Home Sanctuary

How to Paint Like a Pro

Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Here are a few tricks to make your next painting project look like you actually hired a professional to do the job.

1.  TAPE OFF!  Tape off all your trim with the blue painter's tape (3M).  Don't try and make straight edges with your paintbrush, it'll never work, and it's the first thing that makes your paint-job look bad.

2.  Don't just tape off, burnish the edges of the tape.  There's nothing worse than pulling tape and finding that paint has seeped underneath.  So take your thumbnail and pull it along the edge to seal it well.  Try and work the tape into gaps and over bumps.

3.  If the wall is too bumpy or the woodwork too far gone to make a clean tape job, try this!  Take a small cut-in brush and run a small amount of clear sealer (Minwax) or paint in the color of the trim along the taped adge.  The paint that seeps underneath will be the color of the trim, and then it seals the edge for your new wall color.  Paint right over this  "edge primer" when it dries.

4.  Take the time to cover everything.  If you're like me, you are anxious to get to the fun part and are tempted to skip actually covering the floor and furniture.  The giddiness of the moment makes us cocky.  "I won't spill!" are my famous last words. This is a very big mistake, because anything that isn't covered WILL get a drop of paint on it.  Guaranteed. Bonus tip: use the disposable plastic-backed paper tarps instead of plastic sheeting on the floor. Paint will get absorbed into the paper and thus, not tracked into other areas of the house.

5.  Use enough paint.  It's a bummer to have to buy 2 WHOLE gallons of paint when you only need 1 gallon and 1 quart to do the job.  But it's better to have some left over that can be used for touch up, than to not quite make it around the room.  A good paint job should look velvety, not skimpy.

5a.  If you DO buy 1 gallon and 1 quart, mix them together in a larger container before you start.  Gallons and quarts MAY have different formulas and MIGHT not match exactly.  Mixing them together gives you one contiuous color.

6.  Use the right tools.  Rollers with too much "nap" for a smooth wall will put too much paint on the wall.  Rollers with small naps will not load enough paint onto rough texture.  You don't HAVE to spend big bucks on professional brushes, but PLEASE oh PLEASE don't use the 3.00 brushes with the stiff bristles.  A good brush (when properly cleaned) will last many years.

7.  Have rags/wipes handy for those inevitable spills.  "Painter's Wipes" are great for removing paint, even dried drips and spots.  I love these.

8.  For tips on picking a paint color, you've got to read this for inspiration, and also try this.

Where the Blacktop Ends

After a weekend hockey tournament in San Antonio, it felt good to turn onto our dirt driveway. The weeds grew a foot in two days and our faithful yellow lab was waiting for us in front of the house.

The driveway is full of potholes from all the rain we had earlier in the year. It's on my husband's long list of things to do: get gravel to fill the holes. Our cars never stay clean for very long because of all the dust we kick up when we drive. But there's something comforting about the sound of tires on a gravel road. We enjoy looking down the drive to see who might be coming up to the house. I like the way the old road curves around to the pond and goes over the dam through a tunnel of trees.

It's peaceful, and I never get tired of it.

Most of the homes around here have paved driveways and electric gates. They have nicely landscaped entrances to their custom dwellings. We just have a rusty antique farm rake, half hidden in the tall grass, that marks the entrance to the long dirt drive up to the house. It's easy to miss if you're not looking for it.

And we like it that way.

I Can't Fix This

On the heels of posting about being a refuge, I've felt so inadequate as a wife this week. I wrote this the other night at a particularly low point....

We women are Fixers.

We are always kissing boo-boos, resolving arguments, combing out tangles, and feeding our hungry little people. We run forgotten lunches up to school, and help glue things onto posterboard for projects that should have been started much sooner than the night before it was due. We know how to smooth over hurt feelings, and sing away bad dreams.

Somehow, over the years I've gone from not knowing how to fix a warm bottle for a crying infant, to knowing how to fix almost any situation.

But there are things, hard things, that I can't fix. There are the plumbing, electrical and mechanical problems that I should never, ever touch. And there are deeper things of the heart that are beyond my capabilities.

Today was one of those days. I couldn't fix my husband's cold. I couldn't fix his exhaustion from trying to do too much with not enough time or money. I couldn't pull the boat out of the pond. I couldn't fix the Explorer when it broke down on him on the side of the road. I couldn't take over his hockey practice for him. There were so many things that went wrong for my man today, and there was a good chance that my actions (or inactions) even played into making it a very, very bad day. I couldn't fix it.

It's so much easier when you can go right on in and make everything better. But we are boot-strapping and money is tight. We can't just whip out the plastic and get new stuff when it breaks. We drive an old car. We live in an old house. Even maintaining what we have sometimes takes more than we are able to give. Just once, I would like Tom to be able to enjoy a weekend (or weekday, for that matter) without something falling apart. I can't fix that, either.

And then there are the matters of the heart. Oh, how I wish I could simply make my man's heart feel better with a wave of a magic wand. But my encouraging words sound hollow, even to my own ears. Maybe the Benadryl/Tylenol/Advil cocktail will help his body lose some of the aches, but what about the ache of discouragement and defeat I know he has? It's so deep tonight, I know I can't fix it.

The only thing I know to do is to pray. It's what I've been doing all day.

God, YOU fix this. Please.

It's when things are beyond my control and when I get to the end of what I can do that I finally reach out to the Creator of the Universe. Surely, He knows what to do. He can pick up broken pieces, mend troubled hearts, and heal wounded bodies. He can provide food in the wilderness and water in the desert. He's good at fixing things, restoring things.

It's what He does best.

Isaiah 51:3 says, "The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing."

Maybe this is where God wants me today. In the place where things are just beyond my ability to fix. I can make us a nice meal, help with the night time chores and rub some sore shoulders. I can be a listening ear if my man even feels like talking about this awful day. And beyond that, it's out of my hands.

And into His.

What All Guys Want

I'm posting a reprise of one of my favorite older posts over at Writer, Interrupted today.

As a read back over what I'd written, I realized that I needed my own reminder this week. It's been a tough week and I've struggled to be the kind of companion my husband has needed. My attention has been on other things, not on meeting him where he is at. I fell far short of being "what MY guy wants."

What does YOUR guy want? Hop on over and find out.

Works For Me Questions

This week, Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer, is doing a backwards WFMW.   Participants get to ask questions about issues that have stumped them...but since she ruled out quantum physics questions I'll have to think of a new one.  Darn.

So here's my question (actually I have two)

Does anyone know anything about good, yet reasonable health insurance for the self-employed?  Right now we are without health insurance and I am once again trying to find a solution that will work.  I have just started checking out a Health Savings Account (recommended by Dave Ramsey) and would like to get some more information on that, too. 

And my other question:

Can anyone help me find matching laundry scents?  I don't know why this bugs me, but I hate using detergent, liquid softener and dryer sheets that all smell different!  Is there a brand that makes all three?  Would it be too much to ask that packages be color coded by scent?  Going down the laundry aisle makes me dizzy...too much to read!  Help me out, here!

Thanks, girls!

Show and Tell

Here are a some photos of our most recent painting projects:

Me, with my head in the clouds.

Don't look down!

Some soaring kestrels add the finishing touch.

And then there was this project, one of my least favorite jobs of all time. Let's just say I should have charged more, for second-hand smoke lung damage. I would love to blog about this job, but kindness prevents me.

An under-sea powder room. The homeowner made me paint out some anemones because they reminded her of male body parts. Oooh Kaaaaay. Did I mention that the people didn't run their air-conditioner? Texas+August+a stinky bathroom+breathing cigarette smoke=not fun.

I still need to post pictures of this summer's big project...I'll get to that one of these days. It was infinitely more enjoyable than the undersea extravaganza.