Guest room

Q: What could possibly be more satisfying than finishing the clean up and redecoration of a room at the cottage?

A: Having someone else clean it up and redecorate it for you!

That's exactly what happened for me over the Canada Day week/weekend. Due to dance competition scheduling [insert much gnashing of teeth] we were unable to enjoy Canada Day at the cottage but Mum and Dad headed up and got a few things sorted out without us. While Dad got the first few sections of his Verra Nice Dock™ installed, mom went to work clearing out, washing down, and painting the "Guest bedroom", which really, let's be honest, is their bedroom.

Here's what it used to look like:

Do you suppose that cowboy artwork is hung at gallery height? (maybe if you're a giant) And those Early Bordello curtains... Eeeeee. Sadly, the lamps were excluded from the sale of the cottage, so they weren't present when we took possession. Darn.

Mom and Dad found a few warts once they cleared the room out. The window sill was seriously off-square and the floor has a major ridge running across it where two sections of cottage (there were at least two additions to the original cottage) meet. Unfortunately, the ridge was hidden under the bed so we didn't know about it until all the furniture came out.

These are the moments I dread most -  the peeling back of layers before we can rebuild - because invariably there's an unexpected problem uncovered that results in considerably more work to fix. My teeth are ground down to stubs.

Dad has a grand plan to mend the floor (involved tearing out the subfloor, repairing the floor joists to lower that section of the ridge, and shimming up the other low spots). He's a brave man. I am so grateful to have his help, wisdom, experience, and courage on this renovation project. Without his knowledgeable consulting, we'd probably have turned a blind eye to some of the more daunting repairs and the place wouldn't look as good.

Barring the repairs to the floor, here's what the room looks like now:

There was one poor choice made with the paint in this room. I thought I would save Mom some painting time by having her use Behr (Home Depot) "1-coat" paint. It's supposed to be a primer and a paint in one. It's junk though. J-U-N-Q-U-E, Junk! The paint is too thin; even after two coats of paint (and a gallon can that is completely empty) the walls still aren't adequately covered. It's disappointing. In retrospect, I should've just stuck with the tried and true Benjamin Moore paint and the KILLZ primer. At least it's not that noticeable when the room is full of stuff. (anyone who comments on it gets handed a roller and a fresh can of paint - you've been warned!)

Dad built a pretty headboard for the bed (which we thought was a full, but discovered it's a queen - pity, because it crowds the room a bit) out of some lumber and some scrap nasty tree panelling from cottage. Mom had an old blue and white quilt and some lace curtains that were taking up closet space at home. And I hope you recognize the Fat-Man-at-the-Buffet pillows I made from cottage scraps. Don't they fit nicely in this room? Mom also donated a lovely framed picture of a ghost and his boat.

Mom recycled the dresser that was in that room and painted it the same blue that's in the quilt.

I gave them the scruffy old 6-paned window that's been sitting in my storage closet in the basement, and Dad put some new mirrors into the panes. They still need to paint the drawer handles black and install them and we still need to sort out the flooring for that room, but it's already looking so much better!