Wednesday, November 2, 2011

I Must, I Must, I Must Reduce the Dust.

Did anyone ever actually do the "I must increase my bust" exercise as a pre-teen, other than to make fun of it? Anyway, here is a lesson for all you renovators out there. There is a reason the floors always get done last. And that was my plan too, but it didn't quite work out that way.

I sanded and washed most of the walls in preparation for painting, which I planned to do before the floors were refinished. But as the timeline dragged on and on, I decided I could paint after I moved in--but there was no way I could have the floors refinished after I moved in. So I had the floors done while I was away  camping a few weeks back. Refinishing floors kicks up a wee bit o' dust. The good folks at Delago Grundl Hardwood Floors cleaned up as best as they could, but stopped short of washing all the walls down. They even vacummed all the wooden blinds which were filthy when I bought the place (Thanks guys!).

So now that I am painting, I have the extra step of washing down all the walls...again. You are probably thinking, just how much dust could there be? Do you really need to clean again? See exhibit one below.



It's not a wall, but it's easier to see just how much dust there is. Thank goodness the closet is the only place with shelves right now. On a happier note, the closet is now done and I have started to move in some stuff.

Buh bye brown!
Ah, turquoise, you make me happy.
Remember the formerly forest green front bedroom? It is also done. Everything from my storage unit has been moved in so it's pretty full at the moment, but you can see the pretty white walls. And, yes, I am aware the doors and trim are not as white as the walls. That will be remedied at some point.

Hello stuff! I missed you.
Next up is the master bedroom. It was also brown, with one peach wall. The darker of the blue squares in the second photo is the color I painted the closet. I decided it would be too much for the bedroom. I am going to go with white. I may do a turquoise accent wall. I haven't decided.

Master "before" with the old dark stain on the floors.

Benjamin Moore's Passion Blue on the left (and in the closet).



With one coat of primer.
The problem is that all the walls I've painted so far, even the peach one, have required two coats of Killz primer, which makes the finish line just that much further away. I wrote "Killz" on the walls that needed primer. See how well one coat covers?


Not so well.

I hope to finish the master bedroom and bathroom this weekend so the sink and toilet can be re-installed. I should be able to move my bed in next week and start actually living at the house. OMG!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Audrey,

    I found your blog today through a comment left on another blog (isitahouseyet). We've recently started a site dedicated entirely to DIY house blogs & would love to add your site to our reading list so we can read about your projects!

    Erin @ blue door BLOGS
    www.bluedoorblogs.com

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  2. That increase-your-bust thing doesn't work. Don't ask me why I know.

    Your closet looks awesome!

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