Day 6.5 The MBR Dresser Project.

I can't decide whether I like the "barn board" effect or not. What do you think? Should I paint the second dresser the same--or revert back to the white? Here is the white one:

I will be repainting the walls. Not sure what, exactly, but I do want to change the colour scheme to include blue, and maybe lavender. (Depends on what will work with the darn wood).

Pros for the "barnboard":

1. The veneer is badly chipped. One some drawers it's intact, on some it isn't--all of them have bits of it missing. The paint treatment camouflages all of that mess, whereas gloss white would highlight it. I did my best to remove what I could and I know there's no way to get a smooth surface. The upright dresser, though, is fine. No chips at all.

Cons for the "barnboard."

1. I want sleek white glossy for these! I don't think the barnboard is terribly convincing on a curved piece--but I may be wrong.

2. I don't think it goes well with the old orange fir plywood doors and trim. I'd paint it a nice glossy white, but the druid I married likes it and has put his foot down.

3. I don't know quite how to decorate the room without it going all "country" on me with the dressers done up this way. Maybe you could help me with this, too?

4. Oh--and what should I do about the handles? I was thinking shiny chrome-like paint but black might be a bit more dramatic.

Day 6.4. The Road to the Expedit.

To refresh your memories (though no one seems to have any trouble remembering the RED) This is what we started with:

This is the colour scheme I wanted. As you may or may not remember, I decided to forgo the blue.

That's a bit of white bristol board in the front to "show" the "yellow" in the French Vanilla, but I think the flash washed it out.

Down came the west wall (lower right above) and this was the result:
With this as infrastructure, who wouldn't want a bunch of cubbies?
And when these were removed this was left:

Ouch. (Sorry about the hotspot).

On the wall over the desk, we had this:

Where did it all go?


This is the Living Room's pile of books from the shelves. (And Maxwell says to "put the books on the couch." Um. No.)

This is the start of the pile of Scrapping Stuff in the hallway. It would eventually go all the way to the end of the box (yes, that's the Expedit) and go all the way up and over the little alcove. There was about one foot of space between the cabinet (yellow in lower left corner) and the pile. Yes, you had to move sideways to get through.

And here be the contents of the China Cabinet. This is just around the corner from the hallway. (You can see the stuff piled in the background.)

Remember I said the spackle was "good to go" on October 6th? It wasn't. As we were washing the walls, I called the husband over to look at the paint standing about 1/4" away from the wall in the corner by the window. He decided it would be best to remove it and spackle over the plaster. I agreed. And so we had this for a few days:

We have no eaves. We really need to build some. The same thing happens in the outside corner of the living room.


Washing the walls was an absolute nightmare. The soap from the cloth I was using seemed to permeate the walls. We took to squirting on vinegar and water and going over a section at least four times to remove all traces of soap. I'd thought it was the cloth I was using. I eventually realised, that, no, it was because of the red. You could see the soap, that's all. And so the painting went on. And on. When we were done we realised the ceiling had to be done too. What a wonderful difference! And then, of course, the Expedit. Here it is:


I'm teasing you of course. What you really want to see is this:

I've tweaked the top a bit since I took this, but it's essentially the same. Let's look at that wall again, shall we?

Today, I actually went and found a darning needle that's now housed in there. I got the bookcase assembled and the books and binders put back on today and I unpacked the boxes and filled up the China Cabinet instead of making supper.

Maxwell allocates one week for painting. I started packing the dining room up on Sept. 25th. We finished painting and assembled the Expedit on Oct. 15th. That's 20 days. And the room still isn't reassembled yet. But I'm happy. Truly. And I'm anxious to share the finished result with you--so tomorrow, we drill holes in my beautiful walls.

Day 6.2 Getting Used to It....

I unpacked more boxes and set up the newly re-painted old Ikea Billy today. You cannot imagine how fresh and clean and open the room feels. It's amazing. Of course, I don't have the desk monstrosity (and the accompanying wall shelves) up yet: that could be contributing. And, of course, there is no table.

We went to Ikea this evening, chiefly so I could get new curtain rod supports (I had had a double one up, but I gave my second rod and red toile curtains to my mother for her place this summer) and take a look at some curtains I'd seen on-line. They were very disappointing.

Oh for heaven's sake, I just realised I saw these:
But what I wanted to look at were these:

A curer in SF bought these for her son's room while she was decking it out for the Blik contest. Well, that's what comes of not going on-line and double checking!
I almost bought these:

I really like them. They remind me of bark cloth patterns from long ago. But they are $100.00. They would coordinate beautifully with the current mish-mash of red and green boxes I have on the Expedit (which scared me, I don't want the dining room to look like a catalogue shoot for Ikea!) They're also rod pocket style and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get them all the way off the glass when they opened. (Very important.) And so, I left them, even though I had the frugal husband with me and he liked them enough to pay what they cost.

I've been doing a lot of shopping lately too. I've bought six clocks (all of which have to be returned because they tick too loud), three lampshades (wrong sizes, colour), new pillow covers (but they are too white), a new round lamp, and other bits and pieces to help things look new. It does feel like I'm returning more to the store than I'm actually keeping, but that's OK.

I also unloaded about two, maybe three feet of magazines. I barely looked at them. I couldn't. I mean I haven't since the Cure last year, so out they went. I made the mistake of glancing at the contents of one box as it went over the side of the recycling bin and those glossy covers seemed to cry and whimper for me. (I checked the date of one at random: 2003.) The second box I unloaded upside down so all I saw were the backs. No siren song there. Then I unloaded a large box of empty paint and varnish cans. What a relief to just have it done. Usually stuff languishes in the basement until someone "gets around" to taking them into the Eco centre.

So, I'm still hunting for curtains--and for the instructions how to assemble the little round table. The last piece got it's third coat of varnish today and other than touching up the painted base, it's done.

As for the bathroom and related cure tasks...I need to get to those soon. (And take some pics and finish the roll. And hook up the scanner to scan them in to post. Soon.)

Day 6.1 It's Up, IT's UP!

Yes, the Expedit is assembled and up against the wall. I'd told my husband I was reluctant to "get into it" tonight. I told him, "People take days to get this together. Entire afternoons, whole weekends go by before this thing is done. I don't want to be stepping over pieces all day tomorrow."

But he says, "We're Canadians. We'll have it done in no time."
(eh?)

So, both of us eyed the clock: 5:45pm. We absolutely had to finish by 7:30pm. That's when my hubby takes the boy to music lessons. And so we began. Count out the hardware. Get the mallet. (Great mallet. Was given to the husband from a guy in the Armed Forces. We assume some stores clerk probably had to fill out multiple forms in triplicate because of it.)

We get all the pieces laid out properly and start hammering in pegs. Oh, let's move the top and side out of the way. Apparently those go on after we put the bottom and one side together with the shelves and the long horizontal bits. OK. As we attached the first row of shelves, we notice that, oh my, there's a teeny tiny gap between the shelf and the floor. Hmmm. We put on the long horizontal piece and it dawns on us the pegs are to be used for two layers of shelving. Oh-OK. On we go.

We're just about done, finally putting on the side piece: disaster. One of the pegs is a teeny bit tight and in trying to bang it in (as well as trying to fit the side piece UP into the top piece and INTO the horizontal bits simultaneously) shelves start popping out. After madly and randomly trying to fix them back in, I say, "Let's do this in order--one row at a time."

The husband says, "Let's turn this up against the wall and let gravity help us."

"But the instructions don't say to do it that way."

"It'll be a lot easier if it we put it up against the wall and let gravity do the work."

"But they don't show you to do it that way. I'm sure there's a reason." (Yes, there is a great deal of frustration and panic and volume in my voice.)

As I say this, I'm removing the shelves from the horizontal bits and stacking them in a pile.

"We should have done this when we had the first couple of rows done."

"OK, I'm not arguing with you. I don't think it will work. I just don't think it will work. But we can try."

And so, holding tightly to the two rows left attached to the bottom and the one side, we tip it up, and move it right into the corner of the room.

And so it was done.

The side that gave us such trouble the first time was only mildly troublesome the second. And thanks to the help of gravity, none of the other shelves and bits popped out while we got it in place.

"You tell them that's how it's done." He says to me.

Then we realise we need to screw in the bottom corner: now inaccessible on the floor. Just as my husband was about to tip the unit back to the floor, I said, "No, no, no. Wait 'til we get the top piece on. It'll hold together better."

"Good idea." He said.

And so it was done.

He wants me to tell you it took us one hour and twenty five minutes. Sober.

And I want to tell you it took me exactly one hour and thirty minutes to fill it.

Boom dada bloomin' boom.

(To give you an idea of what I was expecting, I offer these pictoral anecdotes I came across in my research of the Expedit on flickr:
(1) http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennypeters/515244239/
(2) and the little photo essay here really scared me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackanddrippingblue/68158314/)

Day:I really have no idea. Progress Report

Can you believe we're still not done the dining room? I had to involve the husband: and he works at a much different pace than I do. I am chafing to get back in there, but a last minute decision to paint the ceiling is going to delay setting up again for another couple of days (or more). I was discussing with said husband what yet needs to be done and he reminds me he has to "rake leaves and caulk the cracks" outside the house. (sigh). That can eat all our available time tomorrow. I may just have to risk my neck and paint the ceiling myself. After all, I do see the chiropractor every Tuesday at three.

Other than to paint the ceiling, all I really need help with is assembling the Expedit and holding up a seven foot board level at doorway height so I can draw a straight line from which to measure the precise placement of all those pesky almond shelf bracket supports.

The room is beautiful. I love the colour. I love that I can walk into the room at ten o'clock in the morning and actually read the print on a flyer on the floor without having to turn on a light. It's amazing how bright it is. The kids regret losing the red, but they pop their heads into the room every hour or so and shout. They love the echo! It's driving me mad with boxes piled in the (narrow) hallway (scrapping stuff), on the bench in the living room (photo boxes), on the dresser outside the bathroom (the contents of the china cabinet), and just in front of the piano (the stuff on the bookshelves and homeschool stuff).

We moved the table in the dining room to the kitchen: and the husband loves it there. He wants to shorten its length by six inches so someone can actually squeeze by the cabinets and get into the seats: I have my doubts about this. But I'm torn, because if I let him do it, I may be able to get a nice round table (with leaves!) for the dining room which it badly needs. So, we'll see. Decisions are undertaken very slowly around here when the husband is involved and then once made, fruition must not be rushed.

Back to curing activity: I tried crackling my dresser today to make it look like barn board. I think it worked: whether I actually like it is another matter yet to be decided. I have to give it 24 hours to "cure" and then I can reassemble it and put my clothes back into it and figure out whether I'll do the other dresser the same way or just fugadaboudit. Once again, I wish I could take digital pictures and get instant feedback: but I'm almost finished a roll and we'll just have to wait, won't we.

Man, I am frustrated. I'm also tired. I could have done some more sanding on the drawer units today, but the thought of standing outside destroying the beauty of the day with the noise and mess of the sander just wasn't all that appealing. But, I suppose It Must Be Done. Part of the problem is that I still don't know what I'm doing with them (no vision) and I'm sick and tired of them. They were a temporary thing I built 23 (or so) years ago. It takes about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to sand each piece (and there are about a dozen pieces) and the whole time I wonder, please, can I grow up now and have Real Furniture? Please? It was too nice a day to mess up with thoughts like that.

I've stalled on the little round table, too. Egads, I could have built about four of them by now! I'm going to say "done" and slap down some varnish tomorrow. (I hope).

I DID hang the second brown drape up in the living room. After about a month, the drapery panels are now the same. I also decided not to hem them and live with the three inch puddle on the floor. I hate "puddleing" drapes, but these are four-five feet wide (each) and triple pleated and lined. So, I think I saved about four hours of my life. When the husband saw them, the dark brown dominating the wall, he observed: "I thought you were trying to lighten the place up."
"Oh, I am," I replied, "these are just temporary until we re-paint this room." I promised him it wouldn't, couldn't happen before Spring. And I will keep that promise. (Yes, there is still the living room faux fireplace facelift to complete--again, a project needing the help of the handy husband who would much rather play with his kids and go for walks with his wife than hold things that need pounding and painting).

So, that's where things are at.

I've been in serious web-deprivation mode. I am reading books in lieu of tapping the keyboard, though, and that's always great. (Frank McCourt, if anybody's asking).

Just checking in....

Hi! I'm fine. The computer has been banished to the basement--and only one "outlet" is working on the phone hook-up--which means that to go on-line I have to un-plug the phone. (At least I've finally got it figured out!) So, I'll check everyone's progress later tonight and perhaps give you an update. (PS. There isn't much!).

I've missed you all.

4.6(b) Strange...(An afternoon (and evening) in the life of the cure)

12:00am. The spackle looks good. So, move the furniture, sand, wash and cut in the primer tomorrow. Maybe even get a first coat of primer up before we go to my mother's for Turkey. (Yes, she decided to do it after all, (sigh)). I may be off line for a while, maybe not. We'll see if I can get set up in the basement or not. Happy Turkey Day to my fellow compatriots. And Happy Columbus Day to my American friends.

9:30 pm. I've spackled the walls twice now. Hopefully they won't need it a third time, but if they do, I'll do it before bed. Looking at the damage these holes have made to my plaster walls, I'm thinking that landlords may have a point about not allowing folks to make them. I have visions of plaster walls slowly being totally replaced by polyfilla.... I can see the point about paint too. This house is over 50 years old. The dining room really hasn't been painted much. But it'll get four coats over the next three days just to cover up this red. I'm not going to recognise this room when I'm done. And I wonder if the rest of the house is going to start to look garish by comparision.

6:10 pm. Well, everything is now off the dining room walls. I can now make up a paste of polyfilla and spackle. The boy made Chocolate Chip cookies for supper. Inspired by zooza's tenacity, I applied another coat of stain to the table. It's not working. It's still a streaky mess. Maybe one more....

5:00 pm. Read a chapter of The Hobbit to the boy. My daughter is at a friend's and the husband is still at work. It's getting a bit chilly to go out and sand. Do you think I should go throw a coat of paint on my dresser in the bedroom? I primed it about three years ago.

4:02 pm. Well, the brackets and three supports are now washed and ready to re-hang. (Guess who didn't take the support thingys of the wall when we painted the room red?) I soaked them in hot, hot water in the tub and the paint came off like a charm. The empty space is still nice. Now what?

3:13 pm. I just got the shelves and brackets off the wall above the desk. Does it ever feel strange to be facing a blank wall with nothing protruding from it. Hmm, what to do next....