Women and Handy"men"

I'm redecorating one of the bedrooms, just a bit of painting, some curtains and pillow covers, and new flooring. In the past, I did all the work myself, enjoying both the demo and the reno, but my body is no longer able to put in 12-15 hours each day in hard physical labor. I tried to find someone to help me with the project, to be the extra set of helping hands that make a job easier to do and quicker to finish, but it is apparent that "handymen" no longer exist.

The best I could do would cost me $25/hr because the job includes reno. Well, no, it doesn't, but taking everything out of the closet, pulling out the old carpet, pad, and tack strip, then painting the inside and installing peel 'n stick floor tiles is reno to a couple of the handymen I consulted. In my world, reno is demo, followed by construction, followed by the cosmetic, such as painting and installing flooring. I just needed help with taking off the huge, heavy closet doors to provide better access, then lifting everything out of the closet and taking out the tack strip, all physical activities that set my body into advanced pain mode, but I'm not willing to pay anyone $25/hr to do that menial labor.

My Scandinavian ancestry is both a blessing and a challenge when it comes to stubborn, so I tackled the jobs myself. First, I took off the closet doors and got them outside (using those magic slider things that can help anyone move anything anywhere any time), then I removed everything from the closet, pulled up the carpet, the pad, and the tack strip, and filled a crack and some nail holes. Took me 2 hours, and when I finished, I showered and drove to the big box home improvement store to purchase supplies, including flooring for the closet.

I want a light grey in the room, quite a change from the robust purple I used after installing the door where a window used to be. My thinking is that a color scheme of grey, black, white and bright yellow is neutral, but more masculine, as long as the grey on the walls is soft. I found a color chip that is what my mind's eye saw, and walked to the paint counter to have 2 gallons of Kilz paint mixed. Believe it or not, the paint counter employee told me a story about why he could not mix that color in that paint brand because every color mixes differently with every brand of paint and that chip is not from the brand of paint I want mixed. IF I want that color, I have to buy the brand of paint for which that is a color chip. I smiled, then asked him if he really wanted me to believe that story -- or if he was just having fun at my expense.

He assured me that what he told me is true, so I laughed, told him I'd make the purchase at another store, drove across the street, walked to the paint counter, ordered that color in the Kilz paint, and had the order in hand 10 minutes later. And, the color is exactly what it is on the chip, regardless of whose chip it is.

I've painted the closet interior, put down the faux wood grain vinyl tile squares, put essentials back into the closet, decided not to rehang the closet doors, and have completed the main part of the guest room (2 coats of paint), except for the floor molding. I'm going to add ceiling molding, too, which I planned to do after painting the room the last time, but then came 2 knee surgeries and a broken back. This time, the ceiling molding is going up in the guest room, as well as the office, which is also lacking that amenity. For me, the challenge is to cut the angles correctly as I don't have good spacial recognition ability, although I can cut a straight line every time. It's putting together pieces, such as required when assembling a puzzle, that baffles me.

My plan for the closet opening is installation of the kind of curtain track used in doctor offices and hospital rooms. I'm going to hide the track inside the header used for the sliding doors I'm not going to use again, and I already covered the gold with zebra pattern duct tape, which I've decided is going to be my accent: zebra pattern. I purchased both grey and black sheets, which I'm going to repurpose as closet curtains, adding chain to weight down the bottoms so they hang, rather than float. I've used the zebra pattern on an old mirror, as well as for pillowcases that will go on the black couch bed when it's delivered. I also found a saucer chair in black that I'll punch up with a bright yellow decorative pillow. I've both knit and crocheted some "doilies" for the tops of surfaces, using greys, white and bright yellow to tie that color scheme together.

She's back and gettin' it done!!