3/15/2013

From Red to Yellow in Four Days


Since starting my own massage therapy practice last November, my weeks have been booked solid with appointments, which has been wonderful but leaves little time for studio work (and of course my poor blog). However, I've noticed I usually need a creative hiatus from my jewelry studio after the Christmas holiday rush, time for new ideas to germinate under the grey blanket of winter. Meanwhile, I've discovered that renovating our old farmhouse provides a great creative outlet.

Finding myself with a few days off in February, I renovated our study-slash-guest room. Years ago my hubby had painted the room a deep shade of red. Although we loved the red walls, the dark color and layers of travel décor left this 9x9 room feeling small and heavy. Aside from the cats and an occasional guest, the room was rarely used.  


Eventually this room will become a nursery so we wanted to choose a color that would work for a study-slash-guest room now and a baby's room later. Deciding on a bright and cheery shade of yellow to make this dual-purpose room feel larger and more inviting, I set to work on the renovation. 


Day 1:
First, I moved out the furniture and took down the artwork. Before painting, I had to repair the damaged plaster with joint compound. There were many small holes in the walls and a few big ones from past water damage. Thankfully the big patch did not require a screen, which may have been beyond my solo expertise. 


While the joint compound was drying, I caulked around the windows to seal and re-glaze them. Next, I painted all the baseboards and window trim in a high gloss white. (Eventually the hubby will install molding around the ceiling, that I will also paint in high gloss white). 


Day 2: 
My patch looked good. It was dry so I sanded it down to a smooth finish.  I used the shop vac to suck up all the dust. Then, I decided to tape over all the freshly-painted trim to protect it while I slathered primer and paint onto the walls. To remove the red, I rolled on two thick coats of primer, using over a gallon of paint by the time I finished.


Day 3: 
Now for the fun part! I rolled on two thick coats of Lemon Parfait by Valspar in a satin finish. I also decided it was a good time to clean and polish the 100 year old hardwood floors. I left on a fan to let everything dry overnight.


Day 4: 
I pulled off the painter's tape and touched up the trim. My hubby helped me install the new blinds. I used white, light-filtering, cordless, honeycomb, cellular shades. This adds a layer of insulation around the windows without blocking out all the light. I moved the furniture back into the room, using basically the same pieces but changing the layout to open up the space. I am in the processing up putting up whimsical artwork with pops of green, turquoise, and orange.



I found this 100% wool rug on sale for $100 at Tuesday Mornings. The rug normally retails for $510, so I snatched it up. It adds another layer of warmth and coziness and I love the yellow grey color combo. Cats and hubby approve.


 In addition to lodging a couple of weekend guests so far, the yellow room is getting a lot more use than the red room did. It was especially handy to have this cozy, updated space to hang out in to read and watch T.V. while we were without living room furniture. More on that to come.