I promised my daughter I would paint her room so in honor of Labor I am spending the long Labor Day weekend painting. Now, so you don't think I am completely incompetent that it would take three days to paint a child's room, when I paint my children's rooms I do more muralizing than painting. Perhaps not murals to be precise but not the traditional one color walls be any means.
I started today. The longest part of the job was preparing the room. I have a couple goals for the project: paint the room and avoid the largest petroleum based product spill since the Exxon Valdez. Having finished half my project management courses I know that risks that cannot be avoided should be mitigated. So down wwnt the thin plastic tarp material. If the state of Alaska or the executive of Exxon had used half the tarp I did before the accident Valdez would still be the last name of the coffee picker from Columbia. Or was that the donkey's name, as in Juan and Valdez? Either way, I used a lot of tarp. Funny thing about thin plastic tarp, it sticks to skin. It especially sticks to sweaty skin which is what you get if you don't get the tarp off your skin quickly. After a few wrestling episodes with said tarp - I won the last two but must admit to losing the first one. The tarp let me go after a moment of panic when I thought I was going to suffocate in painter's tarp without even opening a can of paint.
A friend mentioned that if you want to avoid getting wall paint on the ceiling you should paint the tape line of the ceiling with the ceiling paint first. It creates a seal so the wall paint cannot seep under the tape. Brilliant idea. As I started this task I wondered if the concept applied when the ceiling paint was the consistency of cream of wheat. Paint must have a shelf life somewhat less than five years. I stood on the ladder wondering what to do. It didn't take long - he who hesitates is lost seemed to fit as the paint was turning into plaster as I dithered. I took my foam paintbrush and smeared the ceiling paint on. Amazingly the rather flimsy foam brush survived the entire perimeter of the room.
At last I managed to get the room taped, tarp laid down and ceiling line sealed (hope it's not permanent as I don't think my daughter will consider a line of blue tape all around her ceiling aesthetically pleasing). Next I turned to the paint to begin the project in earnest. I opened the paint can and poured a little into the pan. Rolling it onto the wall in my best painter's "W" I stood back to admire my work. That's when I began to wonder.... that paint looked a little more green than the robin's egg blue I was expecting. I called in Janelle for a second opinion. Sure enough, wrong paint.
I started today. The longest part of the job was preparing the room. I have a couple goals for the project: paint the room and avoid the largest petroleum based product spill since the Exxon Valdez. Having finished half my project management courses I know that risks that cannot be avoided should be mitigated. So down wwnt the thin plastic tarp material. If the state of Alaska or the executive of Exxon had used half the tarp I did before the accident Valdez would still be the last name of the coffee picker from Columbia. Or was that the donkey's name, as in Juan and Valdez? Either way, I used a lot of tarp. Funny thing about thin plastic tarp, it sticks to skin. It especially sticks to sweaty skin which is what you get if you don't get the tarp off your skin quickly. After a few wrestling episodes with said tarp - I won the last two but must admit to losing the first one. The tarp let me go after a moment of panic when I thought I was going to suffocate in painter's tarp without even opening a can of paint.
A friend mentioned that if you want to avoid getting wall paint on the ceiling you should paint the tape line of the ceiling with the ceiling paint first. It creates a seal so the wall paint cannot seep under the tape. Brilliant idea. As I started this task I wondered if the concept applied when the ceiling paint was the consistency of cream of wheat. Paint must have a shelf life somewhat less than five years. I stood on the ladder wondering what to do. It didn't take long - he who hesitates is lost seemed to fit as the paint was turning into plaster as I dithered. I took my foam paintbrush and smeared the ceiling paint on. Amazingly the rather flimsy foam brush survived the entire perimeter of the room.
At last I managed to get the room taped, tarp laid down and ceiling line sealed (hope it's not permanent as I don't think my daughter will consider a line of blue tape all around her ceiling aesthetically pleasing). Next I turned to the paint to begin the project in earnest. I opened the paint can and poured a little into the pan. Rolling it onto the wall in my best painter's "W" I stood back to admire my work. That's when I began to wonder.... that paint looked a little more green than the robin's egg blue I was expecting. I called in Janelle for a second opinion. Sure enough, wrong paint. 
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