Edges of Glory

I find myself being very grateful for the long holiday weekend, because I was able to get SO much work done!  The edges and seams are finished in both bedrooms and the living room, as well as the ceilings and closets.  Progress!

 

That’s my future bedroom there.  You would not believe how big of a difference painting the closets has made.  Before, they were dark, dirty, cave-like, and definitely not somewhere you would want to hang your clothes.  Now, at least they are usable.  The color that this room will be is Classic Taupe (again, Behr brand in Eggshell).  I actually made enough progress in this room to be able to graduate from a regular paintbrush to a roller.

 

Ignore my ensemble, it was 95 degrees outside.  I hear that you aren’t supposed to paint when it is that hot and humid outside because of the risk of paint physically sliding down the wall.  However, I have yet to encounter any problems with that, but I’ll be sure to rant about it here if I do.

I’m super happy with the way the accent wall turned out in the second bedroom.  The silver color that I bought reflects the purple perfectly.. I like it even better than the color in my room!

 

That particular seam is a great example of how the color reflects.  The window is opposite the purple wall, so the light bouncing off that color projects onto the silver, and actually makes it look like a lavender.  Very cool!  We were able to start using rollers on this room too, but we were so busy working that I didn’t have time to take a shot of the finished room.  For the next post!

The only progress made in the living room so far was to do the space around the windows.  These windows are quite odd in that they have no trim around them, so we have to paint right up to the vinyl.  It won’t matter that there is no trim since I plan on putting sheers over all the windows anyway.  I think the room looks super bright now that the ceilings are freshly white:

 

My ceilings are actually shorter than what is average today- 8 feet is today’s standard, and mine are about 7’9″ (typical for structures built in the ’70s).  I think the ultra white ceilings give me the appearance of that extra 3 inches!

As far as other developments go, I have still not heard from the contractor that my association hired to repair my wood rot & sliding glass door.  I’m getting really frustrated because every time I call them, they assure me that someone will call me back to schedule the work.  I’m on the phone with you right now- why not just schedule it while we’re already talking?  Right now, the timing is not a major issue.  Out of all the jobs that need to be done, the painting needs to be finished first, so that the flooring can go in when that’s done.  But if that wood rot isn’t fixed by the time I’m done painting, it’ll hold up the flooring install, and I will not be a happy camper.

 

Slowly But Surely…

It might be a small miracle, but there have been no major disasters for the past week.  Woohoo!  Everything is coming along quite nicely, which is making me more and more excited for move-in day.  Painting is really in full swing now, and it is finally starting to feel like my place.  I began painting the living room wall edges on Saturday, and the color is exactly what I had wanted, which was a nice light oatmeal-y color.  I’m using Behr brand everywhere, and this particular color is Raffia Cream with an Eggshell finish.

 

I should probably start taking digital camera photos to eliminate that wonderful greenish tint my iPhone gives me, but hopefully you can still get a good idea of the color there.  So far, I have only tackled the ceiling edges, seams, and all other spots that cannot be done with a roller.  I’m hoping to break out the rollers this coming weekend.

For the little bedroom, I had imagined a nice purple mauve color, so appropriately, I bought Behr Purple Mauve in Eggshell finish.  Unfortunately, the color turned out WAY darker than I had hoped!  With the exception of the bathroom, it is the smallest room, so using a dark color on that whole room will give off the impression of a cave, so I had to scrap that whole idea.  But, since I already got this dark purple paint on the walls, I’m going to try experimenting with an accent wall.  I went out to Home Depot and picked up a gallon of Behr Silver Chalice (again in Eggshell finish), which I thought would complement the purple nicely.  I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

 

You can also tell that this particular paint will definitely need 2 coats, so I’m glad I will only end up using it on one wall.  Although now I have an extra gallon of that paint since I bought 2 to begin with.  Anyone in the market for a gallon of mauve?

Since the painting is coming along swimmingly, I am trying to coordinate my new floors with the end of the painting work.  And I must say, it’s been nice not to have to worry about drips and splatters on the floor, and trust me, there are a lot.  I’ve been shopping around to find the best option for both flooring materials and installers, and I have finally settled on a particular company and product.  I was hoping to be able to put in wood laminate in both bedrooms, the foyer, and the living room.  However, after 3 companies sent their estimators, I’ve learned that laminate flooring will not be possible in the little bedroom. Well, at least not on my budget.  There is a seam in the middle of the floor that is particular cause for concern.  When anyone steps on a 2-foot section of one of the plywood sheets, it gives under your feet.  Now I’m not saying you’ll risk falling through the floor or anything like that, but all of the specialists assured me that there is probably a rotted joist underneath.  This creates a problem in that the floor bows too much to handle laminate flooring.  I could have a carpenter go in there, rip up the plywood, and see what they find, but because it’s such a mystery without taking a peek, no one can even give me an estimate as to what it would cost to fix.  So, it will be carpet in that room after all.  And perhaps I will have the association take a look at that issue somewhere down the line.  I’m headed down to the flooring company today to make my final choices.  As of now, I’ve narrowed it down to 2 laminate options and 2 berber options.  I’ll probably end up flipping a coin!