Small Household Projects

Anyone else find that starting one of those small household projects often leads to major household projects? We recently bought a wallpaper border to put above the chair rail in one of our rooms along with a gallon of rich burgundy paint to add below the chair rail. Sounds pretty simple to me. Border and paint.

Whoa there, my friend. Then we started to look closely at the paint above the chair rail and noticed some streaks in the old plaster. The paint store said it was the way old plaster takes the paint. Just paint over it was the advice.

Then I looked online for how to hang wallpaper borders. In three sites, I was completely intimidated. To test how we liked it, I chose a tiny eight inch section between two closet doors, and chicken me, taped the border to the wall! You’re supposed to submerge wallpaper in water and miraculously not get it stuck together whilst you plumb it and level it and hang it perfectly before its pre-pasted side dries! And I have some sections that are eight feet long.

“Oh, and while you’re at it, dear,” I said to my beloved spouse, “I’m left-handed and the hooks are on the awkward side of my closet. Could they be moved?”

“Sure, baby.”

Then the old plaster crumbled so now we have to go get filler and molly-bolts and whatever else will let me hang my scarves on the left side of the closet and not the right. Simple project? Move the hooks? Ha!

The thing that put it all back into perspective for me was a break we took to sit on our newly constructed porch and relax. We started talking about how we’d change the place if money were no object. As we began to spend an imaginary half million dollars on the place, the question we entertained was, what would you do first?

My sweetie had all sorts of ideas and so did I. I had the last word though. “The first thing I’d do,” I announced, “is invest in an architect to find out what I could do!” We laughed.

Our little household project(s) will take as long as they take. I may learn to hang wallpaper borders and I may find a wizard to do it for us. I love the deep red under the chair rail. It will take three coats to really get it done. I have the whole winter. What’s the hurry? I may as well enjoy the process.