September progress

You might recall that, the first couple of years in our house, Stephanie and I together painted one downstairs bedroom each year. It didn't literally take the whole year - but it might take five months plus. For several of our first few months in the house, Stephanie and I slept on the floor in the living room while we painted our bedroom (until it got to be around this time of the year and got too cold). This year, you'll recall, Stephanie (by herself) began painting hallway, dining room, and living room - a big job! As with the other rooms, prep and painting the trim (one of the last steps) took longer than the actual painting. Prep was particularly time-consuming this time. Instead of simply stripping a border across the top of the walls, she also had to strip wallpaper/border off of one entire wall all wallpapered. All of the border/wallpaper in the dining room and living room, Stephanie discovered, was in two layers, with paint in between. Plus, we have always painted the ceilings first, which necessitates very good ground cover. Stephanie's visits to ailing mothers/mothers-in-law in OH and FL kept her away for a little bit (as did a couple of other weekend trips). Stephanie got the hallway done relatively quickly, even while she was still teaching summer school in June. She then attacked the dining room, but got slowed down by going to FL and the wallpaper/border stripping. To do the dining room, you'll recall, she had to rearrange all of the dining room/living room furniture. She had to do (mostly) the same (see "Tetris") when she shifted to the adjoining living room (all the got the same white ceiling paint, the same white trim paint, and the same green flat. Although there was not as much trim per square foot as in the bedrooms, there was plenty of other meticulous work to do. Two years ago an electrician had pointed out that someone who painted the walls previously had dangerously painted over several wall socket covers (which creates a fire hazard). Stephanie pried most of these out (and then as she finished we had to find and buy new covers and she to install them). Above and immediately below Stephanie is earlier in September peeling the tape off of the wall after she's painted several coats on the living room trim and it's dried. She's also was reapplying the wall socket covers and installing new ones.

Here is me in a rare picture - Stephanie took a picture of me vacuuming the living room - part of a several week project of mine - dusting and vacuuming most of the first floor (I'd done Vincent's room/the upstairs - several weeks earlier - see "Boy's room"). I also vacuumed the finished part of the basement. This was the only part of the process I contributed to.

In the picture above and below is the new cover to the front door window that Stephanie's mom, Nancy made us. We wondered if it was a tad long but like it a lot (its purple precedessor was real ugly). It fits the room.

Here's Stephanie - pretty much done - after I've vacummed and dusted, she's painted and taken off all of the tape, and she's put in all of the socket covers. Notice the smile.

Notice - Stephanie also put the turtle terrarium and stand and the turtles back. They'd been in the terrarium on the chaise lounge in the Florida room all summer - with no heat lamp or spectrum light lamp on in there (she figured in the summer and in the Florida room it was pretty warm and pretty light).

Good work, Stephanie!

These few shots below have some significance that I'll go into later. But the night shots - with the lights on - give you a different sense - especially with all of the decorations etc. restored/installed (and with some of the clutter etc. more or less permanently out) what these rooms look like. Stephanie has continued to put paintings etc. up - some there before, some not. In the picture below, on the far left of the picture on the wall behind the sofa is a painting that was already there, a painting by our friend Meredith (see "Friends in Tallahassee") of the side of our old apartment building in Tallahasese (see "Old and new haunts") (which was already up before).

Notice all the beautiful trim painting that Stephanie did (in the picture below).

Below is another picture of the dining room (with the kitchen behind it), the room Stephanie painted second this summer. On the wall in the right hand of the picture is a framed photograph of Stephanie and me (we'll have to take a better picture of it). It's in the "romance side" of the dining room/living room, according to our friend/feng shui consultant Sara. It replaces three framed photographs of the Louisville Waterfront that Tina had taken (see "Open House").

Later in September Stephanie tried some yellow drapes from World Market. We hemmed and hawed about these - we hadn't had drapes in this room - just the old-fashioned screens (blinds in our bedrooms).

Notice the yellow microfiber sofa - we got (with plenty of financial help) - from Haverty's Furniture. I still don't love those extra pillows Stephanie got a Target. Frisco likes the combination of pillows, though he also misses the love seat (now down in the basement - somehow Stephanie got it down there by herself balancing it over the stove and counters in the kitchen) - He had an easier time perching on the top of the love seat. Stephanie (below) was still pondering whether to keep the yellow draperies while she put them up.

Part of us thought the draperies looked very nice, but we were still thinking about it.

-- Perry Chang