I am a fan of March Madness, tournament basketball and the excitement that comes from upsets and Cinderella teams. While the dozens of games that took place during the weekend took quite a bit of my attention, I managed to squeeze in several other activities to fill in any gaps.
I started Friday by pulling out the paint and finished a couple of projects that got dropped as life got busy. My front door was a shade of faded rust red I was not a fan of from the time we bought the house. With a little time on my hands I got to work with my brush and now I proudly have a shining white door to greet friends and family.
From there I moved on to two additional painting projects in the house. The first was in the dining/living room area. We have several calendars that tell me different activities and obligations we have throughout the month. I have found myself having a hard time keeping up with all of them and having been looking for a way to consolidate them onto one, large calendar that is very visible in my everyday life.
I started looking around for a chalk calendar that was large, some what decorative and I could hang up. With no luck, I decided to go another route and paint my own giant chalk board on a wall by our table.
I taped out about a 5 x 7 foot space and got to work on my wall. Three coats later and my chalk board was complete. With just the addition of a border to be determined later the project will be done.
My final painting idea for the weekend took place in our hall bathroom that also houses our washer and dryer. Since we moved in, the room has been a peachish color with tan and brown accents in the flooring and tile. While I was never a fan of the decor, it was pretty low on the priority of rooms to address.
After adding a coat of white paint to the cupboard in the room, I got an itch to fix up the rest and a faltering washer that might need replaced pushed me even further.
I started by painting the doors and all of the trim white. The rest of our house, at least everything that I have been able to address is white, a fresh, bright upgrade from the middle of the road brown it started as. Next came the walls, which are now a crisp gray. I know, gray isn’t the most exciting color, and my mom is always trying to get me to add some flare instead of sticking to neutrals, but to start, gray it is.
With all of my projects complete, the house once again felt like it got a face lift. We still have quite a few more to go, but I think in the year and a half we have been in the house, we are making good progress.
Besides my house projects, we celebrated a couple of birthdays over the weekend. My girls were invited, and I tagged along, to a “Beauty and the Beast” fifth birthday party complete with pizza and a viewing of the new live action movie. “Beauty and the Beast” is my all time favorite Disney movie, and I was super excited to share it with my girls.
We also celebrated my nana’s 88th birthday on Sunday. It always amazes me to sit down and talk with her about everything she has done and seen in her life, from growing up and watching electricity be installed to her house to the African safari her and my granddad went on while they were in their 70s and everything in between.
It is a blessing my girls know their great-grandparents and I get to continue to share my life with them and learn from all of their years of experiences. Happy birthday, Nana!
Contact Jamee A. Pierson
at jpierson@newtondailynews.com