Darcy announced she wanted her room painted, and needing something to do while quarantined, I grabbed it. I love to paint--as long as I don't have to prep or clean up. I see myself more like the paint closer, striding in after the tape is on the edges, corners, and baseboards, and the tarps cover the floor and exiting after I've artistically rolled, brushed, and edged the color onto the walls. Cleaning the tools after the job? OMG, it takes longer than painting.
So, I procrastinated.
Eventually, Darcy narrowed down her color choices, and when Tom began making noises about redoing the girls' hallway bathroom, I reminded him we had Darcy's room to complete first. She doesn't have a closet in that room, and after deciding we'd paint, we'd also measured and sketched plans for adding a closet and an accompanying dresser. Our neighbor, a woodworker, was our first choice to hire, but he is very busy with his new kitchen business and couldn't get to it until next year, and I could see this project falling low on the list of Tom's projects. I bought the paint.
However, when I went to rally the troops, Tom told me I needed to clean out the room first, and in his eyes, that was a big job. He was not willing to do, so I bit the bullet during my week of determination to get more than 5,000 steps on my sports watch.
Tom was correct. Clearing out Darcy's room was an all-day job.
I began by sending her pictures of items, and she responded with keep or donate as we went through her childhood. Once that was completed, I removed her stuff, piling it in the corner of my dining room. Eventually, it overtook the dining table and other areas until it looked like we were hoarders. If there is one thing, Tom can't stand, it is clutter. I figured I had him nailed down as a painting volunteer, just clearing the bedroom.
I thought wrong.
Moving her furniture toward the center and away from the walls, I discovered why Darcy can keep her small room so neat. She puts things under her furniture--
This little chore took all day to complete, and instead of joining in when he got home from work, Tom encouraged me to get those steps in! The next day, with the help of my SIL, who kept me entertained via Facetime, I taped the edges with the intent of painting the ceiling the next day. The only problem was as I finished one area, the tape began unpeeling. Darcy's room was--we think--originally an exterior porch that one of the homeowners closed in with concrete block, so all of her walls are very course. I had to start over with different tape and use scotch tape to tape the ends of the painter's tape, and then on the advice of my SIL, I began edging before the tape fell off once again.
Madison arrived home from teaching during this and doing my best Tom Sawyer routine, she fell hard, put on paint clothes, and joined me. We got one coat on the ceiling before it turned dark. It wasn't easy. Painting a ceiling hurts one's neck. Maddy decided the Michelangelo way was needed, and when I got back into the room in the morning, that area was definitely well painted.
The ceiling only required one coat and some touch-up work, and less than a gallon of paint. After much discussion with two different painting experts (roll eyes here), it was determined I needed a tinted prime over the blue paint and sparkly Rainbow Fish motif. Unfortunately, the color chosen wasn't able to be used as a tint, so in went a classic pink, which was darker than the color Darcy wanted. Whatever. It turned out well, I think.
Darcy came home to vote and painted one wall. I did the rest. I also did all of the clean-up EVERY TIME. Then, I had to put everything in her room back inside. All told, the project took a week.
Like Maddy's painted room, the ceiling is darker than the walls, but this isn't really conveyed in pictures. Also, it depends on the time of day in this room. The ceiling casts shadows and gives the walls a darker look than they really are. Maddy didn't like the color, but it's growing on her. I like it.
Darcy: "It looks like a pregnancy gender reveal exploded in the room."
Me: "Well, it's a girl!"
Now we just need to find someone to build the closet.
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