:: Those who know me well, know that I am as good at working on home improvement projects as I am at, say, thoracic surgery or the study of lower paleolithic prehistory. As well, I am as interested in actually doing home improvement projects as I am, for example, in getting hit in the skull with a baseball bat, contracting a terminal disease, listening to country music, or eating ratatouille.
When my colleague and friend, Kathryn, saw the walls for the first time, she took it upon herself to begin nagging encouraging me to give serious consideration to removing the wallpaper, insisting that it was a relatively painless process, and could be done quickly. Such as it was, her constant pestering encouragement continued until I caved in agreed to give it a shot. Use of a wallpaper steamer would make the project easy and quick.
With that in mind, on Monday, Kathryn, and I began and completed the wallpaper removal project at my house in a mere four hours or so. Turns out she was right, and I actually had fun doing it. But imagine our surprise when we began removing the pink wallpaper only to discover that the wall behind was painted...pink. Not only that, but the exact same shade of pink as the wallpaper. Er...why would someone wallpaper a painted wall with the same shade and colour as said painted wall? We'll never know.
In the meantime click on the picture or here to see some photos from the event, as well as a short, 27-second movie clip of the wallpaper removing action!
Next up, painting. The colour I'm liking at the moment is called Scotland Road. The three smaller colours (top to bottom) in this combination are Neptune Blue, Southern Breeze, and Parsnip.
You have to give the guy credit. He had NO interest in this, didn't even seem to see the pink wallpaper, why should he bother? A rational position. But - I'm stubborn and I like a challenge. I need to keep in practice. You never know when really skilled nagging will be needed. And besides, pale pink?? in a kitchen??
Getting to the wallpaper removal stage has taken about 18 months of regular commentary, broad hints, not-so-subtle suggestion and outright blatant nagging. Others have also participated in the gradual escalation of the "get rid of the pink wallpaper" campaign. (You know who you are, thank you!)
The question now is, how long will it take now to get to the re-painting stage? He's sort of softened up already by the shock of discovering the pink paint, so that should help. But it never hurts to offer encouragement - so PLEASE DO!
Posted by: Kathryn at February 18, 2004 01:10 PMfakeid@hotmail.com? Hmm...
Anyway, everything she wrote is true. In fact, I want to do the repainting fairly soon. I will not wait long, let alone 18 months. Now that the pink wallpaper is gone, I find the pink wall quite annoying. So it is not long for this world.
Nag away, people.
Posted by: randy at February 18, 2004 01:16 PMIt's funny, but I've never noticed the wallpaper. It was pink, was it? Hmmm.
I'm glad to see you've become mister home improvement. I've been feeling a bit guilty that it's been so long since I installed/replaced/fixed something at your house. Next time I'm in Edmonton we'll have to go to Home Depot and look at power tools. HAHAHAHA. Kidding, obviously.
Posted by: Mike N. at February 18, 2004 03:52 PMAlleluia! The pink wallpaper is gone! VERY funny that pink paint was beneath -- truly a sign that you should be immersing yourself in home renovation projects....
And what's wrong with ratatouille? Does the same go for GAZpacho?
Kathryn rocks!
Posted by: Pam at February 18, 2004 08:06 PMMike, power tools it is, next time you and Sue come for a visit. We'll go to Home Depot and I can pretend I'm Tim Taylor from Tool Time. HA HA HA!!!
Pam, ratatouille tastes AWFUL. As for gaz-PA-cho, I've never had it. Can you make me a batch?
Posted by: randy at February 18, 2004 09:51 PMFinally! A story on Pod-Bay-Dog that's worth reading!
Posted by: Keith at February 18, 2004 10:08 PMBrilliant, man. Just brilliant. Love the goggles.
Let me know when the painting bee happens.
Posted by: Heavy G at February 18, 2004 11:39 PMI like the Scotland Road colour!
Posted by: linda at February 19, 2004 12:19 AMI can hardly wait for the pictures showing you putting "scotland road" wallpaper over the paint.
By the way, can't you use ratatouille as a substitute for pollyfiller?
Posted by: dr.T. at February 21, 2004 11:28 AMYou had pink kitchen wallpaper? And I never noticed? Chalk me up as out of it....
The "doorway to hell" photo is particularly funny. Ever think of writing a song with that title as a companion piece to "Stairway to Heaven"?
Got some news of my own...check my blog for details.
Posted by: darcy at February 21, 2004 01:34 PMWhat? You were wearing a Steely Dan Aja T-shirt doing home renos? Have you no respect?
Posted by: Stuart at February 21, 2004 09:39 PM