And another project gets started. oops.

I went to the store yesterday to buy some paint for my front door frame. I was so excited that by the time my 2-year-old's nap was done, I'd be able to cross something off my list. One thing COMPLETED! I had decided on "Kelsey Island Green." In the spring, I'll paint the door a coordinating, but darker green. I'm quite excited about it. I'm desperate to subdue the bright white house with hunter green porch look. But I digress.

I bought a quart of the paint at my local Ace Hardware. My 4-year-old was very happy to carry the paint into the house for me. She's quite the little assistant these days. I told her to carry it onto the front porch, while I head back to hang up my purse. I han up the purse, and immediately hear, "MOM! NIGEL DROPPED THE PAINT AND IT'S SPILLING ON THE FLOORRRR!" Sure enough, The boy had grabbed the quart of paint (in the living room, of course), and threw it to the floor, popping the can open, and pouring an entire quart of Kelsey Island green onto my living room floor. So I grabbed an old tray and a paint brush and salvaged about half of the paint into a plastic container. But it left a rather large reminder on the floor.



Cons:
-- That's $11 worth of exterior grade paint on the floor.
-- "Splotch" is not a decorating theme I was going for.
-- Now I need to paint the floor sooner rather than later. Another project to add to the list.

Pros:
-- I hate that floor anyway. It's plywood, poorly faux finished to look like linoleum. At least I think that was what the previous owners were going for.
-- He managed to miss the sofa, the area rug, and my mother's childhood desk.
-- He also managed to not paint himself in the process.
-- I only bought a quart. Can you imagine the mess if he had done that to a gallon???
-- The first coat is on the door frame already. That was a built-in procrastination ender.

All things considered, I figure myself to be pretty lucky. He could have dropped that on the floor where the floors ahd already been refinished. (Just thinking of that makes me tear up a little). But I still think we should rename him "Calvin."

Project status check in

I've avoided updating this of late, and I am a wee tad embarrassed about the number of projects I've got going, and the time it is taking me to complete any of them. But hey, it is hard to work around small children. Even harder when you're a person with a serious weakness for the internet and long walks in the brisk fall air. But I'm now here to own up to my slothlike progress.

-- Front door painting. Yes, this is a new project. I tested the paint that had been chipped off around the front door frame. Of course it was lead. So I spent Saturday washing and rinsing the frame and priming the lead paint away. I still need to paint it, but I have no exterior paint yet. A trip to the hardware store is on tap today.

-- Family room floor: I've gotten it about 75% stripped of the old adhesive. I had to hold off doing too much more until we got another working entry door lock. Previous owners had not repaired broken mortise locks, they just added slide latches. But now I've got a front door that we can use while the back entry area is being redone. I've decided on shellac for the floor, by the way.

-- Dining room wallpaper: About 80% done. It 'looks like more, but I left the worst area of the room for last. Lots of trimming and small sections. I might have finished this weekend, but my 2-year-old's nap was seriously truncated on Sunday. I hope to finish before this Friday. Then I'll have one room ready for "decorating." yippee!

Meanwhile, (since I obviously don't have enough to do), I started a new message board. It is dedicated to all things homemaintenance-- but with a eco-friendly, green, nontoxic spin. If you are interested in remodeling or redecorating your home "green," or just using less-toxic household cleaners in the kitchen, please stop by and introduce yourself. I really hope it takes off, and becomes a good resource for people who want to fix up their homes without destroying the earth (or their own health).

DIY ing the Green Home

Adventures in Wallpaper

Okay, I'm taking a break from worrying about the rest of the house to FINALLY get some wallpaper in my dining room. We ripped down the old stuff before we moved in, in an attempt to force me to get the new paper up quickly. It only took 9 months of living with patchy, ugly, bare plaster walls. In house-project time, that's not too bad. (At least in my experience. Your mileage may vary of course.)

I went and bought all the necssary supplies, rounded up the other things I needed, and then set off to pry all the "secrets" from my mother. After the consultation with her, I boldly started on my project.  The first strip of paper went very well. But when I turned the corner, my home's complete lack of plumbness (that's a word, right?) caused an overlap on the loser half of the wall. It wouldn't be an issue, excpet it is in the corner that the eye goes to when entering the room. oops. I think I'll put a potted plant in that corner.
All in all, it wasn't so bad. I got about halfway finished with it before my kids were utterly sick of leaving mommy alone, so the rest of the project is slated for next weekend.  In the meantime I need to figure out how to get those two errant bubbles out of the paper, and clean up some of my trim work.

Please, if you ever visit my house, don't look at the walls too closely.