Scraping the crud off the ceilings

 

Our first project in the bedroom makeover was to take all the lovely 1980’s popcorn off the ceiling. As a designer, popcorn is one of my pet peeves. I hate it.

Luckily, Mom has a lot of experience getting this stuff off the ceiling.

You  need:

A Spray bottle filled with really hot water

and a scraper of some sort. I prefer the 8” taping knife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The texture is going to get everywhere, so protect the furniture and floor with drop cloths.

Spray a portion liberally with hot water, then scrape the texture off.

I found long smooth strokes work best, with the knife at an angle. If you have a stubborn spot, spray with more hot water, and let it sit for a minute before scraping at it again.

It’s not easy work, but it is easier than putting up new drywall.   A lot of times the texture is never painted, so it comes right off.

Once all the texture is off, you will need to fill any cracks or imperfections with a coat of drywall joint compound, let dry, then sand smooth.

I had a few places the texture had been patched I couldn’t get out, so I just put compound over them to feather it out.

Once sanded and pretty, you’re ready to paint!

I have the best boyfriend ever

 

I really do have the best boyfriend ever.  I’ve lived in my house four years now. And for four years, I’ve only been able to use one side of my double kitchen sink. The other side  had this weird pipe configuration that liked to leak if any water ran through it, not to mention draining slower than molasses in winter.

Yeah, isn’t that weird? I really really don’t recommend flex drains AT ALL!  Seriously, if you have to force something to fit, it shouldn’t be that way!

So this weekend, Prince Charming, also known as best boyfriend ever, fixed it for me.  And it took him all of like thirty minutes.  It took me longer to plant my daffodils.  (Yeah, I’m a procrastinator like that)

Isn’t it pretty?

Well, maybe not pretty in a traditional sense. But useful! And just in time too, since Sissy is coming this weekend to break in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  She seems to think using it once a year for royal icing is not good enough.

So now I have plenty of room to wash measuring cups and bowls.

What have you been procrastinating?

I’ve been a busy girl!

While news on the professional employment front has been slow, to say the least,  the home improvement front has been busy busy busy!

My lovely mother came down last week for several days, and helped me tackle the major makeover of my upstairs- starting with my bedroom!

And I’m going to share with you in a series of how-to tutorials and tips.

To start with, here’s my bedroom before:

Other than re-arranging a million times, I hadn’t done ANYTHING in the four years I’ve lived here. And that needed to change pronto.

My raspberry and lime girly master bedroom is coming right along. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Hope you stay tuned!

A crafty misadventure

 

I  wanted to make placemats inspired by these I saw on One King’s Lane:

I loved the placemats, but not the $79 price tag. And since I thought you would too, I set out to make a tutorial.

However,  what resulted was this:

Something I’m not even happy enough with to finish.  Wrong shape, too small, too thick. Not to mention I’m having problems with straight lines.

Back to the drawing board- I’m determined to come up with something!

Three More Days

Three more days until I either make the best or stupidest decision of my life- which will only be determined in hindsight.

See, I'm quitting my job. When I started with my current company a year ago, I was brought on to be the on-staff designer, doing design every day and supervising purchasing and a staff of 2. I was excited about the opportunity to design fully, with bigger projects and budgets! To actually manage and not just be a figurehead.

Fast forward a year.

A lot of days end with this:

source

Which is not exactly the way it should be. And the reason for that is I'm not designing. I actually started this blog as a creative outlet, since writing purchase orders for all the material a construction company needs is not using my talents, my degree, or my passion.

I'm taking the NCIDQ this year- which is a really huge exam that is simliar to the Bar or Professional Engineer exams.  And given the time and money going into that, I'd really like to get back to my dream- design.

Some things happened here at the office, and I had enough. I turned in my two weeks, and Friday is my last day. 

I don't have anything lined up yet, which is scary.  I'm working hard to make this the best decision of my life thus far- to find a new position that will be a place I can use my talents, grow as a designer, and love going to work every day.

In three more days, I'll have lots of time to share projects with you.  And inspiration.  Like how I'm taking this

into something fabulous and updated!


And if anyone needs design consultation- residential or commercial- contact me and we can work it out!