jane and katie's room

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Ever since I found out that Katie was a girl (I guess she still is a girl...), I've been wanting to redo their room with something more girly and pretty.  Right now, it's cute - but gender neutral and a little dark.  The top of the wall is the same color as the rest of our house (kind of an off-white/grey/taupe color), the bottom is a dark burgundy and there is an antique style teddy bear border around the middle.  Here's a before picture.  I was going to tidy the room before I took a picture, but that wouldn't have been realistic.

I have big plans for this space.  Here's my to-do list:

• strip the border

• paint the upper portion of the wall green

• install beadboard wainscoting on the bottom

• install a chairrail

• paint the chairrail, beadboard, baseboards and all existing trim a creamy white

• paint the door and closet door the same white

• change the light switches and outlet covers to white (they're that weird beige color that was so popular in the 80's)

• paint Katie's dresser (the black one) white

• maybe replace the track lighting to something with more lights.  There are two lights on it now, and I think the room needs a little more brightness, especially on our grey Vancouver winter days

This is going to take me some time, especially because I'm a procrastinator and I don't get much time to do extras.  I plan on keeping somewhat of a journal to mark my progress.

 

May 18, 2005

I decided to strip the border today.  It turned out to be a little easier than expected.  I got some stripping gunk at Rona and soaked the paper in sections and then pealed it off, and where necessary, used a spackling tool to scrape the bits off.  In all, I think it took me about 2 hours, and that included all the time I spent trying to move all that crazy furniture away from the wall and then putting it back.  I kind of felt a little sad taking it down because it made me think of the first time we viewed this condo and how the "kid's" room was very inspirational to me to get on Ian's case about getting some babies to put in it.  I think I'm turning into a sentimental old fool (I am turning 30 this year after all!)

 

May 28, 2005

Today was the big painting day.  I got the paint and rollers at Home Depot last night.  I intended to get an early start, but somehow procrastinated until 2:00 in the afternoon.  I took down all the pictures, removed the nails and screws from the wall, and took down the roman and Venetian blinds.  I then filled all the holes with caulking and washed the walls with TSP and warm water.  I decided to prime the top of the dark burgundy that I would be painting green, just to make sure there wasn't a line.  It was quick to do because I really didn't have to be careful and it was quite a small area.  Then I taped around the window, doors and ceiling.  I always tape because I find it hard to control the roller, especially around the ceiling - probably because I'm short and have to really reach.  I then cut in all the corners and edges.  This always takes so long...I hate it.  The rolling was next, and went quite quickly.  I finished everything by 8:30, but I stopped for dinner and visiting with the fam during that time.  I think probably took me about  5 hours of actual work.  After I finished, I stepped back to admire my handiwork and was horrified...the color was TERRIBLE.  It looked so minty and gross.  Ian had to remind me a few times to step away from the room, take a break and look again after it dried.  I looked at it again before going to bed and still hated it.

 

May 29, 2005

The color was only slightly better this morning after a good night's sleep.  I decided to do another coat, just to make sure I gave it a fair chance before going back to Home Depot.  After the second coat, it looked very minty again, but I walked away from it and came back a couple hours later.  It looked better.  I decided to take down the green painters tape at that time too.  What a difference!  Once I got rid of the tape, the walls were the color I expected them to be.  I think the tape was casting a crazy glow on the walls...or maybe I'm just getting used to the color.  Also, there is still burgundy on the bottom of the wall, and I'm sure that's affecting the tone of the green.  Anyway, I think the color will be just fine (too bad you can't really see the color in the pictures - it looks really bright on the computer, but it's actually kind of muted).  I rehung the roman blind and moved all the furniture back into the room.  I'm going to try to do the beadboard and chairrail one day this week.  I've already got Georgia booked to assist.

 

June 23, 2005

So, it only took me a month to get my butt off the couch and continue with my project.  I went with my brother Luke on Tuesday to get the bead board, chair rail and misc supplies needed (I needed his truck to get the longer lengths of trim home).  I pre-measured the room and figured out the specific lengths I would need for each wall, and got Luke to cut them at Home Depot so that I'd end up with less waste. The next day, after much deliberation, I decided that I should also put casings around the window and closet - I thought that they might look unfinished without trim.  I went to Home Depot and picked some nice "Colonial" style trim.  Then I had to wait for Ian to have a day off so that I could get down to business.  He finally didn't work today so it was my big day.  I decided to do the window first because it was the trickiest.  It went pretty well, until I hit a small snag.  The trim was wider than the space on the right hand side of the window, so I ended up trimming a 1/2 inch off the entire length.  This wouldn't be too difficult if I had a table saw, but it proved to be quite a challenge for me with the jig saw.  Oh well, I guess that's what caulking is for.  All in all, the trim is really nice and adds a lot of character to the window and the closet.  Here's a before and after picture of the window (I forgot to take one of the closet)

      

 

 

June 25, 2005

I started on the wainscoting this morning.  It was easy to put up.  First, I marked all the studs around the walls with painters tape, then started installing it.  I put adhesive on the back of the panel, held it in place for a couple minutes, and then nailed it along the studs.  The most time consuming thing was cutting the holes for the electrical outlets and cable and telephone boxes.  I really wanted to finish the chair rail today, but ran out of time because we had company, and Jane really wanted to sleep in her room, so I had to move the bed back for her.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow right?  Covering the burgundy really brightens up the room and makes it look so pretty.  I can't wait to put up the chair rail and paint it and be finished with it!

 

Oh ya, one more thing.  I was at the fabric store the other day (looking for material for our bridesmaid dresses for Brenda's wedding) and I saw the most incredible fabric.  It's called Minky, and it is the softest thing you'll ever feel.  I'm starting to think that I'm going to sew duvet covers.  I'm just looking around now for some inspiration in regards to patterns.  The Minky comes in lots of colors that would coordinate quite nicely in their room, so I just need to come up with a design.  I'm so excited, because I've been looking at bedding for them, and haven't found anything that I really like.  Everything is Dora or Elmo or just plain ugly.

Oct 7, 2005

I finally got around to painting the wainscoting and trim.  The cream color I chose (Vermont Cream from Behr) wasn't quite as "creamy" as I had envisioned - I think I would pick a more antique white if I were to do it again.  It looks nice enough though.  The room has a whole different feel to it.  It's pretty and bright and much more suited to two little girls.

I also painted Katie's dresser.  Here are the before and after shots:

   

I'm almost finished my original to-do list - I only need to replace the outlet covers and light switches...however, I've added a new project.  As we speak, my dad is building a window seat.  When it arrives, I'll just have to sew a cushion for it and install some curtains around it.  I can't wait - I think the girls will really enjoy it!