The Joy of Taping and Priming

Today I learned that I'm very unfocused when I don't have a plan. I would start on one thing, like washing all the doors, then get sidetracked trying to scrape all the paint off the door (they've been painted badly multiple times), then I'd notice the paint on a window was peeling, so I'd start peeling that off, then before I was done I'd decide to remove the mini blinds.

Here's the deal, I've got 3 things that need to be done before I move in next Sunday: paint the living room, paint the master bedroom, and I decided I'm going to put a finish on the hardwood floor I exposed in the living room yesterday. These things need to be done before all my junk is in the way. The problem is, I have NO IDEA what colors I want those rooms. Small barrier.

So while I try to decide on colors, I'll work on other stuff. Stephen came over today and worked on cleaning gunk off the living room floor so I can finish it Monday while I had home improvement A.D.D. in the back half of the house.

This morning I had bought paint to use on the doors and for the bathroom, so I decided today I could work on the bathroom and prime the master bedroom. I rescued Stephen from the living room and dragged him into my bathroom project. We took out the hardware and took down the medicine cabinet. And discovered a big hole in the wall; I guess there used to be a recessed medicine cabinet.


There was old wallpaper around it which we removed, then we patched all the holes and imperfectgions in the wall. They've changed the patch stuff so it's pink when you apply and when it's dry, it turns white.


At 3:30 we got yummy burritos at Super Oscar's, near University and 70th, then Steve went home to enjoy the rest of his day off and I went to Erika's to look at furniture she's donating to my guest bedroom, to Adam's to get the speaker cable for the bass amp I'm selling, and then to Sara's to borrow an allen wrench.

I got back to the house at 6:30 and this time I had a plan for the rest of my evening! Prime the bathroom and prime the master bedroom. Got the bathroom done by 7:30:


Then I tackled the master bedroom. It's very blue. I'd washed all the walls earlier in the day. Next I had to tape the trim at the floor and the ceiling above the upper trim.

I'd never taped a room before. It's pretty low on my list of things I ever want to do again. Unfortunately, I'll have to do it 5 more times. After I taped everything, i had to put down a dropcloth and tape it into place. Then i spent about half an hour doing things the long way before I figured out it would be best to paint all the edges around the floor first, then do the trim up top, and finally prime the walls.

Things I learned:

1. It's better to do paint brush strokes in small strokes. But when you're tired and impatient, that's an impossible task.
2. Don't buy the cheapest paint rollers. They're cheap for a reason.
3. I HATE priming trim.
4. I HATE moving a ladder around the room to prime trim.
5. Be careful when you're climbing a ladder near a ceiling fan.

I finished at midnight. So not counting my break to enjoy a string cheese and bread pudding dinner, it took me about 4 hours to prep and prime an entire room by myself. And I still need to go over the trim one more time before I can paint it white.

So to summarize, today I primed my bathroom and master bedroom, removed the window treatments in all the bedrooms, and washed all the doors. And will be a lifelong enemy of crown moulding that needs to be painted. Also, I'm proud of myself for not getting paint on my clothes or my hair!