
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