Painting again

As I mentioned on my last blog, we made the decision to go ahead and work on the guest bedroom next. First order of business was to make some minor repairs to the ceiling, walls, and trim work. In general, things were in good shape but the ceiling did have water damage from an old roof leak, the college students had punched numerous holes in the walls, and there was some nasty gaps in the trim work. After I repaired the cracks and put stain blocker over the water damage, the ceiling came out really nice. Of the original ceilings that remain in the house, this one may be the nicest.

Multiple color samples on the wall.

The project then stalled because we once again struggled to pick a color for the walls. My vision was to make a statement and to have something that would pop. Being a guest room, if it was too much, we could just close the door, and it would serve a dual purpose and keep unwanted guests from lingering. The problem is, sometimes your statement is just too LOUD. Another factor is that we were limited in our color choices. We had hit the yellows pretty hard downstairs in the dining room and living room, and we went to the blues/grays by selecting "Etched Glass", a light blueish grey in the master. That led us to the red/brown palette. Anything pink was out, which kind of pushes you toward brown side, which in turn doesn't really pop, and can actually be a bit depressing. I really didn't want earth tones. After several color samples we had either garish brightness, or depressing mauves.

Applying Balcony Sunset to the walls.

Then, as my dynamic meteorology professor once said, a miracle happened. We came across Balcony Sunset on the color chart. Kind of a burnt orange that was loud enough but not blindingly so. It will set off the white pine floors and work well with the white painted trim work. A nice bonus is that the windows in the room face south and west making it a logical choice, geographically. As the sun lowers in the sky, the room practically glows with color. Very nice. Unfortunately, one coat did not cover, which surprised me since I'm using my favorite paint (which "guarantees" one coat coverage) and I'm spreading it over white. So, another coat is in order.

After that's done, we need to pick out and install a nice ceiling fan for the room. I'd like to see if we can get something that matches the southwest sun theme, or even something suggesting a beach. I must also repaint all the woodwork and trim. I plan to go with a plain gloss or semi-gloss white. A final task is the doors. The previous painters slopped paint on the varnished wood and they look just awful. They're in pretty rough shape too and ultimately should be replaced, so I will not spend the time and effort to strip them and will likely just paint them. Once again, the color choice will be difficult but I'm starting to think a grayish tan may look nice and balance off the bright walls nicely.

I mentioned in the previous blog, in my attempt to insulate the massive hole in basement wall that went to the crawl space under the back porch, I loosened one of the fittings First Brother in Law Randy installed for me. Well, a second miracle happened: I managed to fix it. It no longer leaks and I have re-installed the insulation around the pipe. Plugging that hole has made a huge difference in the basement temperature. I should have tackled that long ago.

Katia and Natasha enjoy the fire. Cindy refused to curl up
on the floor for the picture. 

In other news, we have had a lot of fires in our fireplace and I'm not sure which of my lovely ladies likes it more, Cindy, Katia, or Natasha. We've had so many fires that we have already begun to burn through the grate I purchased only a year or so ago and it is sagging in the middle. Our local Home Depot has already put the fireplace equipment on clearance and I just purchased an identical replacement for less than $20. For that price, it really doesn't matter if they don't last too long. We've gone through about two thirds of our full face cord of wood, which is about where I expected to be at this time. Cindy has even taken over fire maintenance when I'm not home. She will add logs to the fire and run to the garage for more wood as needed. This shows you how much she like the fire.