Along with all of the fun that comes with moving into a new home comes the fun of redecorating the home to your particular tastes, and we have wasted NO time in commencing with the tremendous undertaking of simply peeling wall paper and painting this three story behemoth. Let's see how this has all gone down:
Day 1: Ten minutes after mover arrive, snow begins to fall and doesn't quit for over 12 hours. I was so glad that there were other people having to get wet and cold to put my crap where I told them to. Much to my dismay (yet a blessing in disguise), they did not unpack and remove all of the boxes.
Day 2: Commence unpacking. I knew that we had a lot of crap, but HOLY COW! I didn't realize just how jammed into that little condo we really were. Our kitchen is still completely overloaded, but at least we have a pantry and an attic and a garage. Storage space has become my new favorite thing!
Day 3: I finished unpacking all of my boxes. Everything on the top two floors was in its place, even if its surroundings were unfinished. What a tremendous feeling of accomplishment to know that I had only been in my house two nights and I had unpacked everything that I could.
Day 4: I decided that it was time to start scrapping some of the horrible wall paper. I completely cleared out the dining room of all of the disgusting border, and removed half of the horrific stuff from the kitchen. I also decided that it was time to start some baking. J was really excited to have some homemade chocolate chip cookies and spaghetti sauce when he came home.
Day 5: Crunch time. Movers were bringing J's new Christmas present tomorrow, the movers are picking up empty boxes tomorrow, and his man cave was still littered with stuff. I unpacked everything in his area, put it away, cleaned up, and moved on to the much more monumental task of peeling the rest of the wall paper upstairs. I finished the kitchen, cleared out two bedrooms upstairs, and demolished our bathroom while removing the nasty decor (nothing major! I mean, who can't put up a shower curtain she knocked down?). By this point, I am exhausted, but my work is not done.
Day 6: I finish clearing out our bedroom from the border that threw up on our walls and venture to the man cave to start clearing out all of the horrendous wall coverings. Amidst all of my soak and scrape activities, I take delivery of the Christmas present as well as practically hug while jumping the men from the moving company who have come to remove our boxes. I think this must be a record! Only five nights in our house and we are completely box free! It doesn't matter that it wasn't tons and tons and tons of stuff, right?
Day 7: I finally finish the mammoth task of de-wall papering the basement. Thank god the stuff was not on EVERY wall and that it was not put up well. I don't know what I would have done if it were superglued to every single stinkin' surface. Well, after I had scraped all of the nasty stuff down, I notice that there is a dark spot on the drywall... Little did J know that I had such a surprise for him when he came home! We decided that what happened was someone had put something wet near the wall and the drywall ate it up. We punched out all of the wet stuff and the insulation and trim were dry. Thank God for small miracles (and small holes!)
Day 8: We venture to the OTHER side of Lowe's. You know, the side with the lumber and drywall and masonry stuff, well away from the light bulbs and grills. We actually purchased something from that side and patched the big hole that we put in our wall. You can't even tell it's there unless we tell you where to look or unless you've built a house before. After we spackle our brains out, we start taping off the basement to start the massive undertaking of painting the man cave. Taping took FOREVER! Guess how long it took to prime the next day...
Day 9: I spent the entire day priming the man cave while J finished up the patch job. I have never primed so much in my life. I didn't really realize just how big our basement actually is until I started priming. I quickly remembered the fact that J once told me that "our condo could fit in the basement." HOLY CRAP! I hate painting now, but unfortunately I still have the rest of the house to do. Think it's too late to try to hire professionals and pay them in baked goods?
Day 10: I finished priming the behemoth and started with the actual painting. I got half of the basement painted, but the best part is... it needs TWO coats! Woo hoo! I guess I can't complain about being bored for the rest of the year (2010, not 2009...). I was actually really pleased with the color. I think it looks so much better than in did this time last week. But I am so tired.... I'm glad I don't have kids, or twins. I don't think I'd make it.
So, after 10 nights of sleeping in our new house, we are practically wall paper free, but there is plenty of painting left to do for those of you that are ready for trip to DC. We will be more than happy to put you up, but we do charge by the painted square foot! Soon, I will be happily resting in Alabama with my in-laws, celebrating the best time of the entire year. What a much needed break that will be. I'll try to do better about updating more often, but it's a pain to scrape all of the dried paint off my hands before I touch the computer. Much love!
E
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