Spackle n' paint

Let the spackling begin. Went to the Home Depot today and picked up all the paint supplies needed to do the house; rollers, brushes, buckets, drop cloths, rags, hand cleaner, spackle, paint etc. We're not doing the kitchen or bathrooms at this point. The wallpaper in those rooms will have to come down first which from what I understand is a job in itself. They're all self-contained rooms so they can be done one-at-a-time. The three bedrooms, living room, family room, dining area, hallway and all the trim are getting a fresh coat of paint.

As of Friday evening Dec. 26th, the bulk of the spackling has been done. Naturally, there's still a few more spots to do and some I may have to re-do. Glad I started on a Friday night though as I have the rest of the weekend to get the job done. I've never worked with spackle that dried overnight, I'm hoping it will be much easier to work with. I had to build up the areas where some larger cracks were so I used compound. Hope it turns out OK. I'm sure every time the light hits a certain spot just right I'll notice my fixes and curse.

As I move around the house filling cracks, all of the old-lady curtains and fixtures will be coming down. Feels great to yank down her dingy old drapes - they were drawn tight the three times we came to the place before we bought it. It's actually really nice when the sun shines in. Now we just have to get the ivy off the side of the house which will unblock the main window in the living room.

The floors are finished and look all right. There's a few places where you can see the swirl marks from the machinery and a few heavy spots where the poly was laid down a little too thick. The poly acts like a stain and tends to make the wood a little darker. I imagine it might lighten up over time as it really dries out. I'm also hoping some of the blemishes will go away as we walk over it. All in all though it looks great though and smells like a new car.

We're starting to break down our apartment now too as D-Day is just about a week away. I'll be handling the painting while Amy gets to stay behind and pack our things. We're both kind of bummed that we're missing out on doing the painting together. It seems like a rite-of-passage for first-time homebuyers. Our situation dictates this can't happen though so we'll have to go our separate ways and meet up later.

Hope to have pictures of the painted rooms as they're completed, perhaps over the next few days. Adding some color over the drab antique white is really gonna wake things up. Stay tuned.