Sunday 12 August 2018

Who knew decorating could be contagious?

I've mentioned in previous blog posts that my son and his wife have recently moved house and after years of living in rented accommodation where they couldn't do anything to the decorations, now they have a whole house they can work on.  They haven't wasted a minute.  Within 2 days of moving in they had painted the dark wood spindles on the staircase white - what a difference that made!  Then they painted the lounge, had a week's holiday and have now painted the hallway and their bedroom.  Not to mention looking at revamping the kitchen.  They've changed all the door handles from white china with painted floral design to modern brushed chrome - they are certainly modernising it!

Then my daughter started to redecorate the upstairs in her house.  Leo is moving into a big boy's bedroom with a proper bed (he's managed to escape from his cot even while wearing a Grobag sleeping suit so it's obviously time to move into a bed) and his current bedroom/nursery will be prepared for the new baby.  Without giving away too many clues (who am I kidding?) it needs to be painted a different colour ... 😉

So naturally (and with deep sighs from my husband) it's got me to thinking about our house and how it's been a while since we decorated.  When we first moved here 27 years ago one of the first jobs we did was to change all the old fashioned dark wood doors to white painted four panelled doors.  Little did we know how much extra work we were giving ourselves!  Because one white six panel door painted back and front takes a fair bit of time to rub down, prime and paint, so when you consider that upstairs we have 7 doors leading onto the landing, that's a lot of painting.  We've been talking about painting the walls up there for a while so in a rash moment of decorating envy I said that I would start the make over by freshening up the doors.  I even bought new door knobs and am replacing the tatty gold coloured ones with brushed chrome.  Enthusiasm was high for the bathroom door then it got too hot to paint and I had a day off before doing our bedroom door, boredom is now setting in until my husband said, 'if you do the study door, you'll be almost half way done'.  So I did.  And in doing so, used up all the rest of my enthusiasm.  I have set myself a target of doing a door a day so tomorrow's door of the day will be the one to the airing cupboard.  The one that, when I look closely, appears never to have been painted on the inside - well if it's lasted 27 years, could it last another one?  NO - that is not the attitude!

In other news, I'm off to the opticians on Tuesday.  It's my annual check up and I'm wondering if not working at a computer screen 3 days a week will have any effect on my eyesight.  I'd really like some new frames as I've never been totally happy with the ones I chose last time but they are so expensive; I'm not changing them until I need a new prescription.  So, top left is me at the moment, if I did need a new shape I thought I'd look on Snapchat and see what they could suggest   What do you think?


5 comments:

alexa said...

I feel tired just reading about all that activity! Doors are indeed real pain to paint. Looking forward to seeing what you choose for your glasses - I'm going with the top left for now, but then I am not known for my wildness :).

Patio Postcards said...

Doors, that is a lot of work to paint. Sometimes it is the little details that can certainly refresh. Two years ago Mr Man replacement all the builder grade door hinges upstairs with brass steeple hinges. I think we are the only ones that notice.

Ah picking new frames - I'm on that same journey. Price point not fashion will be my deciding factor (col).

onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com said...

Redecorating can be contagious. And fun. And expensive. When we bought this house in 2008, we were starting pretty much from scratch. My husband had very little furniture and I had a houseful but haunted by ghosts of husbands past. So we bought new everything...ghost-free. I would like to paint our walls a lighter version of the caramel color they are currently. It is so dark in here! And in the winter it is like living in a cave.

Am I correct in seeing pink where you daughter once used blue with Leo? How exciting!!! Leo is going to be the best big brother. You are going to adore having a granddaughter. Can't wait!!

Barbara Eads said...

Re-decorating is a lot of work--not to mention---expensive. But it's worth it in the end! Our upstairs could use some fresh paint, but I can't even think about that after our recent kitchen remodel! It's just so much work!! I'm tired for you!

Cheri said...

Paint - ugh. Now glasses... the pink cat-eye style is very avant garde if you are going for that look. That last pair - NO - too old for you!