Hi friends!
Here in California, our sheltering in place began March 15, 2020 and I've serendipitously decided to tackle long standing projects that have fallen by the wayside.
And, please know I am single without kids, so I have lots of "extra" time- that I know many don't have right now. And, I've found solace in keeping my hands + my mind busy during this difficult time. Honestly, I didn't know I was like this (personality wise), but crisis teaches us a lot about ourselves. I have no problem sitting around doing nothing or relaxing, but right now, I prefer to be very busy.
So now it's Mid April, and my "projects" have splintered off into a whole house Makeover/Refresh, entailing painting every single room in the house. My 1909 Craftsman home has not been painted since the mid 1990's. I didn't realize how badly it needed new paint until I started.
To backtrack for a moment and show the timeline of events.
During week #2, I started with painting a small hallway that attaches to my laundry room and kitchen. I should preface with, once upon a time, I wanted to paint everything moody blue-greens (which was about 5+ years ago), but now it doesn't fit my lifestyle and aesthetics; so I had done a small portion of that hallway in a very dark blue-green and never finished it.
Now, I want simple, unobtrusive colors and choosing Behr's Swiss Coffee fits the bill to a T. Back in December, when I started renovating what is now my Office I chose this simple White, that is not too Cool and not too Warm in tone..it's just right. I would call it a Neutral white.
I initially wanted a home office, a place to really call my own and grow my business. And to stop working from my sofa, which at times was too casual and not enough of a structured work environment. Also, you might remember, my brother lived with me for two years, and all my plans were put on hold. So since August 2019, it's been Go Time.
So, the office reno, morphed into renovating my former inventory room/small bedroom and my hallway by having the floors stripped and redone. And, each room was mudded, patched and completely repainted by my Dad and I. The floors were in very poor shape, so we hired a floor refinisher to come in and re-do all those rooms. This was done in the first week of January and I still revel in how beautiful everything turned out.
And Sidenote, if you watch my stories, you know renovating my bathroom was always in the Master plan, (which is still ongoing) but will probably be done by June, since we can't get any workers in to hot mop the shower stall at present.
Back to present day...April
Repainting the whole Interior of the house was not in my initial plans. But I am so glad I started, and the house is looking amazing, bright, fresh and truly showing off the stunning Interiors of the Craftsman style.
I have accomplished lots of other small items on my list, and more are springing up daily...lol...I have to admit. Having a home takes a lot of work, and maintenance, if that makes sense.
Oftentimes, we don't have enough time to keep up with every little item, but this Pandemic has afforded me just that: Time. Right now, I'm laser focused on getting as much done as possible.
Next week, I'll be sharing a bullet point list of smaller projects I have accomplished since being home during the Pandemic.
Hint: home organizing, decluttering and many more things...
Stay tuned!
Jennifer