Monday, July 21, 2008

I am calling it the "Bathtermath"

Well, it has been a long weekend. But, I can say without reservation that the bathroom remodel is done. Almost.

Saturday was a very long, but very productive day. If it hadn't been for two things, I have no doubt that I would have finished on Saturday.

1. I made a judgement call and decided to paint the bathroom door, which was not part of the original plan. It needed it, and once I got the white paint on the ceiling, it was painfully obvious that something had to be done with the door, or I'd just be back at it again next weekend. So, this involved spackling the nail holes in the frame, taking the door off the hinges, priming and painting both sides of each.

2. My son wanted to help. Naturally. He is a curious 3 year-old, and I couldn't blame him. He did fairly well during the first phase, where I was priming the ceiling, so I saw no harm in letting him join me for the attack on the walls. However, as a normal 3 year-old will tend to do, he ignored me the first 137 times I told him NOT to climb on the edge of the tub, which landed him flat on his butt on the bathroom floor....Croc-clad feet squarely in the pan of blue paint. Have you ever tried to clean a puddle of paint up off a linoleum floor, at the same time trying to keep a wanna-be-blue-man-groupie seated on a piece of newspaper (thank God I put newspaper down before I started) without getting little blue finger and footprints on what remains of a clean floor? You should try it sometime, its fun, but it may require a pitcher or two of bloody marys for you to see the humor in it. At least, that's what it took for me.

Moving on! So, after recovering from these setbacks, and explaining in great detail to my son exactly why he would not be permitted to "help" for the rest of the day. I managed to get the following items accomplished:

remove everything from room, including curtain rod, shower curtain, switch plates, mirror, and light fixture
tape everything off
prime and paint ceiling white
paint walls blue
install shower head
spackle, prime, and paint door and frame
paint walls blue...again
put new rugs down
put up new shower curtain
clean everything up

I attempted to install the blinds, but my cheap-ass drill wasn't cooperating and my brain was no longer willing to attempt to comprehend the very simple instructions included, so I called it a day.

I also made an impromptu trip to town because I decided that I needed a few more towels, and a new shower rod. After taking it down to paint, I realized that there was just too much rust on it to put it back up, and I wanted a new one. However, the locals stores only had tension rods and that isn't what I wanted, so that will have to come later.

One comment about the paint.....it sucked. I have never had so much trouble with paint in my life....and I have painted a lot. It was a good brand, I love the color. It dripped like a hound in the summer. It streaked. It bled. And, even after the second coat, you can see every stroke the roller took. I'm going to have to come up with some kind of a subtle faux finish to disguise the uneven finish. But, that is a project for another day.

Sunday morning I showed the "finished" product to M, and he was actually very complimentary, which is not his typical reaction, but I was pleased! He also voluntarily put the blinds up for me after I added a touch of stain to the cut edges, which was a shock.

So, after all is said and done, I have four things to add.

  1. Sew ribbon trim onto the bottom edge of the white shower curtain.
  2. Get new shower rod next time I am at a home improvement store
  3. Faux finish on walls
  4. Remove extra length from wood blinds so they fit in the window better

All in all, not a bad project, and I am pleased with the results. What do you think?





2 comments:

NV said...

THAT'S AWESOME! Nice work.
One of the House blogs has a before and after program you should submit to. (They donate $25 to Habitat for Humanity AND they put you in for a $50 gift card drawing.)
Laughing at your baby in paint fiasco -- Sorry. But I can relate.
When we first moved in This D*mn House, we had a Yorkie puppy. I was painting the kitchen ceiling and had left the paint lid on a piece of plastic on the floor. Said puppy walked all over the lid, then tracked paint across the kitchen and dining room floors! I made it off the ladder before he could get to the carpet.

Ty'sMommy said...

O lord, I can just imagine. Poor kid was just sitting there, marvelling at the blue stuff on his feet, at the same time, a bit freaked out and trying to wipe it off on anything within reach. Gotta say though, I was impressed at how easily the shoes washed up! Might have to have another bloody mary tonight...