The Woodwork

14 in 1 painter's tool.
What do I use all those
curves and holes for?

It turns out it's not all that simple.   Painting the trim, putting the decorations on the cake, if you will, has been a growth experience.  As one hitches along the perimeter of a room, first taping the edge of the carpet under the baseboard, then painting the baseboard (not the wall, thank you.  It's already done and is Pale Honey in eggshell, not white in enamel), there is plenty of time for contemplation.  If one is paying attention and finds joy in details, there's a lot to be learned.

The big curve on the right of the painter's tool cleans at
least a half cup of paint out of the roller before it is ready
to be washed!  Washing up goes so much faster.

At the beginning of this painting project (you remember it all began with washing the windows and deep-cleaning the kitchen floor), the work list said simply "paint the ceiling Air, paint the walls Pale Honey, paint the woodwork White."

Kitchen corner BEFORE

So the baseboards became white.  The woodwork around the windows was a different matter.  Cracks and dried calk between the window sash and woodwork needed to be cleaned out and recalked.  Mini blinds were taken down.  The sashes were cleaned.  And the woodwork was finally painted.

The mini blinds went back up--temporarily.  They are old.  They are dirty.  They are slightly broken here and there.  And they look hideous in the newly painted window frames.

 

Kitchen corner AFTER

So one of the Things I get to do today (or tomorrow) is shop for new curtains.  What a slippery slope this has been!  How truly fabulous it is to have rooms feeling clean and vibrant instead of heavy and dirty.  Who knew?

PS.  This what I was doing when I was not blogging.

Verdigris Almost

Scaly and Mildewed

Start with a UV degraded plastic chair.  Best if it's green.  We stole this idea outright from Sand Creek Inn in Sandpoint, ID.  Their outdoor lounging area had old, green plastic Adirondack chairs that had been painted copper.  Over time the copper paint has worn and been scraped off a bit revealing the under green surface. The effect was perfect, a copper chair turning an antiqued copper/green.

This doesn't scrub off

Our six green plastic chairs were oxidized from the sun all summer long and mildewed from the rain all winter long.  The combination is fatal for sure. The mildew cannot be scrubbed off because it is embedded in the rough crust of the deteriorating plastic.  But wash these chairs up a bit to get off the big chunks, let them dry well and the copper paint adheres perfectly.

Freshly painted and a little too bright maybe

One year of use and weather with bits of green beginning
to show through for charm.

It's taken a long time to do all  six chairs, but I could feel it in the air that painting the last two was on for the Things I get to do today.   













Paint on the surface stops the UV damage. A little wear and tear lets the green shine through.  Verdigris in reverse.