White on White

Today I learned two things:
1. Painting a white wall a different shade of white is difficult! You can't see where you missed until it dries.
2. Pulling staples out of hardwood is just like plucking your eyebrows: some are easy to see and grab and pluck right out and others are less willing to relinquish their stronghold.

I'll keep it short tonight. Today I put a second coat of primer on the blue trim in the master bedroom, painted the bathroom walls white and the wainscoting green (it matches the tile work), scrapped some paint off doors, and removed the hallway carpet, staples, and tacking strips. I forgot to take a picture of the hallway before I pulled up the carpet for better before and after. Oops.

And I did it all by myself today! It was my first day working on my house alone. Today I went in with a plan so I didn't have ADD like yesterday and I did MUCH better. I let myself get distracted once in a while to peel paint off doors (it's like peeling sunburnt skin which is disgusting and I love doing), but other than that, I stayed on task. And I did painting first because last night I learned that painting requires patience and attention to detail; something I'm usually lacking after 9 hours of working. I saved ripping and tearing carpet and nails for the late night task; it's mindless and mostly just requires muscle.

Around 11:30, when I was sitting at the far end of the hallway removing one of the last tack strips, I had my first happy moment. I was looking down the hall at all the work I'd done by myself and could see out into the living room and just thought to myself "this is all mine and it's going to look awesome soon". It was kind of my first real, wow, I own this place moment.

Adam gave me a good idea at band practice tonight. He'd seen on HGTV people had painted some plywood floor. I hadn't thought of that, but it's a good solution for the crappy plywood that's in the portion of my living room that was an addition. I was going to just leave carpet over it (see Friday's post), but I like this idea much better. I actually like painted wood floors and I could do something fun with it. Thanks Adam!