Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Bathroom

Those of you who have been following my blog for the last year may remember that when we moved to our house the Bathroom was, well for lack of  better words, a 1960's nightmare with pink walls and ceiling, a bathtub with no real shower and a snotty nosed sink.

After some major elbow grease and a lot of time, we had put in a shower, and replaced the snotty nosed sink with a vanity and marble sink. Willie had torn the drywall off part of the walls, and put up some green board in its place. Then, we basically ran out of money. We lived with the bathroom in this half finished state for the last year. With two children getting married, and many trips back and forth to Des Moines needed, (and gas prices ridiculous, ) money just had to be spent elsewhere. So, a half done bathroom was calmly tolerated.

Then something remarkable happened. Willie had decided to take a careful look at his pay stub at the beginning of December.  His workplace had still been taking out taxes for the state of Iowa. We live in Illinois. They were taking taxes for both states. We only lived in Illinois. Once corrected we had a small windfall of cash, after the weddings, of course. We used the money to pay off an ER bill, and finally FINISH THE BATHROOM!!! 

The first order of business was to get the rest of the greenboard up. Willie did this all by himself while I was in Des Moines for my dad's birthday. He had never done drywall before and took his time. I'm sure he got frustrated and angry at it from time to time, but he got it done. Not only did he get it hung, but he got it mudded and sanded and primed as well. I was very proud of him when I got home. Even with only that much done, it looked a thousand times better.


With the hard part done, it was now my turn. It was painting time. For the most part, I enjoy painting. I love the instant gratification as the wall takes the new color and changes quickly from something undesirable to something much, much improved. I like stirring the paint and watching it recombine after separating while sitting and waiting for me. I love the feeling of the paint going from roller to wall. The sound of the roller as it glides across the wall. I pretty much like everything about painting. With the notable exception of the smell of the paint, and taping.

Willie and I carefully picked colors to match the tile in the shower we had built last year. I wanted three colors, one for the ceiling and trim, one for the main walls and one for the two small walls. It's not like I wanted purple, magenta and neon green, but Willie wasn't sold on the idea of three colors. I talked him into it, though. We ended up with a brown (two small walls), a dark tan ( the main walls) and a cream, (ceiling and trim). Though Willie was still not sure he let me have at it.

We decided to do the ceiling first. I don't know if that is the proper order, but I'm glad that is what we decided. I removed the shower curtain and rod, and everything else from the bathtub. I covered the tiles and tub with plastic and tape. I didn't have to worry about getting paint on the floor, and that was bliss! I didn't have to tape the walls at the top and that was even better. I was a happy painter.





I donned my favorite painting clothes. This pair of jeans and t-shirt have about every color from every house we have ever painted on them. I am a very messy painter. If I get paint on my hands, I wipe them on my jeans. I quite often forget and lean up against wet paint and get it on my t-shirt. Wearing the same clothes every time I paint just makes sense. I usually get paint in my hair, and on my face and arms and.... well you get the idea. Somehow, somehow, I did not get paint on Bazinga though. Not that he didn't try.



 After two days the main painting was done. Next up was the new door frames, and crown moulding. I took my time on them, to the point that I think I put Willie a little behind on what he wanted to do. I didn't want the paint to fill the groves in a way that made them disappear. He found other things to do as I was working on those. Now, while everything that needs painted is done, the frames and moulding are not up yet. We also plan baseboards. Sooooooo, I wont be posting photos until it is entirely finished. We are almost there though. I think we are done moving the vanity in and out of the bathroom. Willie got the flooring in while I was still painting the mouldings. It is shaping up very nicely and I cant wait to post before and after photos!
On a completely different note, look who's coming to see me tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait! Though, I guess, wait I must...... EXCITED!!!!!!!

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