What do we do? We have a 1970s concrete block style home.
Our kitchen is a bit gloomy, so perhaps lightening things up would help?
Where do you begin? How does one learn style in ten days?
Friday, February 27, 2015
Urgent kitchen makeover
There was a flood. And now we need new Lino, bench tops and cupboards. The cupboards will look the same but the Lino and bench tops will change.
Our kitchen is a bit gloomy, so perhaps lightening things up would help?
Current Lino.
Current bench top pattern.
Our kitchen is a bit gloomy, so perhaps lightening things up would help?
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Days 19-30: Painting the lounge and kitchen
I swear I see Resene's Half Dutch White in my sleep. It took a long to paint the lounge. A really long time. It would have been very quick if we had just done it all in a mega session but with children, busy lives and busy evenings it isn't that practical. So I did a wall every time I could manage it. The lounge was pretty straightforward, if a little boring. I find the rollers really hard on my wrists so just use a brush (this of course takes a lot longer).
My commitment to perfect taping of the joinery and skirting boards waned rather rapidly.
The kitchen is tricky because there was years of grease to clean off the wallpaper. We installed an extractor fan a couple of years ago but there is no space to duct it outside. I used a lot of sugar soap, but also found baby wipes to be similarly effective.
The colour looks quite cold, even though it is a very warm creamy colour on the sample cards. But that is mainly in comparison with the previous pale browny-white wallpaper. It does look fresh and a lot more modern.
My commitment to perfect taping of the joinery and skirting boards waned rather rapidly.
The kitchen is tricky because there was years of grease to clean off the wallpaper. We installed an extractor fan a couple of years ago but there is no space to duct it outside. I used a lot of sugar soap, but also found baby wipes to be similarly effective.
The colour looks quite cold, even though it is a very warm creamy colour on the sample cards. But that is mainly in comparison with the previous pale browny-white wallpaper. It does look fresh and a lot more modern.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Day 17-19: Painting the bathroom
I was getting quite sick of the bathroom being in disarray so once the stinky sealant was dry I went and got two litres of bathroom paint in our chosen colour: Resene Scandal. It is a very vivid aqua - more blue than green.
Right away we experienced problems with the paint. It seemed very thick, even with a lot of stirring. It still had the air bubbles from being in the paint mixer when I opened it but it was very thick. I poured some into the paint tray to use the roller - this did not go on well - very hard to describe but quite bubbly and not sticking evenly. I decided to leave the roller and just use the brush. It took about two hours. I would have needed to use the brush a lot anyway, as the bathroom is full of narrow panels and fiddly bits. The first coat looked really streaky, uneven and had some strange drips. We were quite alarmed, but then this was our first surface that didn't have textured wallpaper all over, so wondered if this was typical for a smooth surface. The second coat went on late at night after a warm day. After an hour of hard out painting I was hot and sweaty. The paint cover looked great, but heaps of drips developed. It was quite strange. I kept prancing around flicking over them, but they kept popping up. In the morning I decided to do a third coat. I felt quite frustrated about this. Finally, drips developed on the third coat so I had to touch over them the next day.
I discussed the paint with the shop staff who were very diligent at running through the explanations. They had no idea, other than it sounded similiar to something that can happen the first few times the paint gets steam exposure (eg from a shower) after painting. Still, I was a bit disappointed so when the next paint colour to catch my eye came from a competitor I decided to go with it rather than make my next purchase at Resene (of course I was back at Resenes two days later)!
Right away we experienced problems with the paint. It seemed very thick, even with a lot of stirring. It still had the air bubbles from being in the paint mixer when I opened it but it was very thick. I poured some into the paint tray to use the roller - this did not go on well - very hard to describe but quite bubbly and not sticking evenly. I decided to leave the roller and just use the brush. It took about two hours. I would have needed to use the brush a lot anyway, as the bathroom is full of narrow panels and fiddly bits. The first coat looked really streaky, uneven and had some strange drips. We were quite alarmed, but then this was our first surface that didn't have textured wallpaper all over, so wondered if this was typical for a smooth surface. The second coat went on late at night after a warm day. After an hour of hard out painting I was hot and sweaty. The paint cover looked great, but heaps of drips developed. It was quite strange. I kept prancing around flicking over them, but they kept popping up. In the morning I decided to do a third coat. I felt quite frustrated about this. Finally, drips developed on the third coat so I had to touch over them the next day.
I discussed the paint with the shop staff who were very diligent at running through the explanations. They had no idea, other than it sounded similiar to something that can happen the first few times the paint gets steam exposure (eg from a shower) after painting. Still, I was a bit disappointed so when the next paint colour to catch my eye came from a competitor I decided to go with it rather than make my next purchase at Resene (of course I was back at Resenes two days later)!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Day 16: Sacking the subcontracted plumbers/ too many testpots
I've been waiting and waiting to hear back from the plumbers who the electricians arranged to put in our roof fan. I've had great service from these electricians, and OK service this time. Apparently though they never go ahead and arrange the plumber so I'm peeved with them about this. I am more peeved though with Aquatic Plumbers, who go on my shit list. Their communication skills are ridiculous and lacking.
I appreciate the difficulties in timing when work when you are a tradesperson. But treating other people's time as unimportant is not on. Naughty tradespeople will:
Rant over.
Hopefully my preferred and regular plumbers will be able to fit the roof fan later this week. The bathroom has been plastered and we have painted over with the stinky oil based sealant. For some reason though this came out leaving gross brush marks - so we have had to sand and wipe over the walls again. Lame.
I appreciate the difficulties in timing when work when you are a tradesperson. But treating other people's time as unimportant is not on. Naughty tradespeople will:
- Call/ text at the last minute and change to tomorrow
- Call up and claim that another job has finished early so they could just pop by and fit you in now (I understand this as 'I know you are a stay at home mum and I assume you are at home all the time - you are not important enough to book in').
- Treat stay at home mums as though they have all the time in the world.
Rant over.
Hopefully my preferred and regular plumbers will be able to fit the roof fan later this week. The bathroom has been plastered and we have painted over with the stinky oil based sealant. For some reason though this came out leaving gross brush marks - so we have had to sand and wipe over the walls again. Lame.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Days 14&15: The other bedroom gets painted and the bathroom gets sealed.
It was a lot harder picking the paint colour for the Sweetheart's room. The colour used in the Poppet's room, Sweetcorn, was too bright when trialled in the other room. The Sweetheart decided that she would prefer one of her favourite colours, and since we were not having a pink or purple room it became green. It became quite hard to find a green that wasn't too cold feeling, or too yellowy or just too dark. We went with Resene Conifer. It reminds me of an apple green, although it is a lot darker than a granny smith apple. It is about as warm as a green will get and hasn't darkened or brightened the room too much.
As part of the negotiations around the tone of green we agreed to get some sparkly pink/ purple paint to coat her old bookshelves. This paint is a real pain to use. Even with a basecoat it tends to separate and need multiple coats.
This time my husband was home to help. It seems amazing that we have reached the ages we are without having actually painted a room before, so I passed on my small amount of knowledge from the store handouts. Taping took a lot longer because there were more windows and my husband is a lot more fussy about this kind of thing than I am (I didn't bother taping the top skirting board in the Sweetheart's room because I'm going to paint it).
The children were not so keen to be fobbed off with food, although I did try. In the end we took turns painting and childminding. We were way too tired to attack the bathroom that night.
The next morning we had to prep the bathroom for plastering. I thought that this would be very simple but it took my husband nearly two hours to sand, remove wallpaper adhesive and pick off bits of old plaster. It then took a further hour to paint the bathroom - it is a very fiddly room. The oil based paint we were asked to use stinks. The whole house reeks. The second coat only added to the smell.
The bathroom is looking very sad. It is empty, and floor is a sticky mess of wallpaper adhesive, splots of paint and chips of plaster. I wonder if I will ever see the lino again!
As part of the negotiations around the tone of green we agreed to get some sparkly pink/ purple paint to coat her old bookshelves. This paint is a real pain to use. Even with a basecoat it tends to separate and need multiple coats.
This time my husband was home to help. It seems amazing that we have reached the ages we are without having actually painted a room before, so I passed on my small amount of knowledge from the store handouts. Taping took a lot longer because there were more windows and my husband is a lot more fussy about this kind of thing than I am (I didn't bother taping the top skirting board in the Sweetheart's room because I'm going to paint it).
The children were not so keen to be fobbed off with food, although I did try. In the end we took turns painting and childminding. We were way too tired to attack the bathroom that night.
The next morning we had to prep the bathroom for plastering. I thought that this would be very simple but it took my husband nearly two hours to sand, remove wallpaper adhesive and pick off bits of old plaster. It then took a further hour to paint the bathroom - it is a very fiddly room. The oil based paint we were asked to use stinks. The whole house reeks. The second coat only added to the smell.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Days 11-13: Painting the baby's room and the glazier comes.
Advertising is insidious. In the 'Bounty pack' given to mums after the birth of their baby there is a hardcover book for the baby. It is provided by Resene, a paint manufacturer and has no reading merit whatsoever. It lists different paint colours by trade name, along with pictures. It is a very clever advertisement and not at all for the baby. I've recycled them in the past.
About a year ago I was reading 'Little Treasures' magazine and saw a room that won the annual Resene baby room paint competition. Parents are invited to submit plans and the winners are given $500 to complete their designs. It is fantastic advertising of course for Resene, and makes a great story for the magazine. Most of the time I consider these kinds of stories way out there - most children I know have a very basic bedroom, needing little more than their bed, curtains, books and toys. The room and furniture is generally functional, and often cast offs. This is quite appropriate - it is expensive enough looking after a child without all their stuff looking like it came from House and Garden magazine.
But one of these stories somehow got under my skin. I loved the sound of the main paint colour used in the story (sweetcorn). Finally, in the midst of all this reno madness I decided to paint the girls' rooms. I got a testpot of sweetcorn and tried it out. It looks fantastic in the baby's room, but too bright in the Sweetheart's room. It has taken five testpots to find the colour we are going with in there a warm, pastely green called 'Conifer.'
The point of all this chat is a brief reflection on the influence of advertising. I suspect that even though I disliked the baby book and felt that most of the rooms in the stories were over the top, somehow the brand has stayed with me.
Anyway, painting.
I had to do this in a lot of parts. Cleaning the baby's room was a task I did over a day - just moving things around to make it easier to paint. I then got out the mop and washed the walls. I then used my fancy putty-for-idiots that changes colour when dry. I like puttying. I find it very soothing. Finally, I was ready to go. The next day I taped the skirting board and decided to go for it! I thought that I would start with one wall. Given that I was doing this around childcare it wasn't until the baby's afternoon nap that I started (probably not ideal for a children's room). I managed to do the second coat later in the day and the room was only a little smelly that night. The next day I decided to push through, and painted in the morning while the baby was awake. This was tricky. The children wandered around but I did manage to distract them a bit with food and games. I discovered how hard painting can be and found it easier on the clothes to paint wearing nothing! 'Cutting in' using a brush was OK, but I quickly found rolling hard on the arm.
I sped paint. I was dripping in sweat but I got it done. The kids were quite cranky waiting this time, and unfortunately the baby's sleep was short. The room looks pretty good though!
The local glazier also came to replace the bathroom window (because the old bathroom fan is stuck in it). He put in some safety glass, this was a reminder that we need to start replacing the glass around the house with safety glass. So far we have safety glass in one window :)
It took an hour to change over the window. They also brought back the bathroom cabinet door - they added a nice piece of mirror to the front.
About a year ago I was reading 'Little Treasures' magazine and saw a room that won the annual Resene baby room paint competition. Parents are invited to submit plans and the winners are given $500 to complete their designs. It is fantastic advertising of course for Resene, and makes a great story for the magazine. Most of the time I consider these kinds of stories way out there - most children I know have a very basic bedroom, needing little more than their bed, curtains, books and toys. The room and furniture is generally functional, and often cast offs. This is quite appropriate - it is expensive enough looking after a child without all their stuff looking like it came from House and Garden magazine.
But one of these stories somehow got under my skin. I loved the sound of the main paint colour used in the story (sweetcorn). Finally, in the midst of all this reno madness I decided to paint the girls' rooms. I got a testpot of sweetcorn and tried it out. It looks fantastic in the baby's room, but too bright in the Sweetheart's room. It has taken five testpots to find the colour we are going with in there a warm, pastely green called 'Conifer.'
The point of all this chat is a brief reflection on the influence of advertising. I suspect that even though I disliked the baby book and felt that most of the rooms in the stories were over the top, somehow the brand has stayed with me.
Anyway, painting.
I had to do this in a lot of parts. Cleaning the baby's room was a task I did over a day - just moving things around to make it easier to paint. I then got out the mop and washed the walls. I then used my fancy putty-for-idiots that changes colour when dry. I like puttying. I find it very soothing. Finally, I was ready to go. The next day I taped the skirting board and decided to go for it! I thought that I would start with one wall. Given that I was doing this around childcare it wasn't until the baby's afternoon nap that I started (probably not ideal for a children's room). I managed to do the second coat later in the day and the room was only a little smelly that night. The next day I decided to push through, and painted in the morning while the baby was awake. This was tricky. The children wandered around but I did manage to distract them a bit with food and games. I discovered how hard painting can be and found it easier on the clothes to paint wearing nothing! 'Cutting in' using a brush was OK, but I quickly found rolling hard on the arm.
I sped paint. I was dripping in sweat but I got it done. The kids were quite cranky waiting this time, and unfortunately the baby's sleep was short. The room looks pretty good though!
The local glazier also came to replace the bathroom window (because the old bathroom fan is stuck in it). He put in some safety glass, this was a reminder that we need to start replacing the glass around the house with safety glass. So far we have safety glass in one window :)
It took an hour to change over the window. They also brought back the bathroom cabinet door - they added a nice piece of mirror to the front.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Day 9+10: First go at getting rid of wallpaper, the plumbers come and go.
I used the orbital sander on a patch in the bathroom, then poured boiling water over it. Didn't help much. I think that the sandpaper was too fine though, so will give this technique another go.
I heard nothing from the plumbers contracted by the electricians to install the ducting for the bathroom fan so called the electricians back. The plumber made a date to come, then rang up at the last minute the day before and said that he would come now 'forgetting' his appointment for the next day. He turned up, then said that someone should have told him about how steep the roof was. He left, to return one day (it is unclear when, and of course they left no contact details).
I will not be using tradespeople who don't properly schedule appointments. I'm flexible with my time at the moment, but will not always be.
On the positive side I was referred to a plasterer that scheduled a time to come and give me a quote. He gave us good information on preparing the surface of the bathroom wall for plastering (oil based sealant).
I heard nothing from the plumbers contracted by the electricians to install the ducting for the bathroom fan so called the electricians back. The plumber made a date to come, then rang up at the last minute the day before and said that he would come now 'forgetting' his appointment for the next day. He turned up, then said that someone should have told him about how steep the roof was. He left, to return one day (it is unclear when, and of course they left no contact details).
I will not be using tradespeople who don't properly schedule appointments. I'm flexible with my time at the moment, but will not always be.
On the positive side I was referred to a plasterer that scheduled a time to come and give me a quote. He gave us good information on preparing the surface of the bathroom wall for plastering (oil based sealant).
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