My first screw up

Jessie jots...

It's been a week since I've been done from finals. I've got my results back and it gave me a heart attack, in a good way. But, as soon as that was celebrated, labor mode was on. Every morning since finals, I get up early and work on the house. Right now, our goal is to put a fresh coat of paint before the wood floor is installed and get it done by this week.

When they say you're going to DIY all the way, you'll screw it up somewhere somehow and learn from that mistake. I thought to myself, what could be worse... maybe screw up on a plank of wood that was mis-cut or get glue on my hair. Little did I know, it was a screw up on the most labor intensive job! And it was done by MOI.

I taped every corners of the wall and it took me about 4-5 hours doing so. It was harder than I thought. Of course, nobody tells you that until you do it yourself. The day after, I started painting the corners with a green, slight bluish-greyish color that I thought was going to be pretty and calm, called Brown Buzz from Valspar. It was daytime when I did it and I thought it didn't look bad. Not bad for the first choice... and this was a color we picked after like a dozen time getting color swatches and visiting various stores. So I continued on.

On the third day, the living area walls were all fully covered with 2 coats. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to pull it off single-handedly. But when I took a second glance at the wall, the color started to make my heart sink to the bottom of the stomach. It suddenly looked awful and it gets worse at dusk! Yuck! What was I thinking?? It was starting to look like Oscar!

I SOS Hushby and told him I'm gonna hold off the second lighter color of Brown Buzz on the dining room. If Brown Buzz is too green for our taste, then painting that lighter version in the dining area would make the whole house look like a rainforest! I almost want to shoot myself - I was so disappointed! By Saturday, I was quickly convinced by Hushby that there is no way we are going to live with that color and he helped me got over the emotional hump of having to do it the second time! I reluctantly agreed. We quickly decided by Saturday morning to buy a new shade and painted the whole living room called Summer Jasmine. Two coats there and we went on to the dining hall and kitchen with Apple Core. With Hushby strong arms and abs, it only took us 48 hours to complete three areas compare to three days of doing it solo on one area. So much for my hardwork!

Now I can safely say, I can attest to all the DIY-ers out there. You will get to lows of the very lows when doing things on your own. Home renovation is indeed a journey of self-exploration. I did learn something valuable from this experience and it is: nothing is undoable and all you have to do is change it until you see fit. Plus, I also read from a book somewhere and I shall quote this lady DIY-er "I refuse to fail!". I like that, it keeps me motivated because of how determine she is and not wanting to settle for something less.

We're back on track right now with all the first floor painted. Hushby is going to put the floors this week. Can't wait to see it all come together!

Sorry no pictures yet cos my limbs have turn into seaweeds.