The thing about painting (as in, painting internal walls) is that the actual painting takes minutes, but all the preparation takes forever.
In the winter I had noticed that one of our sitting room walls was badly scuffed. Closer inspection showed that another wall was similarly in need of a re-coat of paint. I decided to wait until Spring.
Well, Spring is here. I've spent a large part of today emptying and moving everything so that I can paint. It's two rooms knocked into one. Every time we do something like this (usually it is me deciding to recoat the floor that sets this off) I am amazed at how much stuff we have have in the room.
I've dusted the ceilings and the walls. We're a spider-friendly home, and I usually leave the cobwebs alone, for as long as they are occupied. I've vaccuumed the solid floors. I've cleaned dust bunnies off the hidden wires and plugs and bits. I've created a (admittedly small) pile of stuff to give to Oxfam.
I've also masking-taped half the room so far. I'm not repainting the ceiling or the coving, so I've taped those. I've taped round the french windows. I've taped around one of the doors. It's sooooooo tedious.
I've hand washed one pair of curtains , two pairs to go - but one of them can't be done until morning (we need them up for privacy this evening). I should be honest here and say that my lovely washing machine has a hand wash cycle, so when I say "hand wash" - in this instance - I mean I've run one pair through the machine so far. This really means Spring, I love it when the lightweight curtains are washed and on the line.
I'm hoping to get all the masking tape stuff done by bedtime, and to get the TV etc in the middle of the room before we go to bed. Then first thing tomorrow morning I can run round the skirtings with the "speed masker" (masking tape with an an attached piece of plastic). We have oak skirtings, and there is no doubt that I will get paint on them otherwise. The pack says "remove within 4 hours", so I don't think putting it on this evening and leaving it overnight will work too well.
I can then do my cutting in, by which time my "preparation" will be finished, and I'll be ready to spend half an hour rollering the walls.
Then, tomorrow afternoon it'll be ready for it's second coat, and tomorrow evening we can put everything back. At least, that's the plan.
Isabelle has been "helping"me empty cupboards....
In the winter I had noticed that one of our sitting room walls was badly scuffed. Closer inspection showed that another wall was similarly in need of a re-coat of paint. I decided to wait until Spring.
Well, Spring is here. I've spent a large part of today emptying and moving everything so that I can paint. It's two rooms knocked into one. Every time we do something like this (usually it is me deciding to recoat the floor that sets this off) I am amazed at how much stuff we have have in the room.
I've dusted the ceilings and the walls. We're a spider-friendly home, and I usually leave the cobwebs alone, for as long as they are occupied. I've vaccuumed the solid floors. I've cleaned dust bunnies off the hidden wires and plugs and bits. I've created a (admittedly small) pile of stuff to give to Oxfam.
I've also masking-taped half the room so far. I'm not repainting the ceiling or the coving, so I've taped those. I've taped round the french windows. I've taped around one of the doors. It's sooooooo tedious.
I've hand washed one pair of curtains , two pairs to go - but one of them can't be done until morning (we need them up for privacy this evening). I should be honest here and say that my lovely washing machine has a hand wash cycle, so when I say "hand wash" - in this instance - I mean I've run one pair through the machine so far. This really means Spring, I love it when the lightweight curtains are washed and on the line.
I'm hoping to get all the masking tape stuff done by bedtime, and to get the TV etc in the middle of the room before we go to bed. Then first thing tomorrow morning I can run round the skirtings with the "speed masker" (masking tape with an an attached piece of plastic). We have oak skirtings, and there is no doubt that I will get paint on them otherwise. The pack says "remove within 4 hours", so I don't think putting it on this evening and leaving it overnight will work too well.
I can then do my cutting in, by which time my "preparation" will be finished, and I'll be ready to spend half an hour rollering the walls.
Then, tomorrow afternoon it'll be ready for it's second coat, and tomorrow evening we can put everything back. At least, that's the plan.
Isabelle has been "helping"me empty cupboards....
