Refinishing the nursery: the beginning

This afternoon, I decided it was time to start a new project....one that involves ladders and latex gloves and buckets of paint. I need something labor-intensive and hands-on to keep my mind off the relative state of the international adoption community at this particular juncture. Drawing is just not doing it for me at this stage of the game. It's much too easy to fret while drawing.
With the exception of the garage/workshop (which needs A LOT of work), the nursery is the one really unfinished room in the house, and so I decided to take it on. Here it is after I moved out all the STUFF. And, really, that was the most difficult part. Not just clearing and lifting the crib, changing table, storage bins, entertainment devices, books and bags of hand-me-down clothing, but actually finding somewhere else in the house to store all these items. Even temporarily, this is no mean task. Our house, while adequate, is not large by any means, and we tend to fill what space we do have pretty quickly.

Here's me taking down the last of the temporary decor. And look, don't give me any crap for my "work clothes". I've been a professional faux-painter and furniture-restorer (and — little-known fact — I actually have a graduate degree in interior design from the NYSID), so when it comes to projects of this kind, I can get up on the porch with the big dogs. I think that gives me the right to wear whatever the heck I want while prepping a room for painting!

Stage one: taping. Yes, I tape. I know there are plenty of people out there who pride themselves on their edging prowess, and can boast the ability to paint without ever cracking open a roll of blue tape. That's fine for them, and I admire their precision and skill. I, however, am not a neat person by nature, and if there's one thing I learned from working in bazillion-dollar mansions in Vail, it's "better safe than sorry". I like to fling paint around. I like to relax while I'm working. I like to let my mind (and my hands) wander. Therefore: I tape.

...and tape. And...tape.

Then, I put up drop sheets. We have nice wood shutters in our house, and I have no intention of taking them down and then putting them back up again.

No, I didn't change outfits mid-prepping. This is later in the evening after making a H@me Dep*t run for more tape, plastic, and a couple gallons of flat latex. I managed (by some miracle) to come away without a single plant this time, although I do admit to coveting a curly weeping willow that was flaunting itself outside the nursery. Fortunately, I couldn't lift it, so it remained where it was.

Stay tuned for the scintillating drama of tarping and edging, same time tomorrow.
(btw, yes, I'm wearing an iPod. I can't do anything without audio books. I work alone 99.9 percent of the time, and I would probably lose my mind without someone "telling me stories". Can you say "cabin fever"?)