And Then What Happened? The Post-Handyman Report
As I hinted at in, The Handyman is Coming! The Handyman is Coming!, none of my dark imaginings about handyman disaster came into being. After a mere four hours of work, Gustavo:
- Removed my upper cabinets cleanly and neatly from the studio wall. That's right, no chunks of drywall breaking away and no outer-space creatures lunging through the holes.
- Patched a very bizarre hole in the studio. The previous owner put an electric water heater on the other side of the wall, then cut a hole so she could shove the cord through and plug it into an outlet in the room. Aurgh! We switched to gas and I wanted to stop stuffing the hole with steel wool.
- Removed wooden cleats from my pirate office closet so that I can now put up custom shelving.
- Replaced my shower head with one that didn't leak like a sieve.
- Blocked a worrisome potential critter access. (Isn't the word "critter" much better than the more specific alternatives? And I feel all Bear Country Jamboree-like.)
- Changed the screening on six upstairs windows screens to pet-proof screening. The boys can no longer cause mischief in their dove-hunting excitement.
All that, in four hours! He's faster than me, that's for sure. Maybe you think my worrying was for naught, but it had one pleasant side effect: I was insanely delighted that nothing went wrong! I refrained from hugging Gustavo, though. Boundaries and all that.
But wait, here's the big finale: He's going to paint the room next Wednesday! PLUS, several of the old cabinets are reusable, so I may paint and repurpose three of them for new locations, which makes me crazy-excited.
Unfortunately, though, the impending paint job means I must do what is so far turning out to be impossible: narrow down my color choices.
Since Thursday, I have made three trips to Home Depot, two trips to Benjamin Moore, one to Ace Hardware. I have compared many paint chips. I have purchased four quarts of paint in different colors. I have painted big swatches on the walls. I have primed and painted foam core boards that I have moved around the room. I have examined these colors through out the day in different kinds of light.
I still don't know which colors to choose.
Beginning of the day, the Benjamin-Moore color wins. End of the day, it's the Behr color. When I think about a 15 x 30 foot turquoise room, I am simultaneously excited and concerned. Will it inspire me? Will it scare me? Will my brain catch fire?
Today, I moved one step closer - I decided the both potential greens (for the accent wall) were not deep enough. Wait, that's not one step closer. That's two steps back! Dammit.
If I was painting it myself, I might say, 'well, it's just paint!' and pick one. But I am paying someone money to do this and I am not going to do that twice. Do I go with safe and pretty? Or brave and potentially overwhelming?
The good thing is, it won't matter after Wednesday, now will it? The deed will be done. And honestly, the idea of a newly repainted studio is terribly exciting.
I can't believe this studio makeover fell into place so quickly. Two weeks ago, I just wanted to get everything put away. I didn't know I'd get the chance to transform the space this completely.
I am feeling grateful. I will let you know how it all turns out. Stay tuned!
P.S. Wait, let's get back to that shower head! Can I tell you, please, that it has turned showering into an audience with a higher power? After suffering almost no water pressure for far too long, I am now happy shoved against the shower doors by the blast. I get to completely rinse off in one third the time. (I also exit the shower with a slow, drunk grin on my face.) Thanks to the Delta In2ition, I'm going to be the cleanest woman on the planet.
Frankly, I think you need one, too.
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