Sunday’s (Decorating) Ambitions

The more I think about the more I’m fed up with my dining room and my guest bathroom. The “fed up” list is actually much longer – but this is where I’ll start. I don’t want to overwhelm you.

For a loooong time now, I’ve been putting up with this “un-settled” pier and beam house that is cracking at every seam. Drywall seam, that is. It’s time to learn some simple cosmetic repair (aka: cover-ups) to get me by until we can get under this house, jack it up and place some shims. That’s gonna be awhile…

Today I give you the “befores” in hopes that there will be some significant “afters” for later in the week.

The main thing plugging up the works is the extreme lack of money. That’s one of the side effects of your babies’ daddy being out of work since before Christmas… So I have to work on a super tight budget. But the first thing that will go is these nasty (cheap) drapes. We’d be much better off with some blinds that we could control the light and heat with in the afternoons. The sun comes streaming in here like, like… well, like a big ball of fire, illuminating every dust particle and cat hair in the air. It makes me want to wear a filtration mask all the time… The sun I can do something about. The dust and cat hair will have to wait.

The dream would be to completely repaint the room (I’m growing weary of the oxblood red I think it’s really called something else and is much darker in person.) After, of course, repairing the drywall in all the corners and above and below the windows. (And patching the holes left behind once I remove those drapes.)

Sadly, for now I think I’ll just do some light repair and touch up the paint with what I have.

If I can squeeze it out of my “rainy day money” I’d like to add some crown molding in here. That would take care of the 1/2 inch gap at the ceiling.

The guest bathroom is another story altogether. I’d also like to repaint in here, but again, I think I’ll probably have to wait and just do some patch repair and touch up.

See – there’s a little drywall work to do. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but it’s buckling outward.

I’m working on forgiveness and mercy, so I won’t go into a long story about how I feel about the previous owners decision to paint latex over oil based trim paint. (No, that’s not a shadow on the door trim…) Nor do I feel that we need to discuss their choice of olive green trim and cabinets with burnt orange walls. I’ve made it “work” for the last 6 years with the shower curtain, but now I’m ready to move on to more neutral colors.

Unfortunately, there’s not $75 worth of rainy-day paint (and primer) money to drop here. Who doesn’t love a decorating challenge!?  (Unless that challenge is finances :0)

That light fixture above needs to go too. And the mirror from 1980. I’ll be haunting the Habitat Re-Store for awhile, it seems.

More of that yummy avocado green. Or is it more of a Spanish olive green? How about just “yuck” green. The tile isn’t bad… very workable there in a neutral sort of way.

All in good time… all in good time, my friends. Now the decorating wheels are turning… Hmmm… Maybe I should add one of those nifty PayPal buttons to the ol’ blog…