Makeover

A couple of weeks ago I was strolling through the mall with my husband (which doesn't happen often these days), when a smartly-dressed young man stepped out of a store-front and offered me a sample of . . . something. It was some skin-care/cosmetics place. He asked me what I currently used on my face and I told him the truth: warm water and a soft cloth; sometimes soap. And he said (sounding slightly horrified), "Did you just stop caring?"

Really?! Did he actually ask me that? My response could have been, "Are you stupid?" Because I was always told that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. At the time, though, I couldn't think of anything; I took the sample and kept walking. Since then I have decided that the best response would have been, "Do I look like I stopped caring?" Because either way he answered, he would impale himself. But, despite all that, I did not get a makeover.

No, my bedroom got a makeover this past week!  I have been getting tired of our red walls—lovely as they were—and wanting something a little . . . quieter? more neutral? Maybe just different. I've been feeling this way for a year or so, but when I mention it to Bruce he always says, "I like our red walls!"  Well, I've liked them too, but I wanted a change. And guess what? When the cat is away . . .

The first stroke is the scariest . . .

So I started out with a nice color called Autumn Haze (by Glidden). I chose it because it was similar to the Elbow Room and Sewing Room that we added on last year, but less green. But once I got the first coat on, it looked like toothpaste on the walls! I needed to do a second coat anyway, so I opted for Tawny Birch, which is warmer.

I did have an accident during the painting process.

See this?

I was trying to set up that lamp on the back of the chair so it would point up at the ceiling, to make it easier to see where I still needed to paint the second coat of paint. What I didn't see was the newly emptied paint-can right there, and my cell phone right next to the base of the lamp. Oh nooooo! I had all this stuff in my hands as I sat there watching my cell phone fall, slowly spinning, tumbling over and over and over, until it landed—plop!—right smack in the middle of the paint-can, where the dregs of paint were just deep enough to cover it entirely! I couldn't have tossed it into that can from two feet away and have it land as perfectly centered as it did.

Well, it wasn't as traumatic as you might think because my phone is a piece of junk anyway. And that's not just sour grapes! I can only hear my phone calls if I put it on speaker-phone and hold it up to my ear. And when I hold it to my ear, the dial pad shows up so that if it gets closer to my face than an inch  the "buttons" start beeping at me. So it was just possible that a dunk in the paint could actually improve the quality of my phone. 

Well, I grabbed the phone out of the paint and ran into the bathroom where I rinsed it under cool, running water—because, Hey! it couldn't hurt now. Then I took it all apart, dried it with a soft towel, and left it to finish air-drying overnight. And guess what? It works as well as it ever did! So I am in the market for a new phone.

I had hoped to have the bedroom all painted and put back together before Bruce came home for the weekend, but no. He got to see half of our furniture sitting out in the hallway. And he got to see the walls finished, but not the trim.

Rachel autographed my closet door probably eight years ago. Bruce was here when I painted her name away.

I finally finished putting everything together yesterday. Wanna see? (If you don't, just close the page now.)

before

After (New bedding, too. Yay!)

It could use some sage green roller-shades instead of sheets in the windows, I think. But that's something to do later.

before

After

I even rearranged the stuff on top of the dressers.

So, it's way different! And the room seems so much bigger and uncluttered. (Well, it really is less cluttered, because I cleaned it too. But it seems bigger and less cluttered than it did when it was clean and had the red walls.) And I'm liking it! :-)