Black and White

I've decided to paint by bedroom floor a high gloss black. It's already mostly black anyway. I found some amazing pictures through Flickr, one of which had black trim and wainscoting. I love the look, but I think my room might be too small. Especially in light of the fact that the closet doors would have to be black too, which would really make it dark.

**edited to add** Gigi asked why the closet doors would have to be black- take a look and see what you think. There a total of FOUR stinking doors (and FIVE doorways) in that room, PLUS the four sets of louvered closet doors, plus two windows. If you look here, you can see the doorway on the right of the picture goes into a small bedroom. In the "middle" is the door the bathroom. And next to it is the doorway to the hallway (has no door at the moment, I'm sure it's in the barn).

So, I've given the ceiling a new coat of paint- ceiling white. I know some people pooh-pooh that idea, but I like bright white ceilings. And let me just say that not all ceiling whites are the same color- as I just learned yesterday. I prefer the brightness of the Behr, but bought the Glidden that has the pink stuff in it (so I can see where it's going) This might be an advantage, because it seems to have a gray cast, and I like the idea of a pale dove gray ceiling too. We'll see.

I think the walls should probably be pretty bright white too, but here's the thing- I already have a gallon of a color called Country Beige (from when I painted the living room).  So, I'm going to give it a whirl and see. Then, I'll have to decide on what shade white to paint the trim (isn't that a weird idea- so many colors of white!).

Enjoy!

Good Day, Sunshine

Finally, the sun is shining so brightly here today. It's been weeks of rain with a day or two of sun thrown in. Needless to say, my lawn looks like a hay field.

What a change of mood the sun can bring! Do you find that to be true?

My outlook is brighter.

I feel like doing more.

I feel like being more.

Know what I mean??

Things I Should Be Grateful For

Things sometimes go by quickly, sometimes slowly. But they pass just the same.

If I had written this post last week, it would have been vile. Filled with self-pity and utter grouchiness. Some of it fueled by hormones (yes, there is a definite pattern which I despise). Some of it fueled by loneliness. Yes, profound loneliness.

I have always been fairly independent, being the oldest child and all. My Mom once told me that she never worries about me, because she knows I'll be fine. For the most part, I am. I can handle a lot, I really can. I just knuckle down and do it, one foot in front of the other.

But there are times I feel let down by friends. Please, please don't tell me to call whenever, to ask for help- and then be too busy. Don't even offer. You aren't doing me any favors. It just hurts my feelings. Then it pisses me off.

But then I rethink it- maybe the fault lies within myself. I know rationally that I shouldn't take such actions personally. But man, does it sting sometimes.

So, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I am listing some things I am grateful for:

1. a roof over my head. It's big, and ugly, and lots needs to be done. But it's here, and it's ours.
2. my children. They are happy and healthy. They are royal pains at times. They are all-consuming. They are wonderful and fresh and funny. They have stinky feet and wonderful hair. I love them.
3. my husband. He is away for 5 months in a diving program. He has left me a very full plate, juggling too many balls. Buy he left in order to make things better for us, his family.
4. my husband coming home on the weekends. It is short, sort of bittersweet in a way, only really spending Saturday together. But there are military families all over this country who don't even get this. I can hug and kiss Chris, even if only for a day at a time.
5. my family. I have a good family, even though they are far away. Some people out there have no one. They are lonely and displaced. I'll be your family, just give me a call.....
6. my health. I take care of very sick people at times. I took a man outside yesterday for the first time in 52 DAYS. It was AMAZING. The breeze blew on his face. His wife beamed. We snapped pictures on cell phones and sent them to her family. It was priceless.

There is a lot more. Lots and lots more. Thank you God.

The Before and Aftermath- Renovation Nightmares!!

Get your thinking caps on readers, 'cause I need some help.

To recap, hubby Chris and I moved back to his home state of Maine in December 2009. The next day there was a blizzard- perhaps I should have taken that as a GIANT red flag... but I digress.

We bought an old, very large, empty-for-2-years farmhouse. It had been a boys' home for 8 years, and was owned by the state housing commission (read "absolutely NO improvements" at all). Yes, stupid us. It was cold and snowy, and Chris and I ended up making our bedroom in the odd middle room in the house for four reasons. 1. It had an adjacent bathroom; 2. the front of the house, which as 4 bedrooms, HAS NO bathrooms; 3. close to the boys room;  and 4. it was the cutoff for one of the five heat zones.

This room, approximately 14x14, has large closets with shelves, plus two other small bedrooms located off it (which are basically dressing rooms for Chris and I) It had HORRIBLE orange carpet, worn and dirty and old. We cleaned it a few times, but basically left it as it was. Why?? Lack of motivation- homesickness and winter weather. Lack of money. Lack of vision. Well, not really, we have lots of ideas, but nothing has come of them yet, other than I took down all of the wallpaper and painted the room a very pale sage green (because I had the paint from our old house and didn't have to buy it- I'm all about using what I have).

So, I get it into my head recently that I am SICK of this gross, 1980's carpet. Now, I knew from looking under the rug previously that the floor had some damage. It also had black stuff on it. But I decided I'd rather have a clean floor than a nasty carpet.  I rationalized- it's not winter, I'll just walk on the bare floor. Or buy some runners. Or paint it. Um, yeah right.

The carpet was so old and worn that it wasn't really even stiff anymore. The gluey stuff on the back, that makes it stiff, has broken down. So had the carpet pad. It just disintegrated. Throw in some dirt, and it's what you see below. I pulled out staple after staple, plus tack strips (OUCH).

I found remnants of old tile and glue. The felt paper was at least just glued with glue, and not black mastic, like in our house in Pa. WHO glues tile over wood???? I removed all of the loose felt paper, but in some areas it it stuck. And there are patched areas.

Checo out the gap between the bottom of the doors and the floor- what. the. heck.

 

This is the worst of it here.

There is a patched area in a corner that was padded with newspaper date 8/23/87. I'm thinking the carpet is actually older than that.

So, now what? Paint? What color? What do I do about the beadboard, the trim, the doors?? Hubby said I can't paint the beadboard, but I may veto that one. I need a designer. I need HGTV. Send David Bromstad pronto.

Help.