If you've been following our blog since we moved to Fredonia, references to my trips to the hardware store are numerous. When it comes to household decorating and "fixing up" my skills are limited. The most wonderful mother-in-law in the world has gifted me with a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens for the past couple of years and while I enjoy leafing through the pages, not much of the information has stuck.
When we moved into our house nearly every room was in need of a good coat of paint. The previous owners must have loved shades of the color blue because all but the bathrooms, the kitchen and our bedroom were variations of blue. A couple of the rooms were lucky and had two shades of blue on the same wall--not an intentional color switch rather it looks like they simply ran out and grabbed another blue can of paint. With Andrew hard at work studying for the bar and then starting a new job, painting became my project.
I. Have. Never. Painted. Before.
Never.
When I would mention my task ahead to people they would often respond with "oh I hate edging," "isn't taping the worst?" "do you have many holes to fill in," don't forget to sand the Spackle!" Edging? Taping? Holes? Spackle? What on earth was I getting myself into? What was edging? Did I have to tape everything? How do I fill in holes? I have to sand?
Sharon tried to help explain some of the process but I still felt completely overwhelmed. In our dining room there were at least a million holes in the walls for me to fill in, trim everywhere to tape and ceilings that needed new paint. I thought painting would be a breeze.
Buy a brush, buy some paint, dance around the room and apply it and the transformation would be complete. I had no idea what I was getting myself into!
I started in the upstairs bathroom and felt confident after I painted the vanity. It wasn't so bad--a little sanding, a little paint and it looked so much better. The walls were next and I bought a miss-mixed gallon of Benjamin Moore paint. I used the entire gallon and learned that I needed to do a better job at taping and perhaps apply the paint in thinner coats.
Thankfully just a five minute walk down the street is Fredonia Pro Hardware owned by Bob, the father of a friend of mine from college and the leader of our small group from church.
In our early weeks in Fredonia I went to the hardware store at least once if not three or four times a day for supplies I forgot, tips on how to do things or encouragement to keep going. He explained how to edge, showed me the right tools to use, helped me pick out the right paint, the right screws for hanging things up and even put together a diaper sprayer for our bathroom for Ben's dirty diapers after showing him a picture of what I wanted.
Bob in Action
As of today I've painted the living room, dining room, both bathrooms, the kitchen, the kitchen cabinets and Tessa (she got in the way). I have two projects left--Ben's room and the upstairs hallway. The hallway is my project for tomorrow and Ben's room will wait until his Aunt Joanna gets here to help/babysit.
This morning I took a quick trip to the hardware store and left armed with the materials for my hallway--thanks to the tutelage of Bob, I didn't even need to ask what I needed for my projects today.
"Seriously Mom? It is too early for the hardware store!"
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