the next project

Long time readers may recall that when I moved in with my now~husband over two and a half years ago, my mom had given me an awesome wedding~gift.  She would help me clean, and paint, the entire interior of my new home.  She had come over and spent about five or six weeks at that time.  We cleaned and painted the huge open living area which includes the living area, the dining area, the breakfast nook, and the kitchen; and one bedroom and one bathroom.  Later that year, a month or so before my wedding, she and my brother returned and painted three guest rooms in the addition and laid tile flooring in those rooms as well.

Last year, we never really coordinated things well, either when she could spend sufficient time, or when I felt lively enough to want to do any major cleaning/painting.  Besides, I wanted to have a few visits with my mom that weren't working~vacations.  And also there was my husband's wreck and then a five~month house~guest.  So we thought we'd wait a bit.

This year, my mom was bound and determined to make it happen; so Wednesday evening she arrived with her brushes and her knee~pad.  Yesterday, we did a few errands around town.  This morning, we started in on the master bedroom, with plans to also do the master bath.  For now, it's mostly cleaning and painting; the floors must wait to be tiled for a later date.

So enter Krud~Kutter deglosser and prep for the painting.  That stuff is strong, good, and very very effective.  Mom is applying the first coat of primer for most of the room.  A second coat of primer is applied as well.  We use KilZ primer, great stuff!

Then she does two top coats of the satin {or semi~gloss} paint.  We are sticking with what is called "peppermint tea".  All but one room so far has been painted in this color.  Peppermint tea is a light frothy frosty pale green that is soothing and refreshing.

In the future, we have one rather large front bedroom to do~~I still need to clear it out and go thru all the clutter in there.  And back in the addition, we do have a small room, the bathroom, and the wide hall to do.  As well as laying new tile in all but three rooms.

We're not in a rush.  Each time a new section is done, we feel oh so much better.  My husband says that he never notices how much the walls and floor do affect him until they are cleaned and painted; then he feels so much lighter.  I know what he means!

When I was growing up, my mother repainted our kitchen and sometimes the bedrooms ever other year or so.  It felt so much more better, to have that freshly cleaned and painted room.  I can't describe it quite right, but if you've experienced it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Ahhhhhhh.

I'm disgusted with the dust~dogs under my bed, behind my dresser, in the corners, hanging from the ceiling.  I call them "dust~dogs" cuz they are fine spider~webs that have caught dog hair in the corners; wads of dust that are more dog hair piled under the bed; drifts of dog hair that are settled behind dressers; so much so that we could easily construct several other dogs with all the shed dog hair.  I love Shaddow, but I will not ever get another large dog.

My floors are in a constant state of nastiness, cuz I have admitted defeat in the battle of scrubbing them clean.  My husband and I both use the broom when it gets to the point that the drifting, settling dog fur piles encroach on our space.  I always forewarn folks that my floors are not ever so clean you'd want to eat off them.  I shudder when a small child crawls around on them, and apologize to the parents ahead of time if the knees of their pants are dirty after chasing the lil chiweenie around.  It seems that when we sweep, it just stirs up the grit and fluffy fur so that when it resettles, the same clumps of hair is there yet again.  {sigh}

At least my walls are lovely!  And other than my floors, I think we have a fairly clean, clutterless home.  Well, maybe not so clutter~free at this moment, as I have tools spread across the table, yarn piled here, fabric piled there, and books here and there.  Once the bedroom is done, I can put things back into place.  So I can deal with the clutter.

For now.

I think.