"I don't want to do this anymore"

  So few days ago, Missy and Molly were out shopping for house-hold items and I got the crazy idea to attempt installing the chandelier they'd brought all the way up with them from Modesto.  I looked at my Dad and said, "Wouldn't it be cool to have the chandelier installed before they get back?"  I mean, after all the red in the dining room was finished, they were bringing back a beautiful rug they'd picked out from Macys a few days prior.  It just made sense to get that thing installed.

Regret set in once we'd carried the crazy shaped box into the house from the garage, I began opening layer upon layer of pieces, instructions, and hardware.  I look up at my Dad and say, "I don't want to do this anymore, let's save it for another day."  My Dad laughs and says, "Nah, I think we can do it."  It was already 5pm (quittin' time), and I was exhausted from painting all day.  But, I got up and began unwrapping all the pieces.  My Dad gathered his tools, and we set to work understanding this badboy's installation.  Since the hole in which to wire the chandelier up into the ceiling was so small, I had to be the one up on the ladder.  My Dad's fingers were too big and his eye sight not as good.  After some brief explanations on electricity and wire caps, etc., we began installing.

  Now, I won't go into all the painful details here...but imagine lots of awful things happening.  Lots of failed attempts, wrong hardware, unscrewing, re-wiring, arms shaking, fingers numb, sweat dripping.  You get the idea.  The whole thing must have taken us three hours or so.  My Dad ultimately saving the day by taking a chandelier not meant for our ceiling, and making it work by using his own ingenuity.

  Missy and Molly were wowed by the chandelier and extremely happy to see it up.  I believe we all thought it might have stayed in the garage for quite awhile before someone finally caved in and installed it.  The next day Dad bought nine 25 watt bulbs, which I got up on the ladder and screwed in, and a dimmer switch which added the real "wow" factor.  Missy said, "It makes them look like old gas lamps."

Barn Red?! More like Barn Magenta!

   Molly continued to work on the dining room all day Tuesday, it was discovered that one coat of Martha Stewarts' "Barn" over a grey primer, creates a sort of magenta look.  Which was not what Missy wanted at all.  We were all beginning to think this was possibly a wrong color choice, but regardless, two coats were going to be needed, ugh (Guess the primer wasn't enough).

     We'd only bought one gallon and that pretty much covered the room, so once one coat was on Molly set to work on other projects.  She did however come back to paint one section with a second coat so that we could all get a feel for the finished/dry color.  It did still have the effect of a slight pinkish undertone.  But my Dad and I had decided it was due to the blue tinted plastic the exterior painters had tapped over the windows.  That light blue hue was just enough to create a difference in the color.  Missy decided to sleep on it, and make up her mind in the morning whether or not a new color choice was in order.  Either way, another gallon of some kind of red would need to be purchased from Home Depot in the morning. Which is a journey onto itself as the nearest Home Depot is in Pulsbo, nearly 50 minutes from us in PT.

   By morning the paint had fully dried and the section that had received the double coat was looking perfect.  It dried into the red Missy was hoping for and we all had a huge sigh of relief.  That morning Missy and my Dad took a trip down to Home Depot to pick up more paints (including colors for the "Library"), and check out some area rugs for the house at Macys.

Mary/Molly's Room ~ Take II

Originally, I (Mary) was given the choice of what color to paint the room upstairs that was going to be officially the room of Molly & I when we were home visiting.  Since Master Bedroom was blue, and the Victorian Bedroom had a complex tri-color scheme.  I thought going with a more calming color would be nice for this room.  I picked Behr Rejuvenate with a Cottage White trim (thought it's hard to tell in this picture, it's sort of a light sage green).

However...

I was somewhat bored with the color.  Though it was nice, it seemed to be lacking that real "WOW" factors that all the other rooms seemed to have. So to jazz it up a little more, I discussed adding a possible accent wall color with Molly.  So with her input, we chose Behr Egyptian Nile.

Again, apologize for the awful cellphone picture.  But I painted these two walls with the new darker green, leaving the portion above the molding the Rejuvenate green.  The opposing walls are also still just Rejuvenate.  The room has transformed and Molly and I couldn't be happier.  Molly's large dark wood canopy bed frame will look beautiful against this dark green.  We're very pleased. :)

Painters Set to Priming

Molly pictured in front of the house filming after they'd almost finished priming.  Good thing too, that very night it began to rain!  The primer is oil based, so water doesn't absorb into the exposed wood.

Interestingly, the primer only carries a tint of the color choice we actually made, so now the house looks like a custard yellow (not the color we chose at all) and all the neighbors walk by looking ever-so worried.  

It's kind of funny.  Can't wait to see the real colors!

Molly Arrives, Woo-hoo! (By Mary)

   Molly is my 20 year old step-sister, and Missy's eldest daughter.  She recently graduated from Vancouver Film Academy and spent her first days in the north-west in Vancouver visiting old friends.

  She arrives Monday morning, fresh and eager to begin painting the living-room (a room we all saved for her upon her request).  The living-room will be the only room done up in a more Gothic Victorian style.  Dark colors, a new dark chandelier, darker furniture, and a beautiful deep navy, gold, and red area rug.  It has definitely been the room everyone has been waiting to see come together.  The paint choices were Behr Cottage White on the top (ceiling included), and from the Martha Stewart Collection, Missy picked Barn (a deep red).  The paint guy at Home Depot recommended we do a grey primer first, as reds can take several coats to appear their desired color.  Reds apparently, are notoriously difficult, as we found out as well.

   By late Monday night she had finished her first coat of the grey "gripper" primer.  I was truly amazed, she worked throughout the day without any breaks!

Book Reviews: 'Victorian Exterior Decoration: How to Paint Your Nineteenth-Century American House Historically'

   Since the start of the escrow on our Victorian house Missy and I have started researching Victorian houses and the history that led up to that era, 1860 to the turn of the century.  I listed here a short review of some our current favorites, and a few other books on renovation and restoration.  This is only the tip of the iceberg, we will have more to come. 

Victorian Exterior Decoration: How to Paint Your Nineteenth-Century American House Historically  by Roger Moss and Gail Caskey Winkler. Published in 1986 and available at Amazon.com.

   I listed this first because it is the best! A must read for all you Vickies out there. Very well written with lots of pictures, charts, and floor-plans. It explains why the Victorians painted their houses the way they did, new trends and limited color pallets that was available.  It is extremely detailed, including accurate hardware, fabrics, and furniture.  Great stuff and a must read.

Day 2: Happy EASTER!

   After a slow start by me, I awake to Missy and my Dad discussing furniture placement and paint colors.  I have some breakfast and get them to agree on some colors for the downstairs bathroom so I can get to work painting it.  The floor is a black and white checkerboard pattern and since it's not in bad shape they decide to keep it and pick colors to go with it.

The old colors were a light powder blue on the main lower portion, darker blue trim, and a off-white for the top/ceilings (see picture below).  Looks like there was some water damage in here and pieces of drywall were cut away and replaced.  Not to mention some water damage stains on the ceilings.  I got to work taping everything off while Missy and my Dad head to Henry's Hardware to pickup the colors.

They picked out a Gunmetal Gray for the bottom, black for the trim, and a brighter white for the top.  Since there was so much to paint, and a lot required my waiting on it to dry before taping off for the trim, I didn't get as far as I'd have liked.  I finished the top and the ceilings, finished all the dark gray, just waiting on everything to dry before I can finish up with the black trim.

Working on the baseboards, day 3 of painting this bathroom.  We weren't sure if we wanted the baseboards also in black, but as you can see the black is much cooler looking!

Update: 4/27/11

  By Monday I had completely finished the trim work.  However the touch-ups required were insane!  I spent the next few days with tiny brushes fixing where paint had leaked through the tape or tape removal had removed some paint!  Ugh.  It's finally complete though.  I highly recommend using Frog Tape for any and ALL painting endeavors, the difference is incredible.