The Finished Room

Well, I didn't refinish the piano, or any furniture. I didn't repaint the stove or buy bedding or window coverings.

The paint job was SO HUGE that it took all 5 days just to get it finished. It took 5 coats of primer to cover the walls! Painting the hallway and the closet took an extra day! At least we bought the bed!

Clint, who avoided the project for the first couple of days, ended up making 4 trips to the store for me for extra paint, and bought, cut, painted and installed mouldings for the windows(an unfinished project from 6 years ago)and in other places where moulding was missing. Then he cut and reworked the closet shelves so they would be more useable. He helped move furniture into the room on the last day, and installed the curtain rods (no curtains, though!), vent covers, and outlet covers. He picked up Shelby when we discovered she was arriving 4 hours earlier than expected, and took her with him to turn in our fair forms so I would have an extra hour to get all the stuff moved into her closet! I was just doing a final vacuuming when they arrived.

Tamzin spilled the beans by saying "Shelby, I got your old room!" the minute she walked in the door. But she loves her new room all the same. It's working great to have the two older girls downstairs at bedtime. The bathrooms are less crowded for teeth brushing, and I'm finding it easier to keep Tamzin focused on getting ready for bed without the older girls there to visit with.

Shelby's new space is bright and airy. We rigged a sheet and a bead curtain as a door since the room doesn't have one, and she seems content with that, for now anyway. And she is looking forward to going bedding shopping for a new quilt.

The whole experience wore me out. On Wednesday, in a panic because I wasn't making any progress, I painted from 5:30 to 12:30 am. That's 19 hours! Thursday I put in 13 hours, and finally the room was painted and we could start moving in.

I'm still recovering. Part of me can't imagine ever painting another room again. The other part of me wants to get started on Rhiannon's room right away!