In the last week I have painted a cabinet and that's it.

No, really, it's true. I have just been busy with my new job and what not. Plus, now that I am semi-healthy again, I have resumed running. Couple those with the fact that it has gotten disgustingly warm and I was beginning to suffer from a bit o' burnout and you have a general lack of productivity.

My only real accomplishment this week was taking an old cabinet of Double E's that will soon house my vinyl and receiver (while my record player sits on top), which I had primered months ago, and painting it inside and out. The interior is bright white, while the exterior is a light teal color ... actually, this paint was what I was originally going to use in the bathroom. Anyway, I think it's gonna look good against the garnett color of the den/pool room/lounge area. I also bought some large, white knobs for it ... see for yourself:

it actually looks light blueish in the photo ... but trust me, it's teal when you're nose to nose with it (<-- that's figurative speech ... cabinets don't really have noses). i wanted to take some interior photos but the batteries died and needed a recharge, so this is all you get. i did some touchups to the inside tonight and will touch up the outside tomorrow night, then bring it inside and hook the hi-fi system up within it.











I have a lot I want to accomplish this weekend before my parents get here. I would like to paint as much, if not all, of the interior trim as I can possibly get done. I would also like to finish the exterior trim (since I am using their extension ladder and it would be nice to return, not to mention just wrapping everything up on the exterior). My tentative to do list beyond that would be to repaint the deck and top rail around the deck a deep brown, finish painting the concrete on the backside (and possibly switching this to a matching deep brown from the tan it is now - we'll see), and digging the foundation for the soon-to-be brick path that will run from the garage to the deck/back of the house. I think if i can just get it skimmed, I may volunteer my dad to help me level it, put down a weed barrier and lay the brick when he gets here. oh, and dad, if you're reading this ... surprise! there is manual labor in your near future - happy vacation! and don't worry mom, i've got some special projects lined up for you, too.fun for the whole family ... you may thank me later. i am actually hoping to have everything on the exterior (paint and landscape and electrical) wrapped up by july 4th, since i will have the benefit of a four day weekend due to the determination of our forefathers. thanks, dudes ... you thought you were creating liberty and democracy for oppressed europeans ... turns out you were just paving the way for future generations of sloathenly americans to drink beer and blow shit up real good. at any rate, i appreciate the vacation time.

ok, one more "get up day" as the saying goes ... nighty night.

In honor of the World Cup ...

... I am drinking the beer of soccer hooligans worldwide while bringing you this update.















Anyway, the updates have been scarce because I have just started a new job (which I am very elated about) and have been adjusting to my new schedule as well as getting over all of my recent maladies ... not too mention money had gotten tight since my retirement from my previous career so I haven't been able to purchase some of the things I need to move ahead (mainly landscaping items). I've also resumed my normal hobbies which took a backseat while I did the bulk of the remodel stuff ... played guitar last night (can't wait to get the backroom finished so i can set-up all of my recording equipment/studio) and tonight I ran a bit. Crazy to think that I probably could have run a marathon in December and tonight I got tired after about a block.

Anyway, finished up the hallway and bathroom over the weekend.

the grey is actually a little bit darker than the picture would indicate ... if you look closely you can see that the paint is on the trim ... i have yet to paint much of the trim since it has oil-based paint on it ... this means it HAS to be primered first and then painted over. anyway, my experience has taught me that it is easier to paint the walls then the trim because tape is less likely to pull paint off the wall ... and i know this is somewhat opposite of conventional wisdom, but for whatever reason it works for me (and quicly i might add!) ... besides, i have seen the work of "professional" painters and i would gladly match my work up against what those dudes do any day.my point was, i will need to paint over this trim, so i didnt even bother taping it ...





this be the bathroom. looks really good ... needs some touch-ups ... that tape had been on there for almost two months (and bits and piece pulled up when the tape came off) ... but replastering it and sanding it turned out unbelievably well if you had first seen it after i stripped the wallpaper off ... my brutha stopped by and couldnt believe how good it turned out. i still need to paint all of the trim and cabinets ... and ... ugh ... the fuckin ceiling. but i won't do that until after i install a fan in there. also, i have decided it's gonna have a cowboy theme ... maybe ... we'll see ... i have some ideas floating around.








that's about it ... other than mentioning that i decided the music room is going to be very gothic looking to contrast the rest of the house (especially the flowery exterior) ... i have it all mapped out in my head ... just hoping to get the ideas down and work out the logistics of it in the next few weeks. should be cool ...

alright, time to go cheer for the dallas mavericks and drink my carlsberg ... nighty night.

Pink Flamingos, Grey Matter, etc.

While Double E was out of town, I also decided to get crackin on the bathroom. The top of the walls had border paper and when i ripped it off, it revealed multiple layers off paint which stripped off very unevenly when the paper was stripped. i was a little nervous about trying to sand out the unevenness based upon the assumption that at least one of those layers was probably lead based and i have already had enough trips to the hospital lately. i decided instead that i would put two coats of a really thick primer on there, which would hopefully smooth it out, then paint it. this didn't work, even with flat paint and the two coats of primer the roughness was pretty evident. I went ahead and used some drywall spackle to cover the rough spots up, then sanded them when they dried and reprimered the whole thing. i haven't had a chance to repaint it yet, but should get to it by tomorrow. also, all of the trim, doors and cabinets will be repainted white (after i primer them) by the end of the week.

here is one pic of the bathroom ... you can see the primer and what the paint looks like. the color is like a pink flamingo type ... what would a 50s house be without a pink bathroom?

ugh ... see all those bottles? the bathroom is such a shitty place to do any renovations ... just to damn small ... it is a total disaster area right now. anyway, you can see the pink which along with the white trim and tile should look pretty sharp. also, please note the ugly, exposed bulb vanity above the mirror. i can't wait to rip the ugly god damn thing down ... aside from the fact that the 6 bulbs in it are probably driving my electricity bill through the roof, they seem disproportionately numbered to the actual size of the bathroom and it is like standing in a tanning booth while blow drying my hair with a space heater.







anyway, while waiting for all of that to dry i got started on the hall way. looks like this ...

this is a muted/slate grey color ... was going to use it for a bedroom color, but it is neutral enough to not clash with any of the colors you see as you exit the hallway and enter one of the three adjoining rooms.















now you're up-to-date. time for bed. nighty nite.

Orange you glad i didn't say banana?

Last week I decided I would convert one of the bedrooms into a "knitting room" for Double E so she would have a place to practice the fiber arts in solitude instead of bothering me to change the channel during game 6 of NBA Western Conference Finals whilst she honed her craft in the living room chair next to me. Basically, she was fuckin up the integrity of my man time. Anyway, i put her to work stripping the border paper that was around the edge of the walls and the subsequent removal of the adhesive left on the walls. While she did this, i pulled up the tackboard from around the edge of the room ... it was leftover from when i ripped out the carpet. I was using this room primarily as storage, so i never got a chance to get the strips up even though they had been removed everywhere else.

it only took me about 15 minutes to get it off. notice the hammer and pry bar ... tools of choice.











Here is Double E doing God knows what ... however, you can see the trim paper (if you look closely you can see the overspray from the removal solution) and the off white trim and doors that are in every room.









Anyway, after we finished out respective jobs, we went ahead and put primer on all the trim and doors and then gave them a coat of bright white paint (i am painting all interior trim bright white - i dig heavy contrast)

the next day, Double E embarked on her journey to her homestate of Ohio while i secretly went to work on the room. it looked like this when i bought the house ...

YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! i think i can taste my own vomit when i look at this picture.











so, when Double E returned it looked like this ...
Ahhhhhh ... that's more like it. Off white carpet ... gone! floral drapes ... gone! trim paper ... gone! pretty much anything that resembled the old room ... gone and gone again for good measure!

Double E's favorite color is orange, which i like sparingly, see i found a shade we could both agree upon called Pumpkin Spice ... pretty cool.











view from the other doorway.


















then added some shelving ...
she has a lot of yarn. seriously. oh, did i mention the hardwoods? why they carpeted these i will never know ... shame on you 70's and all of the bad ideas inspired there within.










this picture has nothing to do with the room, really. it just further cements the notion that Nona is an instrument of the devil ...

this is right before she shot lasers out of her eyes at that monkey on the floor.












then i moved in some furniture ...
that is a really cool Warren chair from the 50s that i found in excellent condition. it sits lowrider style and is oversized comfy. notice the herd of knitting items that have already begun to graze in this room?

not pictured: the cube shelves ... which are filled with yarn and what not. it is a passion i will never understand no matter how much i try.











needless to say, Double E was pretty geeked when she saw the room.

This bites ...

... literally. I haven't posted in a bit because I was bitten by the Brown Recluse spider last week which lead to pain, nausea, a lymph node infection and a hospital visit. I managed to do quite a bit during the end of the week, I was just reluctant to post any details as one of the accomplishments was finishing the "knitting room" for Double E while she was home at the Mistake on the Lake ... Cleveland. I didn't want her to read about it here before seeing it in person. Anyway ...