I owe you at least one pretty picture. I took this a few days ago as I was trying to find the perfect place for this piece of Roseville Cherry Blossom. I think this is it. It’s in the pink cabinet in my office. I’m so thrilled to have this piece. I’ve searched for Cherry Blossom on eBay many, many times, and every time the piece has been priced way above my comfort zone. It’s rarer and older than some other pieces and I think this particular combination of blue and pink is highly desirable. It’s the most I’ve ever paid for a piece of Roseville, but I still got a great deal. And it’s in flawless condition.
And now – the reality of my life:
I’m painting.
Why now, you ask, when you’re leaving for New Orleans in less than a week?
Because I got the fool idea in my head and I am stubborn that way. I was just going to do one wall at a time, but I thought to myself – why not two?
I’ll tell you why not, Claudia, it’s more work!
So yesterday morning, I cleaned all the walls with TSP. That took forever. Then I taped everything with Frog Tape. Keep in mind that this is not like the wall we painted before, which is a normal height. No, this is the wall that gradually gets taller and taller until it meets the wall that borders the living room. That wall is really, really tall. So I had to stand on counters, a stepstool, and eventually, I had to bring the ladder in from the shed to do anything in those areas. I had to contort my body every which way. It wasn’t fun.
After about four hours of cleaning and taping, I cut in the primer. Then I finally got one coat – and that’s all it’s going to be, one coat – of primer on the walls and the window trim and baseboards. Paint had somehow managed to land on every inch of my exposed skin, so I took a shower and scrubbed and scrubbed at that stuff. I was still picking it off my fingernails when I finally sat down in the den.
Don’s comment: “It sounds like something we should have done together.”
Yes, it does, Don. But you won’t be home long enough to do it, sweetheart. And therein lies the problem.
The kitchen will be a huge saga. The cupboards, which are chipped and need major painting, will be a winter thing, I think. A couple of cupboard doors at a time, with sanding and priming and painting, so that they match the trim color. As it is now, they just look cruddy. But I’ll have to paint the fourth wall first (the wall where the door is) and that won’t be for a while, given my trip to New Orleans and my even longer trip to Chicago.
So today I’ll put on two coats of yellow and then hobble to my chair in the den – oh yes, my muscles ache. Tomorrow, I’ll paint the trim and the baseboards.
I still have to mow the lawn. I guess that will be on Monday. I’ll be so exhausted when I get to New Orleans, I’ll need a day or so to recover!
Happy Saturday.
Be careful on the ladder! It will look amazing when you are done though, won’t it?
Hope you and Don will have a great weekend!
I’m being extremely careful. One coat down, one to go!
You will be so glad you did it, once you’ve finished. I call this the domino effect of home ownership. You get something new, i.e. the stove. It makes the walls look shabby. You paint the walls, then the cabinets look shabby and so on and so on. It never ends.
A truer thing was never said, Brenda! And on it goes…
Kudos to you for taking on this task! I’ve done this before…just what you were talking about, the contorting and all…but I was 30 years younger then. I can’t imagine it being easy…but if not now…when? Like Brenda N said….it’s the domino effect of home ownership….and it’s a slippery slope. So…have fun painting…you could always take a break and mow…lol. Better yet…if we all lived closer, I’m sure we could have a painting party…wouldn’t that be fun! ;)
Exactly. If not now, when? Better to tackle it now. We really can’t afford painters and our house is so small that there’s nowhere to put everything, and I know how to work around the ‘stuff.’
A painting party would be pretty gosh-darned fun!
Love the vignette with new pottery! I can’t paint, good for you to do this, be careful. I cringed at your stepping up on everything.
I’m very careful! And I only have one more coat to put on of the yellow!
Therein lies the problem. Yes, indeed. That’s why I took down a wall by myself. However, it’s worth the effort. Hopefully, you will be as pleased as I am. :-)
I am already pleased. One coat of the yellow is on the walls and I’m already liking it so much better!
I know that you hate to paint but good for you for doing it! It’s going to look so good. I love that Cherry Blossom Roseville piece. Oh my goodness it’s pretty. It’s really cloudy here today but I think I can get some things boxed up and to the thrift shop before it rains. Then a book and hot chocolate later! Now that sounds like a good Saturday to me!
When I get the second coat on the wall, take a shower, and clean up, I am going to have some hot chocolate as well! Thanks for the idea, Linda!
Wow, the last time I painted, my husband and I tackled the dining and living rooms at our previous house. Moving furniture, taping, TSP to wash walls, drop cloths to protect hardwood floor, painting two coats. I’m tired just thinking about it! My Dad used to paint the interiors of our house every few years, and wallpaper too. It’s a huge chore. I admire you for tackling it alone, Claudia. You certainly deserve some down time after the walls and before the cabinets.
It is a huge chore. Thankfully, the latex goes on much easier than the primer, so that’s a plus. Thanks, Wendy!
kudos to you for taking on that project. keep safe on the ladder and counters! i’d sure be glad to help you, if iowa wasn’t so far away.
i am especially glad for you that after all that work so far you are pleased with the mid-way results … and will soon join don in new orleans!
love the “vignettes or bust” sign on the lamb/your blog mascot. hee hee!
now go take a break!
kathy in iowa
Vignettes or Bust has to do with a shop I love in San Diego. The owner had that putz sheep decorated for me as a gift. Vignettes as a decorating thing aren’t so big with me, but this shop? Yes! I stopped in when we were out there this summer, as I hadn’t been there in about 7 years.
Awww…Claudia! Why-oh-why do we do that to ourselves…start a project that we KNOW we shouldn’t start and won’t have time to finish. Could it be sheer stubbornness and determination to push ourselves to the max? I think that is what it is for me.
Hoping you have a good weekend and can sneak a bit of extra rest in before you are on the fly again. Maybe Don can pick up where you left off? nah….probably not! lol xo Diana
I agree. I think that’s it for me, too! Don won’t be home all that long between the tour and starting rehearsals for Broadway. I think it’s up to me!
I think that is the prettiest Roseville you have bought so far….what a beauty!…You be careful with your climbing up on things…
I’m very, very careful! Yes, I think it’s my favorite, as well!
The old saw “No Pain, No Gain” springs to mind. Not comforting, I know. But just like everyone else has been saying – you will be SO GLAD when it’s all done. You’ll be rewarded with a showplace kitchen and an OVERWHELMING sense of satisfaction because you did it all yourself. Until then, be careful & only do as much as you can do without killing yourself, OK? My Dad always said “No one’s going to ask you how quickly you did it. They’re only going to notice how well the job was done…” Peace & enjoy the rest of the weekend.
#Resist
Finished the yellow walls today. Tomorrow I’ll do the trim around the windows and the baseboard. And then I’m done until I tackle the final wall!
Please post us some photos. That yellow you choose is glorious. A color that even on a dark cloudy morning brings sun into the room. Yellow – just maybe the best color ever for a kitchen… 💛
Photos may come on Monday. I still have to finish the trim and get everything back in place.
Claudia, you are so resourceful and ambitious; be careful up on those ladders and be sure you always have your phone in your pocket. If you fell and there’s no one there, you’ve gotta be able to call for help. Please; it worries me! My active/busy/healthy, widowed & retired neighbor (living alone) was doing something similar, hanging curtains she’d just made, fell off the stepladder in the kitchen and hit her head on the tile floor, also breaking her shoulder. And nobody knows how long she laid there, as she’d passed out. I’m not saying that to scare you or make you lose your confidence, and everybody’s different in terms of strength/balance, but just cautionary – – and begging you to be extra-careful with Don not there although of course I know you’re a very capable person!
The cherry blossom Roseville looks so perfect where you’ve placed it and, yes, it’s a true treasure but I’ve gotten to the point where, to me, any Roseville piece I see is pretty much valued and special and wonderful…because it was and is loved and also OLD(!), out and displayed by everyday ladies (and guys) back in the day who enjoyed it not being locked away in a cupboard, but out where they could see it on shelves, mantles, etc., such that a lot of Roseville (unlike, say, less-destructive porcelains) got cracked or chipped at times, when it was moved or dropped or picked up to dust around, etc. and when you today can find a beautiful, intact piece from so many decades ago (true American art of the 20th century), like you did with your cherry blossom ALL this time later, wow, yes, oh what a score…yours is particularly lovely. The colors are absolutely marvelous. Although we have several family pieces (cherished!), I’m not a Roseville collector and I don’t know all the patterns (although I’m definitely an enthusiast/admirer), so I wasn’t familiar with cherry blossom; glad, then, that you shared it here; just a treat to see.
Today, we have major yard projects to do in order to get stuff out of the way of our yard crew who’ll be working on our hillside next week (and in the lower yard). Massive tree and bush trimming and lot-clearing (weedy) by a 4-man crew. As sadly seen on TV, we in SoCalif are still in deadly wildfire season (November is still ahead and we’ve had some terrible fires in November of the years) and I’m feeling uneasy about our back hill having gotten so out of control so fast with dry brush, when the crew was just here in June. We never have too much of a winter here in SoCalif but, still, we have certain preps and two leaky-roof sheds are currently not protected due to the Santa Anas blowing their protective tarps to shreds. We’re moving two bicycles to the offsite storage unit today; not using them right now and they’re in the way. Putting some of the summer furniture away, too. Consolidating some smaller planter pots of things into a more protected area of the yard (we often get frost or a freeze in early November although we haven’t had a hard freeze for a long, long time). Setting up a winter-shelter area for the feral cats with their individual ‘houses’. We actually have a ton of stuff to do between today and tomorrow and it’s already noon-Saturday, so, sigh, never enough hours; my poor husband is so exhausted from his work week but he says, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” (Which always upsets me when he says it; I don’t find that humorous.) The weather was pretty nice earlier today; was only 60 degrees at 9am although sunny (now, as the hours go by, however, we’ve really warmed up and it’s now almost 90 degrees [ugh]) ; however, we will be hot Sunday-Tues or so, although nights are really cooling off now and, today, tah-dah, I’m maybe/probably(?) putting a blanket on the bed; I haven’t slept with a blanket for probably five months.
Looking forward to your interiors, post-painting! You’re definitely gonna need that NOLA vacay and if you take a couple of days to just rest and immerse there (sounds & sights and flavors in your immediate vicinity) before walking your shoes off in the bigger city, that’s completely okay!
Yes, I’ll be there for 8 days, so I have time and Don will be in rehearsals in the afternoon – so I’ll have time to mosey around on my own. Glad you’re getting things cleaned up – this fire season has been horrific and best to get brush cleaned up ASAP.
I have my cell phone in my back pocket the whole time!
Paint and I have the same mutual attraction you two seem to share. Liquid dishwasher soap takes it off nicely. Obviously you won’t want to let it sit on the skin any longer than it must but a good brisk scour over the skin (not too rough) with a green scrubby sponge and a bit of the dishwasher soap and then into the shower to rinse very well. You’ll be amazed at how much more easily it comes off.
Thanks, Terri! The latex is pretty easy to take off – the primer is the one that is more difficult!
Claudia,you are one ambitious lady. Be very careful on the ladder. Are you using latex or oil paint? My sister’s friend told her that latex paint is easier to remove from your skin than oil paint.
Marilyn
The primer was a heavy duty stain blocking primer and that was really hard to remove. The paint is latex and it’s much easier to remove!
And for those of us who need to know that there are still beautiful, wonderful things in this world…take a look at the videos of the 36 giant panda 🐼 cubs online!…I promise you will smile!
I will! I need some beautiful, wonderful! Thanks, Nancy!
You did find the perfect place for the pottery! Love it. No one told us, so for years we just put on white primer. Didn’t ever think of having the color of the top paint put in it. Now you can’t see any holidays in our painting. Saves time.
Have fun in New Orleans!
I tend to forget about that, too – although with the white primer and the yellow paint, it didn’t need to be tinted.
I’m very impressed with your energy level and work ethic! I can’t wait to see your wall painted.. we have butter yellow in our den and dining room and I love how it makes it feel sunny during the long winters. Love your new vase! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Thank you, Teresa! Yes, depending on the time of day and the light, the yellow can change dramatically!
I’m not going to swear on it, but that could be my favorite piece of your pottery! She sure is pretty. :)
I know. I love that piece! Thanks, Monica.