Overbooked? Making our Library Space 1F

The last three (3) weeks or so have been my deep, dark blue period, but only in terms of color, not mood. YEY! That started with getting the repaired and re-textured walls primed and painted a delicious indigo. It makes me so happy to see all those dark, deep walls. But I knew it would make me very unhappy if I had to break up the gorgeous sea of blue with white rectangles. And by white rectangles I mean standard switches, outlets, and the plates that cover them. So imagine my delight when I found them in a color called Rich Navy. And I do mean delight. I was actually delighted. This is exactly the kind of construction geekery that tickles my fancy. Oh, and they're almost matte, too. YES!

Just look at these sexy so-and-soes! Look how close they are to the dried paint in that tray! [swoons]

Sadly, I was unable to find such locally, but luckily, all but the dimmer switch arrived last Tuesday; just in time to get them installed after the painting, but before the plastering. Nice. And then because of the delay in finishing the plastering, the dimmer switch arrived before I could post this. WOO!

These are SO COOL! The front of them, the blue part, can be taken off and replaced with another color! There are about 20 colors; the Renu line by Leviton. 

Get a load of this! The front of them, the blue part, can be taken off and replaced with another color!  This is even the case with the outlets! There are about 20 colors to choose from in the Renu line by Leviton.

The wall in the photo is after one (1) pass with the Venetian plaster. I thought it looked like a half-healed road rash scab.

Now the bad news... the dimmer switch didn't work, like, at all. See the explanation here, first paragraph. I'm not going to type it all out, but I wills say there were some shipping snafus - the fault of the retailer, not the shipper - that delayed delivery to me first by one day and then by 3 more.

Before the whole thing with the dimmer was even a notion, I knew that they didn't make a phone jack. We've removed most of them from the house as we update rooms they are in, but I want to keep a couple, including this one. I found a Rustoleum spray paint that was pretty close, so I decided to spray the new one and also the heater control. Even though the finish is called satin, it was shinier than I liked, so I gave a quick coat of a matte varnish.

Getting those steps done got me pretty excited to get the Venetian plaster applied. After getting started, I realized that the quart of Modern Masters Venetian Plaster I bought was not going to be enough. So I hopped online to order another with free two-day shipping. Unfortunately, when it arrived on Memorial Day Weekend Saturday it had opened in transit and was unusable. Oddly, they wanted me to return it and it being a holiday weekend the two-day shipping means I couldn't expect it until the following Wednesday. And then it was delayed for an unknown number of days. Luckily, it arrived on Thursday - just one day late.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Three more times I went through ordering a quart of this product, from two vendors. All three arrived open and spilled. They make clips that hold the lids on in transit! The two that arrived intact had those clips. I've seen them before... many times in my years as a decorative painter and even in the years since. Why those that sell these things via the interwebz don't get it, I do not know. I don't think I've ever had to wait 2+ weeks between second & third coats of a product! ARG! Finally the final quart arrived clipped and undamaged! Yey!

Two layers on the left, one layer on the right. Getting that second coat on a couple walls really helped me get some momentum after those frustrating setbacks. Taking this photo reminded me that I needed to figure out something for that central vacuum port that is not connected to a vacuum - once I figured out how detach it, I spray painted just like the new phone jack. 

This is a photo of the painted vacuum port. No really. It's that dark spot in the upper right. The center of the photo? Well, Delia has been camping out behind the door in the future library in the hot afternoons. On the dusty, crumbly floor. Also of note, the blue of the wall is in this photo is probably the closest accurate.

It took many hours over several days across multiple weeks to accomplish three (3) passes with the blue with the final pass lightly burnished, two (2) layers of clear topcoat with a few extra layers around the light switches, outlets, and that one outside corner. I am having a heckuva time getting a photo that accurately represents the color and texture/pattern. [shrugs]

This is the closet light switch, not the smart dimmer which was returned.

But hey, all that waiting for the freaking plaster to arrive intact, meant that the new dimmer switch  should have arrived before I was done! It would have been nice to get that installed before finishing the walls... in case I scratched it. Which I already had - in coat number two - when installing the smart switch that had to go back. But... no. No no nope-ity nope nope. Somehow Rejuvenation's online shopping cart accepted a PO box for a UPS Ground shipment. To make a long story short, this meant a package originally meant to arrive on Thursday midday would not be in my hot little hands until the following Monday late-afternoon. Or would it? I would not! Even though both the switch and the plate were supposedly shipped on the same day using the same tracking number... only the plate was shipped. Of course, I emailed as soon as I got the chance after realizing this and of course I got an email saying they they sure do love me and will certainly try their dang-darnedest to get back to me in two (2) days. I paraphrase, of course.

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THE BREAKDOWN

Phase I

1. Empty that room!

2. Remove base moulding

3. Remove closet doors & hardware

4. Remove the carpet and pad

5. Remove tack strips and staples

6. Remove chair rail and paneling

7. Determine if wall paper is removable

8. repair walls

9. prime walls and ceiling

10. paint walls and ceiling

11. decorative finish(es)?

12. replace light fixture (back-ordered, supposed to be available July 7)

13. replace switches and outlets, covers (waiting on that dimmer)

14, make and install closet shelves, etc. (will install the bottom shelf after the floors are installed)

15. prime existing subfloor x 2

16. pour self-leveling subfloor

17. install LVP

18. reinstall base moulding

19. reinstall closet doors

20. install transition piece at doorway

21. make window covering

22. install window covering

Phase II

1 - ?. Build built-in bookshelves

... Finish last course of flooring

... Add base shoe or other moulding to bookcases
... Add picture rail