I Am No "This Old House" Guy

It's been a painting week-end--but no, not that kind of painting that involves swirling paint into shapes on wood or canvas.  No, that would be a very different kind of painting week-end.

No, we've been painting the walls, which does not satisfy my creative self at all.  The flooring folks return this week to finish the 2nd half of the house, so we've been trying to get the painting done. The floors will be stripped, sanded, and refinished, so by painting now, we haven't had to be as careful.about drips.

Before the painting project, the front room, which is now a single room in many ways, had many different colors of paint in various shades of brown and beige, with drywall patching. Now the walls are a color that looks like cream in some lights, buttery in other lights, and a sunny yellow in other lights. I love it. I'm hoping it lightens the house, along with lighter floors.

We decided to do an accent wall, the front wall with the window. But we didn't choose a bold color--instead it's the palest green--and in some lights, it doesn't look significantly different from the other walls. That color too has pleased me more than I expected it to.

We finished the painting last night--it left us both exhausted. I still woke up at 2 unable to sleep--it's that insomnia I get when I feel like I have much to do and very little time. So I got up and graded assignments and wrote a course evaluation that has a Monday deadline.

Later today, we'll do the rest of the work of getting everything out of the way for the flooring crew. It's not a fabulous way to spend a week-end, but we both REALLY want to get the house in order.

In some ways, it's interesting to do this work together, both the painting work and the getting the house ready for the flooring folks.  In some ways, we make a good team, because we've done these projects so much.  I'm better at saying, "I don't understand what you're asking me to do."  My spouse is better at NOT expecting me to be knowledgeable like the This Old House guys.

Once I liked various parts of the home renovation project, but now I really don't.  I find the multitude of choices much more overwhelming than I once did, and I care less than I once did.  I don't have a vision for what I want.  These are not the best mindsets for a home renovation.

In many ways, I hope this is our last house renovation.  But we live in a world that seems increasingly vulnerable to strong storms, so who knows.

And maybe later, with the benefit of hindsight, I'll see how these repairs helped foster my creativity, even if I didn't realize it at the time.