Painting The Apartment PART 1

Cheryl decides to paint the Kitchen

She is in charge of the trim

I could have titled it "part 2" because this whole chain of events began with the painting of the bathroom.   But then it might get confusing.... and since the bathroom was meant to be a one time thing,   It was hardly the intended first step.... but I digress.

$50 of materials later

With the bathroom turning out so swimmingly,   Cheryl decided that the Kitchen ( which also had countless water marks from floods and upstairs leaks)  was the next room that should be considered for a face lift.   We changed the light, but somehow it still failed to brighten the room.   Then we decided that it was not the furnishings, nor the lighting,  but rather the dingy paint that has been on our walls since we moved in...and perhaps since the beginning of TIME!...

My way of paining...because I'm messy

So,  50 bucks later,  we started the task.   First, I want to be upfront about this:  Cheryl and I have different ways of doing things.   She likes to keep everything where it is and only paint the areas that need it, with minimal disturbances.   I like to take EVERYTHING out of the room,   ( total chaos!)  and tape up the windows, woodwork, backsplash,  and everything that you do not want paint on.   Then cover the rest with a drop cloth.  Pull out the appliances to paint behind them, even if you will never see behind them again.  In a word,   TOTAL ANNIHILATION.

The reason is clear: No matter how careful I am, I will still spill and splatter, touch and track paint everywhere. In short:  I'm a slob.
 Oh, I try not to be ....sometimes.  But one of the few life lessons I have learned  over the year is to recognize your faults, and count on them.  I could try to change them... But that is refusing to accept who you are.    And I like me.... slob and all.

Compare the new vs old 

Day one painting complete

Day One painting, just don't move the stove.

Cheryl, on the other hand, is much more neat and precise then I am.   She tries really, really hard to do a good job; Once! Without a mess,  and without tearing up the house.   The results:   No tape on the trim causes a bit of white paint to creep up.   Without moving the oven means there will be visible signs of where we failed to paint.   ( if anyone ever moves the oven ever again....)  The first day was more like a wrestling match than an experience of "painting togetherness."

Day two painting begins

To be fair, that oven was never coming out of there.    I would have had to have a second burly guy and a fulcrum to lift and tilt it out of there.   ( Not sure how they got it past the baseboards to begin with..)  But Cheryl conceded that the entire area needed at least two coats of paint to look decent. AND that I could tape up certain areas and see if it was easier than scrubbing the paint off the trim later.    Day two went much more smoothly.

I'm in charge of the walls and ceiling

Cheryl uses the bench to reach

We pushed everything to one wall and taped off the trim this time.   Cheryl painted the tight areas while I did the rolling.    I'm taller so I worked on the ceiling and upper walls.    Cheryl enlisted the help of one of the benches.

Day three ( today!),   we finished up.   I  had to remove the shelves and tape up the window.   Luckily, we did the lions share of painting yesterday, so we only  had a small section to finish up.  

Plastic tarp over the unpainted parts.

Day 2 painting complete

After a couple hours and two coats of paint,  we put it all back together.   Cheryl now wants to tackle the remainder of the apartment.

  I thought we could stick to the hallway and possibly the living room,  but with Cheryl unable to run...It leaves this maelstrom of unbridled energy that has to focus on some sort of project to engage with.   Swirling me along in the process.

Day three.   Today!

Cheryl paints the baseboards.

I'm less like the wind and perhaps more like a calm pond.    I have things to occupy my time....some of them are actually not meaningless.  Like writing my novel....

Day three.  Painting Complete!

Oh, that story....will it ever be complete?    I hope so.   Inspiration and self discipline are not two of my strong suits.  It takes herculean effort for me to write Without distractions....   So when a painting project comes along,   you can bet I will not be writing much on those days.

Hmmm,  yet somehow I end up being able to blog....go figure.

So that is all.   I'm not sure what room we will tackle next, but I'll try to post about things as they progress.   OH!  And before I forget,   Today ( I think) is my brother's birthday....Not really sure.   I'm pretty sure he was born sometime in January.   Or July.   I'm pretty bad with dates, let alone birthdays.   The only reason I remember mine or Cheryls is the 6/6 and 8/8.   ( I guess CJ's is 5/5...so I can remember his.)   So Happy Birthday to him..if he ever reads this blog. AND if he was born on Jan 6th.  ( It is Jan.6th right? )  It's the thought that counts right?