I know by now what it means to have the wife ask me, “Honey, where is your tape measure?” If I had only been thinking, I could have lied and said it was lost or missing. I never considered the complications of telling her where it was until I saw her measuring the bathroom and then taking note of those measures. “It is just a small paint job for the maintenance guy (me),” she said. In a way, a very small way, she was right. I had to have a nap to think about my plans.
The bathroom in question is our smallest, but in painting terms, a small room still has the same amount of angles and corners as a big room and that means the “cutting in” process is the same. A small room also has the same amount of equipment used and that equals the same amount of labour and cleanup as a large room painting project. Please hand me a hanky for my tears of sorrow. I think I should have a nap to further think about my plans.
Towel racks, shelving, and furniture were all easily removed and I attacked the task with vigor and a song in my heart. I continued my merriment as I filled holes with filler mud and sanded them flat as glass. With the proper preparation and planning painting is the easy part.
After a quick and dusty vacuuming, I was just about to open the can of paint when my beautiful bride commented, “You know…I have never really liked the texture of the ceiling in this room.” I got the hint. Before you could say, “Set up a step ladder,” I was removing popcorn-ish stuff from the ceiling…and more sanding. After that, there was no time to paint because I had to have a nap to think about my plans. A well thought-out plan is a well napped-out plan.
Again, just as I was about to open the paint can and splash colour all over the bathroom, my beautiful and logical bride quietly murmured, “I think we need a new floor, and now would be a good time to do it…before we paint.” My first reaction was agreement because the flooring was cheap linoleum and I did not like it myself. My second reaction was, what does my beautiful bride mean by “before WE paint,” but we went to town and bought some nice new laminate flooring. When we got home, I had a nap to plan my flooring installation.
During the flooring installation I needed to unhook the water line and lift the toilet for ease of laminate installation. Then I had the bright idea of replacing the older toilet with a new adjustable flush water-efficient toilet. Another trip to the hardware store in town and another project for the bathroom that needed a well napped-out plan.
The time came when I was finally able to open the paint and splash away on the ceiling and the walls, but not too much on the new floor. Two coats and I was done except for one thing…we decided to upgrade the trim around the new floor and the freshly painted door — and you know what means. Another trip to the hardware store in town and another project that deserves the same attention to detail the previous projects have gotten. So I had a nap to plan the trim installation.
I suppose it happens all the time when a small painting project balloons to a much larger undertaking. A $30 gallon of paint had grown to about 20 times that much, but it was worth it. The trouble is this… she is measuring the kitchen now… sigh.
