Sunday, April 27, 2014

Half Empty or Half Full? ( that is the question )

I'm a very impatient person - wish I weren't but I've always been - since as far back as I can remember.

Too impatient to wait for gardens to bloom
Too impatient to wait for new books by favorite authors to come out
Too impatient for Spring to arrive - and then too impatient for Summer to come and finally too impatient for Christmas to be here - which brings me back to being too impatient for Spring to arrive - a vicious circle and a true example of how now to live.  Talk about destroying " living in the moment ".
Too impatient to wait for paint to dry
Too impatient to wait until funds are replenished to finish renovations.

It's an awful way to be - and I wish more than anything that that particular trait of mine were NOT a particular trait of mine.

It's a trait that falls under the category of " negative " and while I am usually an upbeat type of person I just can't shake it.

A glass is ALWAYS half empty in my world and I'm constantly dashing around trying to fill it up to the brim.

So this morning when I went into ( what I'll very loosely call the " mud room " ) I nearly wept.
It seems like I never stop - and yet every time I turn around there's another monumental task that
will zap all my energy and money ( of which we are close to being paupers with this whole renovation business )
I panic - and this is a sample of what goes through my mind because I truly intend for this house to be party central this summer - with the pool and all - you have to read the next bit very very quickly to see how my mind works

people will have to come through this s*it hole to get to it - and what will they think - and OMG I HAVE to do something with it - it's just unacceptable - I'll die of embarrassment - and maybe they can come through the front garden and through the gate to get to the back - but oh oh - they'll have to use the bathroom at some point so there's no escaping it - everyone's going to see it - but there's still so much to do INSIDE the house - and how can I justify doing this little section when we're drowning in a million other sections.................

All that was crowding my brain in a matter of seconds.


I literally sat down on the chair below and put my head in my hands..................( feel sorry for me yet? )


and then I looked up and saw this - I mean I really saw it - and perhaps because of the stark contradiction
I was almost taken aback...........I'm in and out of this back room many many times a day - is it really possible that I never took the time to actually see how far we've come?


I've been so busy filling glasses I haven't taken the time to be thankful for what we've accomplished
Not at all.

John says - WHY are you sitting there taking pictures of the kitchen?
Suzan says - Looking at my glass from a different angle
John says - What glass?
Suzan says - The one that's always half empty
John says - You're the most nonsensical person I know
John says - It's like living with the bloody Riddler



I'm more impressed than I can tell you that he even knows who the Riddler is...................
But I'm too busy looking at my half full glass to pay him any mind really


At least that's the way it looks to me while looking in from the mudroom






Trust me when I tell you it looks seriously half empty from every other view in this house :)

But dare I say the worst may just be over?  ( ok - there's a bathroom that's just as bad - but it's a bathroom not an entire kitchen  )

Think I'll hang out in the mud room more often - bring a book out there - with a half filled glass of wine instead of whine- and look up every now and then...................



Have a wonderful Monday all !
XOXO


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Thursday, April 24, 2014

French Door Makeover

Good morning !

It's Friday - do I hear a Hell Ya ?

I've been working on this job for 8 days straight and am still not finished.

When a client contacted me about painting this door I thought it would be a breeze - a piece of cake - a walk in the park - nothing to it, right?


Wood lovers better AM - SCRAY - just giving you a heads up!

And I'm just going to let you all know that these doors were in pretty rough shape - so no tears shed please!

Anyway the client wanted it white - and this little job turned into one of the most frustrating - tear my hair out jobs I've ever done.
The detail involved with all those panes - were a real pain in the glass.................

Oh my gosh - I just noticed the details on their radiators - amazing -
ok - where was I ?

Oh yeah - I almost lost my mind with this job - these doors are very old - and the bleed through was the most severe I've EVER had to deal with in my life...................I shellacked and shellacked and primed and primed and attempted to use chalk paint - but after using 3/4's of a tin and still not finished one door  ( in the end it would have cost a couple of hundred dollars in product alone ) - I switched to BEHR floor paint - I bought the same one as I used on my bedroom floor actually - since that's just about as durable as paint comes. 15 panes of glass on each side - so 30 panes of glass to scrape clean !!!  ( including varnish that was probably on it for 50 years because it took me days to get that off - but here we go..............


These doors have beautiful details - gorgeous really - and they're much nicer in person where you can actually see those details  ( too bad you're stuck with my lousy photography skills ) Here's a close up


There's such pretty curving in the corners - and they're very deeply beveled
and of course the key hole is just perfectly vintageous


It took forever to do - really it did - so when I finished I took a deep breath
.
and started the next one ( didn't I mention they were a pair? )


so now let's see - 15 panes on each side - so that's 30 a door - X 2 doors - ok 60 panes to scrape and clean.................

phew -  they're done..................I can snap a couple of photos

before starting on the THIRD one...............OMG - what was I thinking lol


Ok Class - tell me how many panes we're at now - Teacher is too tired to count

90 of them?

In case you're wondering why I didn't tape the windows - there wasn't any use in going to all that work when after the tape came off I'd still be left with this on almost every window !



It was on every window - both sides - and was NOT obvious when they were dark brown.............
Fresh paint can be scraped off like butter - old Varnish?  Well I'm not exaggerating when I tell you
I used over 75 blades on these doors :)
I have no feeling in my left hand right now LOL.

I DID, however, tape the etched part on the glass -


I never want to see a french door again ( well except for the 2 I have in my own house that desperately need to be painted - think I'll just replace them - toss them on the curbside  LMHO )

These have to be delivered tomorrow night - and that last one isn't finished yet - so you all know what I'll be doing for the entire day :)

Oh and did I mention they belong to the most gorgeous house I've ever stepped into ( and I've stepped into a LOT of gorgeous homes )  This place puts my " I WANNA live there Wednesday " series to shame !

Have a great day - and an even better weekend all
Kisses & hugs


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