Interim Thoughts
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 11:55AM 
Vegetable cans make great painting props.
Nobody will know if you don't paint the backs of the drawers. (unless, of course, you provide photographic evidence on the internet.)
Coffee is better than tea when painting.
Doorfronts are easier to take down than to put back up.
I will never again buy another screwdriver that isn't a Craftsman. Never.
There is something wonderfully satisfying about painting--seeing the worn spots and scratches and mars magically disappearing, to be replaced by a fresh, clean surface--working, working, working to get it right. How much more satisfyingly wonderful must it be to start with a fresh, clean canvas and apply color and texture and vision, mixing colors and thinning paint and working, working, working to get it right.
I love this old house.
Spending over a quarter century collecting quotes gives one much to think about when the hands are busy but the mind is free.
My dogs understand me. They stay out of my way while I am working and they reconnect as soon as the lid goes on the can and the brushes are cleaned. I understand my "velcro" dogs. Ivy is developing patience, but it pains her to be disconnected. Eve is wise. She knows it's easier to nap than to sit and watch.
Never criticize the painter who went before you until you have walked a mile in his shoes.
Painting was easier before trifocals.
One can afford to maintain higher standards when one is younger and still possessed of boundless energy. It is not a sin to cut the occasional corner.
If you should happen to drip paint on the floor, better wipe it up immediately or wait until it has dried completely and carefully scrape it up.
Even after you have sanded to a "fare-thee-well," the 'Ghosts of Drips and Runs of Painting Past' WILL make an reappearance in just the right light. One must learn to accept that and move on.
If a cabinet has been painted 'north and south' AND 'east and west,' that will become increasingly evident once sanded.
The lowering of one's standards can be the beginning of wisdom.
The human heart is infinitely capable of making excuses and rationalizations.
Painting drawers is easier than I remembered.
Fresh paint makes the old paint look 100 percent shabbier.
I love my old house.
I adore Benjamin Moore. Mr. Behr? Not so much.
Reader Comments (6)
So true. Of course, I don't really know about the trifocal part, but the rest of it...true.
What wisdom! I too love to paint--walls mainly. I'm not creative enough to bring something out of nothing, as in a blank canvas. I've painted every room in our house at least once--some more than once! Your post may give me the bug...
Kim you are stripping me clean through with your quotes and quips on the many strokes and drips of painting. See you've turned my brain to paint vapors and I'm beginning to think I'm a wit! Blessings on all the lovely results from your toil!
Fun post, Kim. I sure hope you give us a picture of the finished product. I love old homes too, and yours is really charming.
Painting is much like mowing the lawn. After you are done, you can see what you've accomplished.
I wonder how much time Solomon spent painting his kitchen cabinets...
XO