The Fantasy Garden of Happiness Room

Is anyone having lots of pandemic fun? Boy, I am! After painting so many of my interior rooms in bright, happy colors, I was exhausted and finished. Then I had some more extra free time and tackled the "mud room" or back door entrance. Door landings and entrances I believe are a free-for-all: they are "through" rooms. No one sits in the room and stares at the walls so as far as I'm concern, anything can happen! 

It was previously painted with a floral pattern, but the walls are wood paneling and unfortunately, many years ago I received very bad advice  on how to prep them and vibration from nearby semi-trucks caused the seams between the panels to crack over time. The walls needed to be redone. I found out the proper method is to use flexible caulking, prime it with exterior flat white, and then paint whatever you want. I already had the exterior paint for my house's trim and all the leftover paint from the other rooms. I decided to create a fantasy garden to match the floor at the front door landing. Zero cost, but very time consuming. I got a little crazy. It reminds me of a circus especially the ceiling. So cheerful!

Ceiling

I really want to paint this door RED!

I did! Love the RED!

2020: Review and Resolution

 OMG! Where does one even start with the year 2020? 

THE GOOD STUFF:

BYE-DON! Dump lost; Biden won. I can't even explain what a relief this is. And we have a woman vice president. It's about time.  I can now go back to not stressing about politics and feel confident that adults will be back in charge very soon!

FREEBIES. I wrote a recent post on my hoarding. It's such a joy and practically the only public entertainment I have lately. Most recently I acquired a blender. It was ugly, formerly white, covered in old black and brown dried food. Nasty. Scary nasty. I brought it home and plugged it into an outlet outside. That's how scared I was! It worked. I kept my mask on, wore gloves, carefully carried it to the kitchen sink and with all kinds of tools (tweezers, Q-tips, scrubber pads, soap, rubbing alcohol...) worked on it for two hours. It now looks like new. SCORE! Love it. I wish I would have taken a "before" photo, but I was afraid of contamination!

FORCED SECLUSION. I love it! I love it that we are expected to stay in our houses and people aren't wandering around wearing their stink and poisoning everyone as much as they used to. I love there isn't as much air pollution. I love it the animals want to come out in the open since humans have disappeared. I love I no longer feel like a weirdo secluded in my house when everyone else is free and bragging about how free they are all the time. I love the camaraderie of everyone's misery.

EMPLOYMENT. I'm still employed. In the spring when this pandemic started a lot of people didn't know what to do and many were told to go home and isolate which shut down a lot of businesses. This caused me to be on a lengthy staycation since no one was hiring me never mind I work from home and could very easily have kept working. Thankfully the people I work for figured it out, learned to work from home, and never went back to the office! Work is slow and I've lost money, but so thankful I'm still employed when some people aren't and have run out of options.

PAINTING. Or pandemic peace of mind. Or happiness. Or sanity. I've painted rocks, lamps, floors, rooms, bulletin boards, paintings, tables, switch plates...if it has a surface, it's calling for some paint on it.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. I got a lot done this year: fixed my fence, replaced deck boards, and stripped and refinished my living room floor. At times finding supplies was a challenge with manufacturing slowing during the pandemic and finding the energy or know-how to do the work, but I persevered and got things done! The living room remodel inspired me to clean other rooms, reorganize shelves and closets and do a basic make-over. Then I painted my office. Next maybe the kitchen. One room at a time....

I seriously love this room now!

GARDENING. I downsized and cleaned the whole garden and added bark to the walks. Beautiful. It makes me feel happy and content, first, because it's nice to look at and second because there is so much less work now.

 

CHRISTMAS CARDS. Last year a friend sent me a recycled Christmas card she made. OMG! What a brilliant idea!  I love finding new art projects and I went a little crazy. I send maybe ten cards to friends and a few to my favorite businesses...sometimes...when I'm motivated, but I made about forty cards most of them snarky since that's the kind of Christmas card I like and can never find. Many were political since this is an election year. I ended up participating in an online art show, although that wasn't a great experience, it was still time-consuming and a distraction from the world around me while it gave me a voice to rant my complaints about society.

GLASS MOSAICS. I was determined to use up my supply of glass and the last of my large frames so I could STOP doing glass mosaics. Although I do enjoy it, it's a very expensive art form and dangerous. I got tired of my hands cut up and infected. I felt very productive and proud to accomplish so many with so little supplies!

Immersion

Life is Not the Beach

Male Privilege

Season's of Love: The Fall

TILE MOSAICS. I have been collecting free, brightly colored plates all year. I wasn't really sure why. I loved the colors, but had no idea what I would do with them. Then all of a sudden I was compelled to take a hammer and break them! Doing glass mosaics made me curious about tile mosaics, or, in this case, creating decorative frames from broken dishes. This is free glass so cuts down on cost and the edges are not so sharp so less dangerous. Pulverizing dishes with a hammer is exceptional for stress relief. I also needed some new, different and colorful wall hangings for my newly painted and colorful rooms. I was tired of painting. Not sure if I'm excited about this new media yet, but it was experimentally fun.

NEW STOVE! I waited fifteen years to get rid of the mismatched, rat-infested stove/oven that came with the house when I bought it. It lasted a good amount of time before it started having problems...during a pandemic. I waited for the universe to send me a free one, and I actually was offered a free, used one but it was too old and I didn't feel comfortable. I was told the old ones are energy suckers, and, of course, if it dies having it hauled away would cost. Many of the big-box hardware stores' products were back ordered to next summer, but I found this outstanding small, mom-and-pop appliance store that had exactly what I wanted. The customer service was outstanding, the FREE delivery was outstanding, and the FREE haul-away-the junk was outstanding. What an outstanding experience. So rare these days! Merry Christmas to me!

FRAGRANCE-FREE FRIENDS: I am so thankful for my friends. One drove hours to deliver food to me when I was sick. Another drove hours to visit. Another bought art from me which helped my finances. I so appreciate their online conversations, support, and constant advice when I am in need. Thank you!

LIFE!!!!!!!! I AM ALIVE!

THE IN BETWEEN STUFF:

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS. I started running out of time and energy and hired two sleazy, lying workers to help remove and replace fence posts. What a waste of money! I know better, but I was worried I wasn't going to get it done and the fallen down fence repair was a priority. They did save me a lot of time and effort, but the expense was outrageous. Such a waste of money.

THE BAD STUFF:

THE PANDEMIC. Duh. It goes without saying. It's affected everyone on the planet and most would say this is the worst year in their lives. Even if we haven't experienced death or near-death illness first-hand, we are surrounded by it. The stress has infiltrated every facet of our existence. People are on edge either fighting to stay safe or fighting for their perceived personal rights. We are at each other's throats. We are inconvenienced in every way. Our health is constantly on the line as access to medical care is limited since all resources have gone to fighting this pandemic. Grocery shopping is a pain in the ass. Supplies are inaccessible. Going out in public is risky. Lack of income is affecting our ability to pay bills. This is all common knowledge by now. I had the coronavirus in the spring and continue to experience side effects that may or may not be serious, but thankful to be alive. My income suffered, but not nearly as much as others who have lost their jobs and/or homes. I'm so tired of the whiners complaining about how many parties and family functions they can't attend or how bored and lonely they are as if they aren't complaining about my normal chemically sensitive lifestyle. (Damn, I miss concerts!)

COVIDIOTS. For instance, my neighbors who send their grandkids to play outside my house during a pandemic. REALLY? A friend of mine went to a big family wedding and then had a big family Christmas gathering. People are tired and have stopped caring which also makes them apathetic to everyone around them. We live in a very self-serving world. I could list a million examples of the stupid, but more than likely you've seen them in the news or in your own neighborhoods.

DUMP. That incompetent, foolish, fake president needs to go away and his silly, unprofessional, immature, sociopathic antics need to go with him. Take all the white supremacists and treasonous GOP, too. His entitled family and rich cronies need to vanish. May they all disappear. I'm so tired of looking at his face or seeing constant complaints about him. Really tired of his ignorant, racist followers.

THE WAR. Yellow jackets, mice, rats, ants. Good lord. It's never-ending!

So...the year has sucked, BUT honestly, I look at this list and it's been a really good year for me!

New Year's Resolution....Simple....Just survive.

Hitting the Wall

The title has everything to do with walls, but no, I didn't actually hit my beautiful, newly painted wall. I love my newly painted room(s) so much I hesitated hanging anything so I got the bright idea I'd create matching art. First, the lamp:

Then I wanted more of this design and I became obsessed. The wall space behind the lamp needed something hanging since there is a nail there already.

So I'm loving my Happiness Room living room and loving the crazy patterns I'm creating, but I look at my office with the old olive green drab colors and think, Oh! It's a small room! It wouldn't take long to paint! I WANT MORE HAPPINESS IN MY LIFE! I bought another can of Horizon non-toxic interior Latex. Never mind how poor I am. The woman at the paint store asked what I wanted to call it. I said "Pandemic Purple". She tilted her head and looked disapproving. "Virus Violet?" She said, "How about lilac? I really like lilacs." We started talking about our love of lilacs and I failed to notice she overrode all my naming suggestions and went with "lilac". OK. Like a crazed painting maniac, kept painting.

(Ignore the olive green checker floor. I hope to have it stripped and refinished next summer and look just like the living room floor. And the blue in the kitchen...that's be gone sooner than later.)

And, of course, I need to paint my bulletin boards to match. Oh! And my art table! I've always wanted to paint the top of the art table! I keep painting...

The problem with painting all these accessories is I'm using a lot of the Latex interior paint samples which are NOT non-toxic. I know I have an expiration on how much I can handle, usually about two weeks, but it's been over three months since this all started and I'm feeling fine and overconfident. I've been wearing my mask, using gloves and being safe. Then I forgot to wear my mask. And then I wore a mask not good for chemicals. Then I hit the wall. My body became overloaded and unable to function. 

It started with back pain (liver) and like a brain-dead fool I kept asking myself, Is it something I'm eating? Then finally after days of working on the art table, I'm hit with insomnia, nerve oddities, and I'm feeling exhausted but up until four in the morning and again, I ask, Is it something I'm eating? You'd think I'd learn by now.  I kept painting because it's almost done and I just want it done. This is my office so I need to finish and then offgas the room so I can use it again, but the side effects become unbearable and it's clearly the paint. I start experiencing incredible nausea, head spinning, lung pain, and my teeth start hurting. I also urinate all night long every hour, but I do that when I eat something toxic, too. The side effects get worse and wearing a mask longer makes a difference. This is a poisoning. I stopped.

I moved the unfinished art table and bulletin boards to the sealed Happiness Room to air out (I really need my office which is also my entertainment center), and air all the rooms with fans alternating with heat. Immediately I was able to go back into the office without being hit with nausea.

I hit the proverbial wall. I'll wait a few weeks to unload the toxic body overload. I'll take a lot of hot baths, drink a lot of water, drink lemon juice, drink and eat beets and apples, go for fresh air walks, and stay away from paint! Maybe. Eventually I'll have to finish the table and bulletin boards and a lamp for my office and switch plates, oh! the living room needs another painting...and...and...and! And I have one more room to go...the kitchen!! Painting is my addiction.

ARGH!

Three days without painting I was fine and vowed to be very diligent about wearing a mask and keeping safe:

 

The Walls from Hell (Construction 2020 Part III)

So now that the hard part was over, two months of stripping and refinishing the floor, I finally got to paint the walls. I thought I had gotten to the easy part. No such luck.

First, I was tormented. I normally don't have problems picking colors, but I could not decide. Maybe it was because I knew I had so many choices...I could do anything. I waffled back and forth making samples, doubting my choices, and asking friends for advice. The problem was I didn't want to prime the walls. Primer is incredibly toxic in small amounts, but a whole room of it would be risky. I needed and wanted to find a color dark enough to cover the dark olive, but not too dark which would defy the whole purpose of the remodel. I wanted bright, but do I want to be surrounded by brightness? If the color was too light, I would need two coats or two cans of expensive paint. I don't want wimpy baby colors even if they are more popular. I even considered white or a neutral beige. Eeewww...although neutrals wouldn't take away from the floor, they are so bland, boring and NOT cheerful. I want cheerful. How can this be so difficult? 

I did about fifteen tests of different colors and different shades. I finally settled on a beautiful, medium-toned turquoise color which is a complementary color to the amber orange of the wood and matches the rest of the house in tone. So cheerful, bright and happy. I even doubted this choice then decided I can either be paralyzed by indecision and not get my living room livable again, or take a risk and just to get it done. Just do it!

I used a paint from Rodda Paints called Horizon. The same paint I used in all the other rooms for the last fifteen years. It normally dries in about two hours with no smell. I bought a gallon of white first and redid the closet. 

I bought a small sample container. The first thing I noticed is the first test of the turquoise sample and the second test of the turquoise sample didn't match. The second test seemed darker and brighter. How can this be if they came from the same container? Maybe it was the light? Then after doing a second wall I questioned this, took a brush full of paint and painted a line over the first sample. It IS brighter and darker! How did that happen? Why is the same sample of paint changing shades? I wondered if I did something wrong? Did I not mix the paint well enough?

I already bought the gallon and since it matched the darker brighter shade and I wanted the lighter turquoise, I mixed some white into the gallon until it matched perfectly and then I added some blue-green! I could help myself. I repainted that wall.

Then I noticed on another wall where I painted the edges and corners was darker than the surface where I used a roller. Clearly the sample and the gallon are different shades. Maybe the two brands of paint are different? Or paint brush and roller cause different shades? I've never experienced this with any other paint and I paint a lot! I repainted that wall.

THEN I noticed where yesterday's rolled painted surface and today's rolled painted surface overlapped, both from the same one gallon of paint. They are DIFFERENT SHADES OF TURQUOISE! GOD DAMN IT! I don't understand how paint from the same container can be two different colors!

By that time I was out of paint so I couldn't repaint ALL the walls and if I attempted to buy more paint, I wasn't convinced it wouldn't be a totally different color and I'd have to repaint the whole room! I thought maybe it just needs time to cure since the first painting session was 24 hours old. I waited until the next morning...no, it still two different tones. DAMN. 

I did not prime the walls first. Primer is incredibly toxic so I like to avoid it if I can. I do wonder if that caused the darker olive underneath to mess with the colors causing different tones. I also think the sample color was incorrect due to previous experiences with that store. I have no idea. It also says on the can that two coats is required. I didn't do two coats except for the re-painted walls. The variations are so subtle it's hardly noticeable, but I did use what was left of the can to try to repaint the wall most obvious. It looks fine.

The paint took DAYS not hours to stop stinking. Was it the color that was toxic? I know adding color to low-VOC paints makes them more toxic. Maybe turquoise is just toxic? Or does Horizon have a new formula? The white stunk, too. I don't know. I hesitate to recommend it now since it used to be very non-toxic. I think I'll name the living room "Toxic Turquoise."

THEN I noticed I dripped drops of paint ON MY NEW FLOOR! I had at least 99% of the floor protected with cardboard, sheets and plastic, but the tiny part not covered gets drops of paint on it! I don't even know where that white paint came from as I painted the closet before the floor was done. So I sanded it off and refinished those spots.

DONE! I LOVE THESE WALLS!!

Its former self.

The Happiness Room

Bright and cheerful. Even when the lights are all off, the walls glow and I love having the brightness. At night the lamp light makes the floor glow gold. It makes me so incredibly happy to look at it. I've renamed it "The Happiness Room." 

Then to tackle the floors in the closet and at the front door. They are covered in linoleum. The front door area seems to have only subfloor and not fir. I don't know about the closet. I did not want to struggle removing the linoleum and the glue so I left it, it's the closet after all. Who cares? I considered laying tile over the front door floor, but having run out of money long ago I decided the next best thing...paint! This might be fun?

I started by testing ideas on the closet floor. No one is going to see it unless I decide to vacuum with guests in the house. (This is where I store my vacuum.)

I thought the design might need browns to match the fir floor. I hate brown. What was I thinking? But I liked the design idea.

After much consideration, I chose rock painting designs in colors I enjoy: in three shades of turquoise, green, purple, aqua, pink, white and red (to match the door). I used all my sample paints. I covered it with the floor finish and I hope this works. It's says on the can it can be used on paint, but it also says it shouldn't be used on linoleum. I did worry as I applied it would start bubbling or peeling the paint but no such drama occurred. Well, if it doesn't work, I can always tile over the whole thing. It's fun (and scary) to be adventurous!

This was the design I had hoped to paint the porch, but I did the porch just after the virus so I didn't feel I had the energy. So joyful. 

Then the molding...Ten years ago I removed an old wall heater from this area and they had cut out the molding so I've had a hole in the molding for the last ten years. I patiently looked in architecture reclamation stores for antique molding but there was never anything I could use that would match. So I got a bright idea, better late than never but I'm not sure why it too me so long to think out of the box: find a piece of wood that is the right size and sand the beveled edge to match. That proved to be a challenge as it seems most wood is 1/4" or 3/4ths " smaller than what old houses have. I finally found wood! Sanded the beveled edge and painted. Hooray!

I was so happy with that I bought a bunch more wood and added molding to the whole closet!

ALL DONE! Well, sort of...

Of course, now all my old furniture looks dull and lifeless next to the floor and wall. All my decorations, pillows, painted objects, wall paintings, and accessories don't match. I knew this would happen which is why I put off this remodeling project for so long. I removed almost everything, shoved it all in a closet until the next garage sale, and kept just the bare minimum. I plan to design a table, paint a lamp, recover a footstool and find things that match, slowly and inexpensively. What I didn't expect is I have no desire to put anything on the walls! I don't want to cover them! I do plan to paint some paintings for the room. Eventually. Maybe. Does this mean I get to go shopping?

I'm looking forward to the next lockdown now that I have a happiness space. And maybe I'll paint my office a bright shade of purple next?

The Floor from Hell (Contruction 2020 Part II)

After months of hibernating and isolating in my house, I decided the living room needed to be less dark and more cheerful. I thought one can of low-voc brightly colored paint would do the trick and not cost too much. The dilemma was the dark green floor. How to match it? Or should I eliminate it? Old photo:

I failed miserably at assessing the work and the cost...then it snowballed into the project from hell! 

When I first moved into this house, the rug was so smelly and toxic I ripped it out. I thought this was a good idea spying a corner of the floor - Oh, antique fir floors! They are beautiful. The first rip of carpeting I realized beyond the one foot perimeter, the rest of the floor was covered in 1920s thick, black, hairy glue on top of petrified wax. 

Long ago people used real wax to varnish their wood floors. Rugs were held in place with mohair pads and they were glued right to the floor. One hundred years later and it was an ugly mess! I couldn't figure out how to remove the hair and the glue let alone the wax so instead of hiring someone at $1800 which I could not afford, I sanded the whole room (which did little but gum and clog the sand paper) and then painted over the whole thing with porch and floor paint. A can of paint cost $36.00 and at the time it was a good, temporary solution. This painted floor has lasted fifteen years and would have lasted longer if I hadn't decided stripping it was a sane idea. I loved the dark green floor and earthy, woodsy tones (see photo above). For a while anyway....then my couch was set on fire which changed my attitude.

So the floor...is stripping it even possible? Would refinishing it poison me? It's always been my dream and with all my free pandemic time, I felt brave. I started with a half can of Jasco Paint and Varnish Stripper. This stuff is nasty. A drop on your skin and it feels like it's burning down to the bone. But the stink. I didn't think I could use this inside my living space. I tried a sample just to see:

I meant to strip just a square FOOT section as a test, but I couldn't stop. Oh, lord, the floors are so gorgeous even with the glue discoloration! It was like discovering buried treasure. The stripper removed not only the paint, but most of the glue. But stink was asphyxiating! I can tolerate Jasco if used outside with protective gear, but inside it's nasty. My lungs hurt and it stunk up every inch of my house for hours even with the rooms sealed and all windows open and fans on full blast. Then I read on the label Jasco can spontaneously combust and it shouldn't be used on large surfaces...such as floors. Damn. What to do?

I searched online. I found some non-toxic, absolutely safe paint and varnish stripper. Wow! It's even half the price of Jasco! When I saw the demonstrators in the videos spreading it around with their hands I nearly jumped out of my skin and screamed! But it's really safe! It's called MAX Strip.

It still has a faint smell so I wore all my protective gear. Sometimes non-toxic products don't work as well as their toxic cousins, but I was really amazed. Much more efficient than Jasco as it annihilated the glue. 

I compulsively stripped, working long and hard, and then I was hit with exhaustion and full body pain. I totally overestimated my energy levels and ability to scrub on my hands and knees. I slowed down and was able to only do little bit at a time in between resting for days. It took about three weeks to get it all stripped: 

Then to sand it. I tried my little hand sander but it would have taken me months. I tried my friend's belt sander which ate my floor removing chunks of wood in the process.  Because I had such a difficult time sanding the last time, I sought professional advice. I was told the wax will clog a sander and to wash the floor with mineral spirits. Water should never be used on wood anyway. It stinks so I wore gloves, mask, and goggles. It dries in about thirty minutes.

I rented a large random orbit which is the only kind to use on fir which is too soft and splinters easily. It was five hours of hell wrestling to control an exceptionally heavy machine that seemed to have a mind of its own. My lungs, sinuses, and eyes burned for days from the dust. Dust on every thing covering the walls, window ledges and floor. Never mind the cost of renting a professional sander which was about $91 for 24-hour rental including all fees and taxes, and another $100 for three different grits of sandpaper. It goes through a lot of sandpaper!

Oddly enough sanding seemed to accentuate all the problems. The floor sanded almost to white, but the damage was dark. Everyone kept telling me, "It's OK! "Stressed" floors are popular now!" People actually install brand new floors and take heavy chains and beat them to get the look I have. Hmmm...I do like the history of the house is in the floor. I can see where one owner dragged heavy furniture across, another burnt the floor with a wood stove, along with nicks, scratches, gouges, and bruises from a century of heavy use. Did you know fir floors "bruise"? Amazing, like a human. But after five hours, I was done. No more sanding no matter what the floor looked like. In the words of one hardware salesperson, "It's a good thing "stressed" is in." LOL.

Patching holes was problematic. I wanted some kind of clear resin or epoxy, but was told the finish would not adhere to it. I've seen where people use wood filler and it dries an ugly off white so the floors look like they have ugly white stains all over. I hate that. It was suggested to take wood filler and mix some of the wood's sawdust in it so the color almost matches. I tried this and it was still too light so I dug it out all but one hole. I probably should have dug it out of this one, too, but it doesn't matter much. Someone at one point filled in two little holes with I think wood putty which is startling white. I tried digging that out and it was hard as rock so I left it. I considered getting one of those color pens or painting it, but I wasn't sure how to match since the floor wasn't finished yet and I knew it would darken. Finally I just figured it's part of the floor's history and left it all. 

Two white dots of wood putty and top right
is the wood filler/sawdust example.
Better but still too light. Thankfully they are
along the edge of the floor.

Now for the finish. I was told fir doesn't need stain as it has its own color so I was happy to avoid that poison. I found several "nontoxic" floor finishes online. Water-based Varathane by Rustoleum, which is normally really toxic, has produced an "odorless" floor finish. Odorless doesn't necessarily mean safe for a chemically sensitive person. It means they added extra chemicals that turn your brain off so you can't smell the toxins. 

A friend just used it on her rental house floors so I went for a visit a few days after she applied it and...no smell! Then I went to check again while she was applying it to her stairs, and yeah, there is a little smell. I felt my head spin and pinch with one breath and I quickly readjusted my mask. 

While I applied it on my living room floor, I wore protective gear, of course, and after four coats of glossy, I was thrilled! It brought out the amber of the wood and evened out so much of the floor's "wounds." I kept getting up all night and gazing upon the beauty and shine! It took about 9 days for the offgassing. It says on the can normal use after three days, but I waited a week to walk on it and tiptoed gingerly in stocking feet. I wanted to dance vigorously!! So beautiful.

Daytime with Sunlight

Night with Light

Now on to the walls. I can see a bright and happy living room in my future....to be continued.