As you may know, I've been doing some remodeling. The kitchen is going to be a stunning bistro-red cooking haven, the bathroom is going to be Romanesque and spa-like, and the living room and den are going to be Tuscany yellow, complete with new furniture that I will gather over the next several months, as I can afford.
Oh yes, I have plans.
However, I decided to do the whole thing myself. Hmm. I don't know if I was trying to assert my self-sufficiency, or if I'm too cheap (or poor) to pay a contractor, or if I'm just plain giddy with my plans. Regardless, it's been a very interesting couple of months.
Now, keep in mind, I'd painted nearly my entire house, installed sinks and faucets, rewired lamps, and did all sorts of other impressive things when I moved in. I didn't think this would be any big deal. But then, I didn't know about the 4 layers of wallpaper in the kitchen. Let's just say this whole thing started about 3 months ago! With my schedule, I didn't have the time to spend more than half an hour or so at one go, so the kitchen wallpaper took FOREVER to finally come off.
But come off it finally did, and this past weekend I primed the walls with a lovely oil-based primer (and I still have white marks up and down my arms and legs!). On Monday the tile guys came; thankfully, I was wise enough to know that I certainly DON'T have the expertise to level my wonky floors. I'm thrilled about my tiles...they're black and white ceramic in a checkerboard pattern, and it looks amazing! I'm so pleased with it. The guys at Home Depot thought it was a little "daring," and even the tile guy said, "Are you sure this is ok?", but I think it looks gorgeous. Pictures to come!
Anyway, the fun started once the tile guys left on Monday night. Here's a brief recap. Feel free to laugh and cry at will.
Monday
6:00 p.m. - Tile guys just left. The second they were out the door, a bunch of neighbors came over to inspect. Funny, the older neighbors HATED it, but everyone else thought it was stunning. Good grief, it's not THAT extreme. You'd think it was made out of moon rock, the way they were carrying on.
6:30 - Neighbors are gone and I start the cumbersome task of cleaning the bathroom.
7:30 - Still cleaning. Noticed that some of the water they used to clean the floor didn't get mopped up.
8:00 - Still cleaning. Where am I spilling that water from? I need to be more careful.
8:30 - I go to Corner Bakery for some much-needed sustenance. The boy at the counter gives me a bag full of brioche for free. Maybe they were closing or maybe I was just utterly charming and he felt the urge to give me bread.
9:30 - Dinner over, I go back into the bathroom and realize I'm standing in a pool of water. With my hand on the light switch.
9:30.01 - Remove hand from light switch.
9:32 - Still standing in the water, staring at my floor. My beautiful floor that's now covered in water. Black water, because the black grout hadn't finished drying and thus had come up and was spread all over the floor.
11:00 - Finished cleaning the floor; lots of black footprints on my carpet but at this point I don't care. I've discovered that the toilet is leaking, right where the handle connects to the pipe and the wall. The cat, who has been stuck in the bedroom all day, is crying piteously and I'm almost at that point, too.
12:00 - After an hour of thinking really unhappy thoughts, I decide to stop feeling sorry for myself. I eye the bag of leftover grout and decide to Take Action.
5:30 a.m. - I can now add "grouting" to the list of things I've done in my life. Yes, I regrouted the entire bathroom floor. I fall onto my bed, exhausted.
6:15 - Brrrrring! Alarm goes off.
6:16 - I realize that I can't use my shower or toilet. Shoot.
Tuesday
8:01 a.m. - I am on the phone with the tile guy, using strongly wording sentences to convince him that he really MUST come back and fix my toilet. He says he'll be there between 2:00 and 5:00.
2:00 p.m. - I'm home, having taken the afternoon off. I clean the bathroom again, picking up towels that are stained black from the grout. I have one unstained towel left...hope my mother was serious about getting me towels for Christmas...
3:00 - Still waiting, so I started painting the kitchen. It's Behr California Poppy, if you're interested.
3:30 - California Poppy now on tile floor, carpet, 4 kitchen towels, cabinets, jeans and sweater, teakettle, stove, new stools, and chair.
4:30 - California Poppy off everything but the clothing, towels, and carpet.
5:30 - I've finished the first coat and it looks awesome, but where the heck is the tile guy?
6:00 - California Poppy off the carpet. Yay!
6:30 - Tile guy finally shows up. He comments favorably on my grouting, but unfortunately says he can't fix the toilet.
6:35 - Tile guy leaves. I call his company and leave another strongly worded message.
6:40 - I notice the paint is drying kind of splotchely. I take a roller and fix it.
6:50 - I realize I need to keep an eye on the paint so that I can fix it, if need be, before it dries.
7:00 - I disconsolately gnaw a brioche and literally watch paint dry.
8:00 - Paint is dry...looks great...I head out to take a walk and clear my head.
8:30 - I have to spend some time in the bedroom paying attention to poor neglected Cosette. It's so "Flowers in the Attic." But I give her treats and she forgives and forgets. I know I would.
9:30 - I put on the second coat. The guys at Home Depot taught me a great trick to give the wall some texture - right before it dries, take a dry roller and roll it along a few places on the wall. Then take a roller with paint on it and do the same thing. It kind of looks like roller marks if you know that's what it is, but it also gives the wall texture and some nice depth. And once I put up a picture or two, it'll look great. I'm not very happy with a couple of places that I had to patch; the paint in those spots is lighter than anywhere else. Still, one spot is underneath the microwave and the other will be behind my toaster oven, so no sense stressing about it.
12:30 a.m. - I've cleaned up as best I can and fall onto my bed, exhausted. I still need to figure out what to do about the leaking toilet, but that can wait until tomorrow. Wednesday's plans also include painting the kitchen ceiling. Thursday and Friday evenings will be spent cleaning and decorating. And then my beautiful kitchen will be done!
12:31 - I remember that I still can't use the shower or toilet. Shoot.
You know the old saying: no pain, no gain. Of course, there's also "no money, no gain". You've spent the money and suffered the pain. I'm sure the results will be worth it! Your house will look like the Bellagio.
How on earth did those tile guys install your floor while you were at work? Wasn't anyone there watching them?
I was so nice. I offered to buy them lunch since they were working so hard. Of course, if I'd known they were going to break the valve behind the toilet, I wouldn't have been so accomodating. :)