Wednesday, July 18, 2007

So ... Where's The Nature In This Nature Blog?

"Before"

Sorry, I know you come here to see and hear about Florida wildlife, but I want you to feel my pain, so I'm sharing my painting job until it's done.


(That should save you at least one click for a few days ... I understand, believe me)


I should be done by Saturday.
"During"
I spent a big chunk of time yesterday using Mrs. FC's old Gator Bait magazines to cover our precious solid hickory cabinets (Kraftmaid, Laura).
I wouldn't do such extensive covering if I was only painting the walls, but I just can't repaint a room without doing the ceiling too, so I had to go all out on the coverage.
Our ceilings are that stupid popcorn stuff.
Who thought of that? Talk about a dirt catcher ... especially in a kitchen.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I love our little house, but I wish I knew (when we were building 18 years ago) what I know now about construction.
We mostly just nodded yes to anything our builder suggested.
We were so happy to be getting out of that little trailer that it all looked so glorious.

"The Painter Guy"

Emma took this picture while the painter was getting advice from the nonpainters standing around watching.

The painter guy in the picture was hard at work trimming in some primer. The picture makes the kitchen look kind of dim, but it actually is a bright place. It's going to be a really bright place soon.

Wait until you see the color Mrs. FC and Emma picked.

I asked a few "What about ..." questions regarding their choice and then bought the color they wanted.

One thing I've learned when dealing with the smarter sex is ... pick your battles.

It's only paint afterall.


If you've read this far, you deserve a little of Florida's fragile natural beauty.

Here are some Apple Snail eggs poised above the waters of the Waccasassa River.

Waiting to emerge ...

just like my kitchen.








22 comments:

Deb said...

I agree, that textured ceiling stuff is a pain. Especially when you spill stout beer on it. How do you spill beer on the ceiling? You just gave me an idea for a blog post! :)

pissed off patricia said...

Florida Painter Dude, I believe you can scrape that popcorn stuff off. I saw them doing it in one of those house make-over shows.

Thanks for the info on the seeds maybe later in the year when it's a bit cooler I'll take you up on the offer. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful and roomy kitchen!

I have a houseful of popcorn ceilings and I haaaate it! We can't scrape it off ourselves because it possibly contains asbestos. We were told popcorn ceilings installed before 1987 most likely has the stuff in it. I should get it tested, but I never have.
Painting it is a pain in the arse.

I've always liked the hickory cabinets... can't wait to see the paint color they choose! Good luck!

SophieMae said...

Those steenkin' popcorn ceilings are horrid! Who thought them up? Had to have been a yankee. ;) We have ceiling fans all over the house... before we learned to keep the fans cleaned or off, a nice black ring developed above the living room.

Next time you serve Greek salad, throw a plate on the floor and shout OPAH! 8-]

Paintsmh said...

Those Apple Snail eggs are cool.

Anonymous said...

I've both painted popcorn ceilings (not that bad with the special roller sponges made for the job) and scraped it off and painted the flat surface left. I did that in a bathroom with no natural light coming in, so any poor mud work on the ceiling (which the popcorn is supposedly used to hide) won't get highlighted by contrast.

I object to that Yankee remark, by the way.

R.Powers said...

Deb,
Yeah, we gotta hear about that one.

POP,
You're right, I've scraped it off in an upstairs bathroom by misting it with water from a handsprayer, and then using a putty knife to take it off.
Messy, but not too hard. I passed on that in the kitchen, because of time. I just want to get it freshly painted and be done for awhile.
Typical lazy Southerner :)

Laura,
Thanks! It's a favorite place to be.We built this house in 1989, so asbestos should not be an issue. The big worry when we built was Radon gas.
I think I'll get some color on the walls tonight.

Sophie,
I know that black ring around the fan :)
So I shout "OPAH" as I toss dishes?
I need to go watch "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" again.

Paintsmh,
You should see the snails! Full grown, they are as big as a small apple. I'll find one to photo for ya.

Pablo,
No, it's not difficult with the rough surface rollers. Like most jobs, the right tool makes it go smoothly.
I hope you're kidding about the Yankee remark, I'm half Pennsylvania DNA and it doesn't bother me.
Yankees have invented many wonderful things ... vermont cheese,maple syrup, the industrial revolution,NY style pizza, coney island hotdogs, etc. for us laid back southerners who were too ... relaxed ... to create such things.
Popcorn ceilings may just have been one example of Yankee ingenuity gone wrong. It happens sometimes.

kathy a. said...

i'm willing to write those ucky ceilings off as a seriously misguided construction fad. no need to square off across the mason-dixon line.

very impresssed by your masking of the cabinets. our painter dude harbors the belief that his work is drip-free. i'm not silly enough to disabuse him of this notion, since he does the painting, but...

Sharon said...

Ow ow ow, I do indeed feel your pain. :) We had that vile popcorn in our last house, and I had to paint the bathroom ceiling. Horrors. This house has knockdown, thank the Lord and DR Horton! :)

Paintsmh said...

Ohhh. Too bad yah couldn't find one and send it to me. I could have FUN!!

Anonymous said...

Hey, guy - I think you missed a spot there in the middle. :)

Love the snail eggs; I'd never seen those before and never even heard of apple snails.

Rurality said...

I wish everybody would quit talking about popcorn, it's making me hungry. :)

Can't wait to see the new color.

roger said...

that's a mighty fine coverup. looks a bit like gift wrapping. oh yeah, the popcorn sucks big time. i have scraped it off. ugh in a big way. what's even worse than removing it is trying to patch it, or that awful spatter finish that's on some walls.

Thunder said...

As for the popcorn cieling's I'm just going to take the easy way out and offer a painting allowance along with the sale of the house, when that time comes! Some of us yankee's are pretty lay-back too. Of course I'm a southerner at heart. ;-)

Ava said...

Wow! That's a lot of newspaper! Can't wait to see how it turned out! Especially like the shot of the painter standing on the counter!!! Cute legs!

MamaHen said...

I really feel your pain 'cause I'm painting too but I am probably a little more excited about mine since it's the first coat ever in a new house!!!! Yea!!! I'm painting the bedroom and pantry today. I was feeling somebody's pain yesterday too when I stepped on a yellowjacket in the bedroom. Not sure how he got in there; my foot swelled up like a potato.
My theory on the popcorn ceiling is that it probably was a southern thing. Ceilings are a real pain to finish (the drywall) and some laid-back southerner came up with that crap to keep from having to sand the ceiling.
oh BTW,You didn't guess at my mystery on my site!

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

If you were a true southerner you would just leave the newspaper up there and be happy with it!

Anonymous said...

I love HT! Great sense of humor! Made me laugh out loud. :0) If you were a real southerner, you wouldn't be painting at all!

Paintsmh said...

I must be a southerner at heart. I never want to paint ANYTHING!!

R.Powers said...

Kathy A,
Words of wisdom.
I aspire to nondrippy painting, but in the meantime I tape and cover.

Sharon,
Congrats on your escape from popcorn ceilings!

Paintsmh,
I tried, they kept sliming the envelope :)

Wren,
I KNEW someone was gonna say that!

Rurality,
Buttered or just salt?

roger,
i have some of that splatter orange peel too!


ThunderD,
Overland Park was midwestern not northern,wasn't it? Of course Parrotheads are laid back no matter where they are from :)

Ava,
Kinda skinny ain't they?
Thanks.

Edifice,
I envy your freedom to paint with abandon, no trim to work around, no fixtures.
Ahhhhh, paint paradise!
I haven't visited anybody much this week with my paintjob.
I'll try to get there.


HTeen,
Out of the mouths of babes!!
ROFL and true. We are a relaxed bunch.
Too funny.

Cathy S,
And HT's only a teen, imagine the future wit!
YOU have a good point too!

Paintsmh,
That's the first sign.
Is there a junk car in the backyard and dogs on the porch?

Leslie said...

I covet your cabinets.

R.Powers said...

Leslie,
They were our big splurge when we built the house.
Gotta love the wild grain of hickory wood.