Progress Report... Slow and Steady

I need to stop making grand statements of "I will do this big thing" until I know that I can do it when I say I am going to do it. This weekend's goals involved the following for Dave: fix a leaky faucet in the second bathroom; fix the shower pull on the faucet in the second bathroom; put in supports for the upcoming counter installation in the kitchen; spackle some of the odd cuts and cracks in the kitchen walls; and fill the holes from the 800 nails that our unit's previous owner put into the walls of the kitchen (note: this will be a repeating theme as we move from room to room with our renovation/painting plans... she had A LOT of nails in the walls!). This weekend's goals for me involved: a shopping trip to IKEA with my S-I-L to purchase curtains, a mirror, and other odds and ends; another trip to Thybony Paint for kitchen-wall-painting supplies; and priming and painting the kitchen.

On Dave's end, nearly every goal was accomplished. He successfully fixed the pipes and shower situation in the second bathroom, and filled all the nail holes in the kitchen walls. He built and then installed the support pieces for the counter tops (which will hopefully be installed soon; measurements took place last Thursday). And he began addressing the weird cuts/cracks in the drywall, which were created by the electrician we needed in our first week here to put in the new electrical panel (a different size than its predecessor). That is where the kinks in my plan begin.

I did have a successful trip to IKEA Saturday, and soon I'll be able to post photos of our new curtains in all three rooms! I also got some great shelves for the front hall and frames for prints my S-I-L gave me, which I intend to put up in the second bathroom when it's done.

Today, I went back to Thybony, and saw my new best friend, Joe, who was very curious about how our cabinets were coming along (not yet, but they will be, I promised!). I was impressed that he remembered me and our project, especially when he asked if I was there to take care of the wall paint. I was. I purchased a gallon of Benjamin Moore "Ticonderoga Taupe" (the color sample for which I am having trouble getting a good photo, and which I think my father will be very excited about... merely for its name). I also got a roller, a brush, and primer and a good pep talk from Joe.

I taped off most of the room, and was ready to begin priming, but it seems we won't be able to actually do the whole thing until the aforementioned spackling situation is resolved. It's going to take a few layers of spackle to fully cover the cracks and smooth them out so I can paint over them. Alas. So, we are half-primed, and ready to finish the priming and move onto painting just as soon as Dave gets a few more layers of spackle on the wall. This might take a few days, as it takes a long time to dry. Sigh. So, while I proudly announced that I was painting this weekend, I didn't know what lay ahead. I am ready to paint, and will continue my update on that project just as soon as I can. We want to do it right.