She has been waiting for a very long 7 months to close on their condo and finally, finally, finally they closed a little over a week ago.
A dozen or so friends of hers came over last Saturday to clean the place from top to bottom while it was empty.
Monday it was the first day of painting. There were four of us. We primed a few walls that had stripes and got the dining room completely done plus the first coat on a few other walls.
Tuesday we painted for four hours. Three of us that day. We managed to complete several spaces by the 9pm deadline we set for ourselves.
On Friday my friend had the entire day off and I assured her that we could finish up the two bedrooms and the two bathrooms that we had left.
We have no idea what the black squares were for...gone now!
I'm the cutter-inner. I take a small brush and trim the ceiling and around all the doors and baseboards. Up the ladder and down the ladder, move the ladder and up the ladder and down the ladder.
Thankfully around 1pm on Friday another friend came by to help and she cut-in the baseboards.
If it wasn't for the help from her we wouldn't have finished yesterday. The last few hours I wasn't sure if I could make it up that ladder ever again.
I figured out that in painting alone, the three of us put in 57 women hours. One of my guy friends asked what women hours were and I said that I was going to say man hours, but we didn't have any men. (I didn't count my friend's daughter and her boyfriend that helped prime - oops!!)
I worked 23 of those painting hours and so did the homeowner.
There is something very satisfying about painting an entire place from top to bottom. I've done it a few times and the hard work is worth it.
One of the side benefits is the laughter that comes from hard work, very little food, friends and exhaustion. Some of the stories we told or the funny things that happened during the painting process were so funny we had to stop because of the belly laughs.
I could hardly get out of bed this morning and haven't been much but a slug on the couch today, but the JOY of helping my friend was totally worth it. After pictures will come after her husband paints the woodwork.
This was a week in my city - or a Sunday in my city depending on what day of the week you're reading this! For more Sundays in my City please head on over to Unknown Mami.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristin
20 comments:
I'm impressed.
I can't paint a stroke.
Thank goodness Fisherhubby is really good at it and really fast!
I'm so bad he has forbidden me to TOUCH a brush or a roller.
I can walk into a room that HE is painting and leave covered in the stuff from head to foot - - - while he is still clean and pristine.
I'm not allowed to paint anymore. Not since I did a number on a small bathroom. I bet those blue squares were to set off wall decor. A friend of mine did something like that in her house and it was really cool. You are a very nice friend for helping out like that.
I will post SIMC really soon and the whole time I was taking the photos that I took I thought to myself "Kristin would be LOVING this dearly and would do such a wonderful job with this"
Really, I wish I could have done what I took photos of justice, the place was amazing.
I know what you mean about painting though. I've painted many a room and the completed job is amazing..
Also, I used to work on the landscaping committee at church and I would always paint the curbs and the concrete stops...at the end of the day seeing all that bright yellow and white paint....knowing that I was a part of it....felt amazingly wonderful.
I'm in charge of edges when we paint too! Doing the baseboards is an absolute killer.
Those stripes are really something aren't they?!
wow, that was a lot of work...
I know what you mean, to see your own hand's work ready, it's really rewarding.
Have a relaxing Sunday!
I love the color of the living room! so pretty. I hate hate hate to paint..love the outcome of it but the chore of it..lol but when doing it to help a friend out seems totally worth it to me :)
You have all done a wonderful job. You friend is so lucky to have someone like you around to help out with the painting. I can see many more fun (but hopefully not so strenuous) hours being spent in this happy, freshly painted, home.
I like to paint, but can never seem to make the earlier decisions required. Now my house is in what my pal calls a sequential vortex. Can't do this until I do that, until I do that, etc. etc. But any time you'd like to come and paint, you'd be welcome. Wink wink, nudge, nudge.
I'm very impressed too, and inspired. We need to repaint our rooms too. Do you hire out?
I love those stripes! Did you paint over them? I am glad you could help a friend. Women hours : ) That made me smile!
What a good friend you are! I have been invited to a few painting parties in my day. Most, I have respectfully declined. Glad you were a good sport. And the place looks terrific.
You are a great friend and awesome worker.
Wow! I'm so impressed. I wish I were that motivated.
What a beautiful, loving, giving heart you have! Beautiful girl inside and out! Your friends are truly blessed!
Wanna come help paint my house? ;)
Aw! I wanted to see the after now! Wow. I'm so glad the stripes were the BEFORE photo! :)
Wow, that's a LOT of work. You are a good friend.
Beautiful colors!! Love that blue & brown stripe!
my back hurts from reading this. I hope I can type a whole comment in here. I feel like I've painted enough rooms in my life. But painting is better than stripping wallpaper. get some rest.
What awesome friends your friend has. 57 woman hours are a lot. Whenever I've helped paint, I'm the cutter inner too, I tend to prefer small detailed tasks.
What a sweet friend you are. That was a lot of work!
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