Monday, August 29, 2011

Irene, Irene.

As Irene drew near, so did Paint-a-Palooza.  Wifey and I decided to use our hard earned vacation time to paint the master bedroom AND stain the corner entertainment center.  Preparations began on Friday morning, painting commenced on Friday afternoon, and staining followed shortly thereafter.  When all was said and done, the bedroom is in tip-top shape and we survived Irene.  Here's the before pic.


We recently resigned our lease for an additional year. Part of our decision to stay for another year included an agreement to make the apartment comfortable (to our standards).  With that in mind, we repaired the walls and initiated our rebellion against the institutional color palettes of yesteryear.
Maybe it was the tension caused by working in a small space for 36 hours, maybe it was sleeping on the couches for 2 nights in a row, or maybe we were just tired of painting.  Whatever it was, we decided that we were content with only replacing the wall and ceiling colors. We decided that we liked the color of the molding MORE than the planned purpley color.  Considering the Renaissance era molding along the baseboard and 12' ceiling, this decision probably saved us 8 hours of work.  Here's what the room looked like as we were putting it back together.  Funny how we didn't realize how bad the curtains are until after painted.


After we were done painting, our attention turned the oak entertainment center that we purchased in 2005.  Upon occasion, I've been reminded that, at the point of purchase, I promised to save money by staining the piece myself (an approximate $150 value).  (Un)fortunately, the day of reckoning hath arrived.  We finally stained the piece and are very happy with the results.

While we were finishing the painting/staining, Tropical Storm Irene rolled through Boston.  We got a lot of rain and wind BUT, were left relatively unscathed compared to the initial projections and the flooding that continues in Vermont.  The worst damage we saw was in the Public Gardens. We lost a large very old tree that had been camping directly opposite the Cheers bar.  If you've been to Boston, there's a strong likelihood that this tree is in one of your photos!  This tree fell down and blocked all 4 lanes of Beacon Street. It's sad the think that this tree has been around for over 100 years.  Within just a couple hours, the city had come and cleared the obstruction.

No comments: