I’m trying not to be negative about the lack of progress I made on restoring my grandpa’s stool this weekend. All the parts are primed, and the ‘step’ of the stool even has two finish coats. Good work for a busy weekend, especially since the cold temperatures made waiting for paint to dry even less tolerable.
Because there is snow on the ground, I was doing the spray painting on our back porch. It certainly has enough (read: drafty) ventilation, and the light is great. Knowing there would be paint dust from the spraying, I put down a sheet much larger than my painting area. Once I quickly painted a light coat on each piece, I would carefully carry it back inside so that the paint would dry. (Did I mention the cold?) Then I would carry the next piece out to repeat the process. But when I took a break to let my dogs into the backyard and pulled up the drop cloth, this halted my progress.
[instagram url=http://instagr.am/p/UKUwblOPKh/ width=675]Uh oh. This now leaves me with three options:
1. Keep calm too late and carry on.
2. Consider putting the project on hold until spring.
3. Truly channel Grandpa’s spirit and rig up my own paint box.
Option 1 is out. Do I really want to end up with twice the mess I have now? And what happens when I add the green and hot pink spray paints to the mix? Eww!
As I considered my remaining options, I definitely needed a boost in spirits. You see, there are just so MANY unfinished projects on my list. And being a bit (just a smidge) of a perfectionist, I want to make a lot more progress before I feel ready to entertain friends…and even some family members. Yeah, don’t think I haven’t heard about that more than a couple times.
Feeling a little defeated, I read Elsie’s post about how her many in-progress projects can make it a challenge to share more than snippets of her home for her 365 Project. I felt a little less alone and a lot more encouraged. That girl is inspiring.
It’s true confession time. This is what was cropped from my progress shot above. It shows (some of) the current state of our dining room.
[instagram url=http://instagr.am/p/UKU7LcOPK2/ width=675]The pottery on the left isn’t meant to stay on that console table. Instead it is waiting for us to finish restoring the Craftsman-style built-in buffet that isn’t in this shot. The wine fridge is currently sitting on another table in its current position conveniently located near a plug-in, but not prettily so. Only part of our vintage barware is crammed into that cabinet in the corner. I have plans for it all, cabinet included. The sewing machine cabinet in front of the window really belongs upstairs in my craft room, but man is that thing heavy. On top of the sewing machine sits the cupcake stand that I crafted for our wedding. Yeah, how many YEARS ago was that? The china cabinet to the right of the sewing machine needs to be bolstered up and painted, and everything inside of it needs a permanent home. It’s blocking a window that should be letting in fabulous light, but it will be moved to the corner when the barware cabinet project is finished. The walls are covered in the original (that means late-19th century) wallpaper which I discovered when I pulled off the ugly painted textured wallpaper that covered it. What you may not be able to see are the large plaster patches in the walls. These patches, and worse, are spread across all four dining room walls. We haven’t made any more progress on the walls, because we first need to repair the 8-foot-tall double pocket doors that are off track between the dining room and living room. Obviously the floors need work, and this shot doesn’t even show half (read: more to-do) of our dining room.
Whew. That was a long and boring (and whiny?) paragraph. But if I’m willing to share it on the internet, maybe I will be brave enough to show my friends. And fired up enough to do something about it and to document it all on this blog.
annumography 