The following night after softball, Nick and I stole some joint compound, sheet rock, and other things from Jake and then found ourselves on a mad dash to Home Depot for more supplies before they closed. I was actually pleasantly surprised that Nick was all Mr. Initiative with this (thanks hubs!), but then again he probably doesn’t want my stuff cluttering up the poker table longer than necessary. We got some stuff to repair the ceiling and a new light fixture, which was basically me asking for his opinion, him pointing to one and saying it was nice, and me agreeing because I really don’t cuuuuuuur.
The wall patch turned out to be a disaster and there was lots of cussing. Not by me. I was busy patching all the dumb little blemishes. But a couple days later, Nick had it all squared away, and it looks pretty fantastic now.
I used an orbital sander to smooth out the edges from the chair rail and then patched all the nail holes. Then I realized the giant gaping holes in the corner which previously went unnoticed. I searched the interwebs but I couldn’t seem to find any information that was of any help. I shot off a text to my sister because I figured if anyone knew how to tackle it, it would be her. She suggested corner tape and joint compound, and back to Home Depot I went.
I watched a lot of YouTube videos on this, and they all make it look so goddamn easy. I actually think it would be easier to tape an entire corner than just a portion, because as I was trying to apply the mud, the tape kept slipping around and disrupting the mud underneath it. Also, this shouldn’t even be called tape, because it’s not sticky at all. Eventually I just had to walk away because I felt like I was making everything worse trying to make it better.
The next day, I was super excited to discover Nick removed the wood blocks that were nailed above the windows, which held the blinds in place. Seriously, wtf? I don’t know much about attaching window coverings, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t how it’s done. When I got home, I was met with sights like this:
I literally sat down on my step ladder (which, btw, my mom gave me, and it’s been one of the most useful things I’ve ever received, ever) and fought off a tearful breakdown for about 15 minutes. I was in over my head, and everything seemed like I was taking one step forward and two steps back. My walls were trashed, my shitty corner patches looked shitty, and the end seemed so. far. away.
I managed to suck it up and pull myself together. After patching all the holes above the windows and putting a second coat on my corners, I started to feel better.
And then it was time to remove the baseboards.
At this point, I feel like patching holes is a constant waiting game in which I will never win, but I know eventually it will all be done and I’ll finally be able to paint.
And just when I begin to feel like maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, I receive this:
It will probably be at least a month until I can open it, but it made me remember how awesome the room will be when it’s all done, even if the walls aren’t perfect.
The days of ‘home projects’ = oh to be a fly on the wall…..just got to the part about baseboards and laughing so damn hard that i’m crying :) as for the blinds…looks like someone was looking for a ‘stud’ and knew nothing about a stud finder unless…… thought someone meant a ‘guy’. and what’s with the BIG crack in the corner …….of which what corner of the room is that. And while at it I didn’t realize how big that one window is, nice/bright now ! Grandpa Jim w/b thrilled to know his granddaughter is attempting such a project. Like we all have learned, the hard work will be worth it, and the surprises will lessen….sometimes