We found a contractor who seems like a nice guy through a flyer he posted in my building at Microsoft. His wife is the executive assistant for Soma, one of our VPs, so he said something to the effect that he had to do great work for Microsoft employees because they knew where to find him.
He's coming on Tuesday to scrape the popcorn stuff off the ceiling, wire the projector into the outlets in the ceiling so we don't have a 3 foot long cord hanging down from the ceiling to the nearest wall outlet, remove some crappy lights built into the ceiling, install two new ceiling fans with lights, remove the gorgeous but unused shallow built-in cabinets, and patch all holes in the ceiling from TJ's projector installation.
Since he doesn't paint walls, TJ and I decided to tackle that task ourselves. I've never done a large scale painting project, so wish us luck! The biggest thing I painted (with Kristin's help) was the beehive fireplace in my house in Tucson. We're going to paint the room with some fancy-schmancy paint recommended by an interior decorator - Ylang Ylang is the color name. Not sure how to pronounce it, but it's a light, warm cream color.
Tip for aspiring painters: *definitely* buy a sample of the paint colors you're considering, even if you have to buy a whole quart, and paint some on the wall to see whether you like it. We skipped this step when we had this same living room painted when we moved it, and ended up with an atrocious sky blue that made the room seem very cold, like the inside of an igloo. Apparently blues and greens come out much darker when you paint a large space, than they appear on the color chip.
So we picked out three colors and put them on the wall, and two of them looked like pee. Seriously. It was pretty clear which one we liked best. So after the contractor is done with his work (probably the week after next), we will do the paint. We haven't yet decided whether to paint the wood trim and the back of the doors. The decorator recommended it but it seems like a hassle, plus all the wood trim in our house is the same color, and it seems weird to change it just for this room. So we're playing that one by ear. Maybe the rest of the painting will go so well we'll tackle the trim too.
In preparation for all this work, we need to move everything out of that room. We've already started with the CDs and books. That's what we'll be doing this weekend. It'll be sad to dismantle the projector and screen, because that means we won't have TV for the next couple of weeks. I suppose that's a good way to start the New Year, though. Maybe we'll get to the gym more often.
Cheers, and Happy New Year to all of you. Best of luck on all your upcoming projects!
I have more painting tips! My friend Beth and I painted several rooms in her townhouse, I painted my bedroom and my kitchen ceiling, and Beth painted a lot more of her house without me. We are experts. Here is what we learned - Get the cool edging tools that are flat with little wheels on the edge. They rock. Use brushes in the corners, not the disposable sponge brush things. Much better coverage. Take off the outlet covers/switch plates/etc. Looks a lot nicer than taping them off. Ceiling paint is really easy to touch up and you can't see the cover-up, so don't worry too much if you bump the ceiling with the roller. Same goes for non-wood trim. And yes, you really should wipe down the walls/baseboards before you paint. Dust painted onto the wall looks really crappy. - Kristin
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