Self-Painting Advice Squint at the splendor of our Citrus Salon

Just now, we painted our office/guest room. It's been a plan kicked down the road for ten years. I wanted to paint it an orange or orange accent. I left the exact choice up to Mark. He was visiting with friends recently and saw an orange paint in their house he loved. Race ahead a few days Mark picked up the paint and we were done. We are calling it the Orange Room. I am waiting for another name to stick; I want to call it the Citrus Salon.

The painting went better than expected. One wall is already painted blue to go with our Murphy Bed set-up. Two walls have minor painted surface areas due to doors and windows. For the last wall, I spent extra time sanding and patching. There was only a little fighting during the actual painting process. Finally we have finished the painting. The bickering was forgiven. There are annoyances among all the greats, and us too. "I said I was Sorry."

Along with the new project, Mark touched up our baseboards and other room walls simultaneously. If you have all the painting kit out, why not touch up the rest of the apartment? Getting the gear out to paint is 60% of the painting. Putting the equipment away is another 30%. The actual image is about 10%, maybe less.

We generally knew what it should look like. We were looking for high energy and fun. However, we put down the Murphy bed this week to see how the whole room worked. It's awesome. That is to say, it turned out fantastic. Mark found a desk that fits tight against the wall but folds down to give him an ample work surface. Also, he moved our sofa into the room, which makes it a second lounge area. Even with the bed down, one can walk around the space easily. It's been a few weeks, and we are putting some final touches on accessories.

Here are some painting pointers to pass along. Patch and sand the holes and rough spots. Paint won't fix blemishes. It will haunt you once you paint over a blemish, knowing you could have fixed it. Also, imagining the color's appearance is hard until you get it on the wall. A little square does not do it for me. I need a big splash. I jumped in and bush-painted the longest wall, confirming we liked the color. Then, I cut in the ceiling and door frames while the first wall dried, and Mark tackled the down-low cutting-in tasks. We employed the roller—the next day. Cutting in is a skill, but you can compensate for a lack of skill by going slow and being patient. I have two words of painter wisdom for you, "Dry Brush." With a dry brush, you are less likely to smear. Also, I can cut in tighter with a brush tip that is out of paint. My best paraphrase of an old, cranky Karen line is this. "Trying to cut in with a fully loaded brush is like throwing loaded guns in the street."

What I am reading this week.

Wayward Galaxy 3 | by  Jason Anspach, J.N. Chaney

This series has grown on me. There is a boatload of action and humor at every knife point. Hundreds of years have passed since the colonists left Earth. The war they left behind has followed them to a new planet. Cryosleep keeps the people alive along with the hate and anger they had hoped to leave behind on earth. In this book they meet their rivals face to face, the Rupac, and learn something about thier lost memories, or do they? The Rupac are not known for telling the truth. We also meet some new critters introduced by people who might become a new ally.