A Bedroom’s New Life.

So ok yeah, I ached.

It had been a mighty long time since I'd gotten my a** out of a chair n’ done some sh*t.  I had been swamped, swamped with work pretty well the first three months a' the year.  As I am currently.  Swamped I say!

Suddenly back then, outta nowhere, I was moving again!  And damn if it didn't feel great, wow!!  My brain was a'-buzz with projects and ideas and go get ‘ems, it was excellent, loved it.

And somehow, despite other things languishing and being procrastinated on and in need of attention, our master bedroom became my target.

Proooobably because, well, this:

Pathetic.  Paaaaathetic.

Two and a half freakin’ years freakin’ later and I hadn't freakin’ gotten the freakin' pocket door mess freakin' wrapped up.  Still.  Paaa-thetic.  Right?!

Woke up one day sensing I had a free day and henceforth bolted off to the races.

Like an utter doofus I thought oh ok, this doesn’t seem like too much to sand by hand to keep dust minimized until uh yeah, my stupid shoulders were like, "honey, left and right, we’re in agreement here and uhh, we think not.  Go spend the darn cash for the shop-vac-plugin drywall sander rental."

Like a good girl, I obliged.

And there it is, a shop vac plugin drywall sander rental.  Not complicated, plug here, plug there, power on, hoist, sand.

Worst tool rental experience ever though.  Wow.

Online it said the tool was $37 for four hours but when I returned it, cleaner than when I got it mind you, I said hey, it's not $40, you overcharged me by $3.  Squirming, they had a slew of BS reasons why:  it’s the pro version, it’s fancier, it has an adjustable speed, it’s got blah blah....

Literally arguing with me, lying.  Dudes.  Really?

"Ok but see here, the shelf tag says $37.  Twice.  No difference, and look, that one has variable speed too.  I’m going to find a manager."  Totally justified.

Walk walk walk, no manager would appear, the customer service desk guy says the tool rental jerk refunded me.  Ooooh-kay.

Walk walk walk back over, "it says here too [because I wasn't done] in the contact the damage protection is optional.  No one asked me, they just charged me and you're keeping it even though it's unused."  “Well see (he eye rolls me majorly) it’s not optio...”  “It says right here, in print, it’s optional, see?, I want those four bucks back too.”  “Well see (major major eye roll)....”  “Forget it,” I left.

Don't flippin' eye roll me, buddy.  Worst experience at Home Depot ever.  Later I called and the four bucks were refunded.  Regardless, I have stopped patronizing that particular location.

Anyyywhooo.....

So I sanded and sanded then tried to sand the ceiling where the insulation went in (yesss, I knooow, it's been an e x t r e m e l y  long time and I haven't repaired that either) then had to do some bedroom wall touch-up patching after which I hand sanded.  Whew.

Hmm, is this before or after?  I can't tell, that's sad.  It still needs work.  Probably dragging my feet as painting ceilings suck.

I have to say, it felt sooooo good to finally be getting at this!

Can't say that sander was the easiest tool to use because, well, it's designed for a guy.  And someone with happy shoulders.  But I got it, found a way to manage it.  Done and done.

Oooooh my gee ooh dee, I could have totally purchased an easy to use one* for less on Amazon!  To have as needed!  Anytime!  Omg.  Palm to forehead.

Remembering after I painted the master bedroom the first time (hahaha), Mike had said, "nice babe, but you could go darker."  Whaa?  Who...??  I did about four spit takes and five head shakes then but tucked that comment away for safekeeping.

As such, I did go darker.  The whole room is now the same color as the trim wall and it's muuuch nicer.  The two-color scheme was tired and I figured darker would be better with the blackout curtains I made.  And it is.  Heh.

(Hey, Samplize,* by the way, is a so super easy way to test paint samples -- they're large format, peel and stick, ship overnight, completely mess-free, and darn handy.  Try them, seriously.)

Voila!  Woot!  Now that trim and headboard are the real standouts!

Though.  Those big billowy floor to ceiling-ers ack, pop more but awkwardly.  Contemplating dyeing them.  Thinkin'.

Wow, the sh*t eating grin on Mike’s face upon walking into the freshly painted room...he could barely contain himself.  “Oh!  Yeah!  Someone’s been very busy!  Finn, was it you?”

He did this on his own.  I swear.

“No?  Wow babe, I really like the color, wow, it looks great, wow...”  Compliments, grinning, compliments.  Whewwww....

I have since killed that huge, beautiful, un-killable snake plant.  Yes, I need to paint the door trim and touch up still.  It never ends.............

Next I added a few more shelves to the sort of walk-in closet, relieving some pressure off the closet with the bi-fold doors, for sheets and blankies and such.  Being shorter, the struggle is real with those ubiquitous, frustrating shelves over hanging clothes rod, ya know, amiright?

No, hahaha, it was hardly this neat before but there was no way I was sharing that.  Refolding took forever and a day.  Added the top shelf on the left and four more shelves on the right.  The hoodie rack is behind the annoying door that sticks on the floor.  Added to to-do list.

Brackets which meant a trip to Ikea to get more of the same matching.  Boo hoo for me!  The Ekby Lerberg brackets and wow, it appears they no longer carry them.  Oh dear.  Great brackets too, huh.

After that, I replaced the light switch to the can lights oh for what, the third time?  The second dimmer switch I had put in was flimsy and fussy despite the higher cost.  I really like the plain ol' switch type that is simple to adjust but couldn't find any LED-friendlies in Menards that day (that weren't like fifty bucks) so on went a bar type.

❮ ❯

It's, sigh, heh, fine.  The lights still buzz.  Probably the bulbs I popped in there from Home Depot.  Mmm hmmmm.....The switch has a hefty gap between its lowest setting and off which is irksome.  But it works, lights on, dim, lights off.

The main reason I was sharing this oh so exciting project was because of that screwless wall plate* discovery.  Nice, right?  No screws?  Nice flat, clean, modern appearance?  Yeah!

Too, I finally replaced the compact fluorescent in the closet with a low watt (hahaha, everything looks lovelier in dim light) LED vintage bulb.*

I even made some giant fuzzy pillows, who knows why as they won't stay in the room.  We never gussy up the bed.  Ever.  Just for you, for photos!

Super duper easy:  fold in half, stitch along one short end, one long end, partly into the other, reverse it out, stuff it full of stuffing* (thanks Mom!) and do that hidden stitch to close it up!  Tada, fuuuzzzyyy!

A few decorative items have come and gone since I first photographed these changes.  We need a dressier blankie.  Heh.  I'll update another day as gussying takes away from my project list, haha!

If there's one constant in this house, there is no constant!

I know it's near exactly the same photo as above but thought maybe you'd want to see it all together again.  Mwah, thanks!

Ah dammit, looks like I was a major major doofus and had messed up the subscription mailer!  I'm so sorry.  In case you missed it, here's the It's a Wheelbarrow Hoist post and then here's a review post, our Joybird Review.  It's fixed now.  Doh!!  Technology man.....

*The vacuum drywall sanders, screwless wall plates, LED vintage bulbs, and fiberfill stuffing are Amazon affiliate links.  The Samplize link is a Samplize affiliate link. Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.