decorating

Studio Facelift – Day 4

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We’ve got wall-to-wall floors you know!

…and sore knees!

Actually, the laminate flooring went down quite well.  It took all afternoon, mind you.  And by afternoon, I don’t mean a couple of hours after a long lunch, then a tea break, then another hour before going home.  No,  I mean the whole six-hour afternoon – and a chunk of the evening!

It’s not that it was a large area. Far from it.  It’s just that our shop/reception is in a part of the building that was added in 1933 on a piece of triangular land between this property and next door, so there are no right angles in the whole room.  They got away with all sorts in those days.  Now, if you so much as utter the phrase  “uPVC Windows” the listed building police will come and take you away.

No Skirting boards yet.  That’s a job for the morning – along with clearing all the junk out of the camera room for a fashion shoot in the afternoon.  Then it’s business as usual for a few days before starting on the camera room itself.

Studio Facelift – Day 3

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paint

There can be few things in life quite so exciting as watching paint dry.

There’s the anticipation as you open the can. Well… plastic tub actually. Why did they do that?  What was wrong with the good old fashioned tin can?  You knew where you were with a paint tin.  You stuck your screwdriver under the rim…  a quick flick of the wrist…  and off popped the lid!

Now we have to reverse engineer the designer’s miracle new fastening.  We have to get into the mind of the maniac who decided this lip would clip into that groove and hold the lid on so tight your finger nails would give up long before paint ever saw the light of day.

There is a slot that is way too big for a humble screwdriver – yet far too small for a handyman’s thumb.  And has this one got a plastic tab to tear off first?  Or not?  Give us a bloody clue!  Better still – give us a paint tin!

Then there’s the dismay as the lid finally pops off to reveal a blotchy globby gel-like substance which doesn’t even come close to resembling the colour chart.  Tell me:  If they call it non-drip, why has it got a half-inch-deep runny stagnant pond sloshing about on top of it?

The label says “Do Not Stir” but it doesn’t tell you what to do with the pond!

Now the real fun starts.   When two people are involved in the decision making process, the first paint stroke hitting the wall will usually coincide with the brown stuff hitting the fan.

“It’s too dark”. “No it’s not”. “I told you we should have gone for magnolia”.  Boring old fart”.  “Well I wanted to wallpaper”. “But woodchip went out with the 20th century”. “It is – it’s much too dark”.  “It’ll dry lighter”.
painterIt didn’t.  Dry lighter, that is.  But I have to admit, it was exciting watching it happen.

 

 

The Whole Story

Studio Facelift – Day 2

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The woodwork got painted today.

Thank goodness for quick-drying undercoat!  Without it we’d never have been able to rub down, undercoat, rub down, undercoat again, then gloss all in one day!

The purists would say you shouldn’t try to do all in one day anyway.  But then, the purists say a lot of things – much of which is Pure Bollocks.

Can I say that in here?  More

Studio Facelift – Day 1

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shop1 So tell me – how DO  they do that on TV’s 60 Minute Makeover?  Jayne and I have worked out we’ll be hard pressed to finish this little lot in 60 days! 

Although we did get the ceiling painted in the shop/reception, most of today was spent on preparation.

Up came the carpet.  Three years ago it was a good idea.  Unfortunately, More