What’s on the iPod: Keep Yourself Warm by Frightened Rabbit
What a productive weekend! First, we headed to New Jersey for a meditation mini-retreat. The weather cooperated — it was a beautiful, cooler day in the high 70s/low 80s with a nice breeze. We were in a Friends meeting house, which was air conditioned, but it was still nice to not have to rely on the AC so much. We had a wonderful day and I came home all blissed out.
Friday wasn’t exactly the day off I’d planned. I worked most of the morning on small edits to two different projects, though it wasn’t taxing to do so. One client — a new client — had an immediate need for revisions. Once the work was done, I went up to the guest room and got to work on my main objective — stripping an ages-old wallpaper border from the room. Let me just say this; if you intend to put wallpaper up in your house, please either make sure it’s strippable paper or don’t sell your house to me.
It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but I’m hurting in places I didn’t know I had. Four hours total to get the border off a smallish room, all working overhead and, in a few place, on tiptoes on the ladder. It’s tedious, not labor-intensive. Spray on the remover (Dif by Rustoleum worked like a dream!), wait, go back and peel it off with your fingers or a plastic scraper. Since the border was about 20 years old, it was already a bit dry and lifted in spots, making it easy to get it off. I finished the job Sunday around noon.
Then came the sanding. The house came with builders-grade paint in a “lovely” shade of dull parchment, so it’s got to go. However, they sprayed it on with what feels like sand embedded, so I had to go over the whole wall with a sanding block. And the trim — all gets painted. Then I had to get down from the ladder. I hadn’t had but one meal that day and it wasn’t enough. So I had a tea-and-scone break, then he and I went over paint samples. I have my heart set on Smokestain Rose. He’s leaning me toward a lovely light peach we have in the master bath. As tired as I was, I was ready to agree to anything but the color that was already up there.
We’re still mulling it over. We have a little time. Our Australian guests don’t arrive until the end of August, and by then it will be done, the closet cleaned out, the furniture decided on, and the carpet steamed. I’d love to have the wood floors in there by then, but the carpet is in good shape, so no sense adding more to my list.
Today I have an article to start, a website editing to start, and a client call. I’m glad to be sitting down. After such a labor-intensive weekend, work is rest!
How was your weekend?
I'm totally burnt out, but I don't have the option to rest, unfortunately.
Next time you have to strip wallpaper, invest in a Rowenta clothes steamer — the big one, where you can hang the clothes on the pole. All of us in theatre use that for wallpaper stripping — works like a charm.
Plus, when you're not using it on the walls, it's great to get wrinkles out of your actual clothes! 😉
My sister & her husband came up this weekend on their way to Oregon & California for a vacation.
We are dog sitting their adorable, white, miniature schnauzer, Kali. We just found out her birthday is Friday, so we need to doggie-brate. You know – that time when you totally embarrass your pets. 🙂
Have a great week, everyone!
Devon, luckily the only other paper in the house is strippable. And at knee level. 🙂 The gel spray worked great. I would think the steam would be ideal, but the room was already steaming hot!
Cathy, so what pooches are invited? 🙂
Lori – I'm just glad for you that it was only a border. A friend of mine helped her mom strip wallpaper off all four walls of a bedroom. It took weeks for them to do it. It was over a skim coat of plaster, so sanding wasn't an option to get residual gunk off, since that would ruin the texture.