Never mind that
the wind chill is cruising at about -8, there are other dangers at this time of
the year.
The holidays are blessedly over, so I no longer sit up in bed at2:00 am , thinking, “Coat rack! Gotta get the
coat rack out of the garage for company!” While it’s great to no longer have
the pressure of entertaining people in groups large enough to field a team,
this is when I begin to actually see my house.
The holidays are blessedly over, so I no longer sit up in bed at
Oh, sure, we can
dim the lights at night, but that low winter sun has a way of sneaking in the
windows and pointing out chips in the furniture and scrapes on the walls. Stuck
inside, I can’t breeze past all those flaws on the way to lounging outside on the
deck, a glass in my hand. I get itchy to fix things. This is one reason
my husband is highly supportive of bus excursions and lunch with the girls.
When we moved in
here eighteen years ago we were so happy to have the land and privacy we’d
never enjoyed in the city that we were blind to some of our new house’s flaws.
And it did seem like a new house to us, having been built in the late sixties,
whereas our previous home had gone up in 1926. While I wasn’t a fan of all the
persnickety 1970s stenciling in my office, the front hall, and the bathrooms, I
just never got around to doing much about it.
My Christmas
present this year from my creative husband was Ray the painter. I pored over
Sherwin-Williams color swatches, preparing myself to give up my office and deal
with disorder for the greater good.
Fortunately, we had cleverly scheduled the big
event for when we would be far away babysitting EGGs. (See previous posts.)
It was magical.
Ray swooped in, scraped and painted and finished everything before our return. We
now have a pristine front hall, my office looks great, and while Ray was disappointed
I didn’t make any major color changes (I imagine if you’re a painter, you get
pretty darn tired of eggshell and ecru), I’m thrilled. And the Virgo in me is
especially happy because I got a chance to sort drawers and reorganize my book
shelves.
This afternoon
I’ll be pulling the husband through furniture stores to look at lamps and rugs,
but that’s all right because in exchange I’ll spend some quality time with him
looking at electronics in Best Buy. Equity -the secret to a long and happy
marriage.
Eggshell and Ecru.....I've lived for many years in rented accommodation with cream walls and woodwork.
ReplyDeleteI'm so, so, tired of cream, but I can't paint since the home isn't my own, so I have colourful furniture instead. I would love to be able to put colour on my walls.
AND money enough to enjoy visits to both sides of the mall. A newly painted house is a rich feeling with all the marks on the walls and woodwork gone. I notice that low light in winter revealing all the dirt in my kitchen as if I have never cleaned it!
ReplyDeleteAh yes...that winter sun. Once the excitement of the holidays was over it pointed out to me the little hand and fingerprints on the lower third of the walls down the halls. Greasy little grandchild prints.
ReplyDeleteI love the feel of new paint, too. I also live in a rented apartment, so I don't get anything but cream to look at, but still, I can enjoy your new walls. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen I redid the bath I thought I'd just do the painting (and save some money). Then I looked at the energetic, efficient young man who would do the job, and caved. He did in a day, with the magic of blue tape, what I would have spent a week accomplishing. And, it looks so good!
ReplyDeleteGreat that you got your painting done in a fairly painless way. My micro manager thinks I'm the painter but my painting days are over so no painting is getting done here.
ReplyDeleteLooking good! :)
ReplyDeletewhen we bought the country house I swore we would not move in til I had repainted all the rooms. well, that didn't happen, still have the back bedroom, the office, and the bathroom. who knows when I'll ever get around to it.
ReplyDelete"Coat Rack..." that was funny.
ReplyDeleteThat was brilliant having it done while you were gone. No mess just done. Looking good and now the winter sun has no power.
ReplyDeleteThe morning sun makes me realize I am not the housekeeper I think I am.
The room is so pretty now! Being a Virgo too, I had organized all the books in the bookcase by color and size. My son-in-law was standing in front of the bookcase one day. He smiled and said to me, did you know you have a book out of place over here? I have since shuffled all the books and stuck them back in the bookcase.
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous. We too have great need around here for a painter but I doubt if my husband will do anything about it. Last year we reroofed and repainted the exterior of the house. $10,000 worth of work. We desperately need new flooring, too, so maybe next year we can save up enough to do both floor and wall paint. I know it can make such a difference, but when living on a pension, one must put off some of these tasks.
ReplyDelete