when a house is not a home...
since i moved into my new place several weeks ago, i've been struggling to make it feel like mine. this is a great house with lots of little quirks that also needs plenty of work - except the work that i'd really like to do is more than cosmetic. and since i made the unexpected decision to rent again (after a painful house-selling and aborted-house-buying experience), i'm not exactly at liberty to make more-than-cosmetic changes...
i did get the landlord's okay to do some minor work to the garden and paint the interior of the house. and given my spring-induced need to garden, well - that's been completed. a couple new shrubs, a bunch of new perennials, and the house has a new street presence. unfortuntaley, this is colorado and i'll be long gone before anything has grown to any reasonable maturity. but at least i got to get my hands in the soil...
as for the painting... i'm having a bit more difficult timing motivating myself for that task. yet this house really needs some attention. ian's partially-orange, partially primer-white bedroom is screaming for some attention. the crap-brown living room needs some love. the neon-yellow dining room isn't exactly matching my decor. and the stark off-white kitchen leaves my appetite longing for something more, well, appetizing.
the thing is, i already have the paint. a nice golden rod color (light on the golden, heavy on the rod) has been chosen for the living room. a nice slate blue for the dining room, and a very-boy sky blue for ian's room. and a sage-green for the kitchen. all mixed, purchased, and sitting in the basement.
meanwhile, i just can't bring myself to tape off the trim, move the furniture, and paint. all my framed photos and artwork sit on the floor, waiting for a home on freshly-painted walls. i cringe every time i enter poor ian's room and see the patchwork paint job. and i stay away from cooking in the kitchen because it begs not to be cooked in...
one of these weekends - maybe even weeknights - i'm going to get my butt in gear and start taping. because i know that once i start i'll finish quickly and feel much more at home in this temporary house.
4 comments:
Let's paint Monday afternoon. You will have...let's see...1 brother, 2 sisters (J9 doesn't count), 2 brothers-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, parents and at least 5 kids to help. Assign each a room and DONE! We'll have it finished by dinner. You can substitute the race tapering for taping! I'll send out the email.
reading carrie's comment, reminds me of 'why' i was smart not to join your family for dinner...
i woulda got assigned a room!
(two posts, two days in a row... where will this all lead????)
i've been meaning to paint the trim around my apartment for a whole year now...it's this gross boy-gray color, and i want it to be more country-blue. i too have the permission, the paint, etc etc...but i just don't 'wanna'. but next fall? before school starts again? i'm there...
I hate painting. I wish I had a sister like you so we could get it done in no time flat (I also have quite a few rooms to do).
Hope you enjoyed the 42 voicemail messages I left you during Wildflower!
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