A Never Ending Project: The Beginning

The thought first entered my mind when I got home from Brazil the first time. As I climbed the stairs to my third floor bedroom that day in early July, my eyes fixed on the new mattress that my parents had purchased for me. My older cousin Aaron had been staying in my room for a few nights before he moved to Kentucky, and they had opted to finally purchase the mattress rather than have him sleep in the half empty water bed. As I collapsed on top of the firm mattress I thought that this simple mattress could possibly be the first step of a long process of change.

During the remaining days that week, my initial thoughts were to just move the furniture around. When my friend Ashley visited that weekend we brainstormed about exactly what could go where, look good and still be functional. I had some ideas, but the concept of a complete renovation hadn't begun to set in. The next weekend was Mike's wedding in California, so time for this planning to come to fruition was very limited. While in California, I decided to paint the walls, despite my mothers rising opposition that had started to seem like a strengthening army of ancient Rome.

When I returned from the west cost I reasoned with my parents. During a family meeting at the kitchen table one evening, I used my supposed knowledge of real estate to tell them that my room was the one room of the house that would deter future buyers from making a purchase. Since they were losing my sister to marriage and the state of Iowa within the next month they had began to think a little bit about downsizing. Of course any downsize would leave me homeless, so I wanted to make the home in which they resided seem a little more appealing. Using the "sale argument" I was able to get them to take the bait. Project: Room Renovation was in the planning stages.

Unfortunately I wasn't home much during the next week. I was house sitting for Mark and Trudy as they continued their left coast family vacation. Shelley came over one evening and I showed her some color swatches to try and find the perfect shades for my room with one window. We agreed upon a medium shade of blue and a oatish color. It was around this same time that our family got a new member. A small puppy named Fenway entered our lives, and in the excitement of having an active pup in the house soon took precedence over any painting.

That Sunday me, my mom and Fenway paid a visit to the Home Depot and picked out the paint for my room, and for Jill's room (which would also be renovated as soon as she was gone).
The painting materials were unloaded and I was ready to go. The next week was children's meetings at the hall, but thanks to the insomnia I was dealing with I would be able to paint into the wee hours of the morning. It was time to get priming...