After photos of the bathroom...

Another "after" photo......Although the toilet looks pink in this photo, it really is a beige color and looks great with the gold. The color is HC-8 from Benjamin Moore.

This project began two weeks ago and it was just finished today...finally! Three days were spent just scaping off wallpaper and washing the walls. Then the spackling began. Sanding was the biggest mess, even though we covered everything. The old radiator covers (house was built in 1964 and I did not want a major renovation since this is a quest bathroom) needed a good sanding and painting with rust-preventive paint. So I covered the walls and floor, sanded using a belt sander and then spray painted with Rust-0-leum paint. The removable parts were taken outside for that. The spackling needed to be done over a few times since we are not professionals. Then the celing needed to be painted and all ceiling fixtures covered and then cleaned afterward. Then the primer coat was done. Finally the gold color was applied being careful of the white trim. The white trim was last but probably shouldn't have been. Very carefully I needed to go around the ceiling and window and door without smearing paint on the gold. After this all dried, I needed to clean, clean, clean. Dust and paint was everywhere! The window was washed and blinds replaced. Floor was washed and using a scraper, every paint chip and bit of glue, removed. Last finite touch-ups with paint and then the shower stall, cleaned. I washed and oiled the cabinets outside and cleaned all the inside areas and drawers....threw out all the unwanted "junk" and expired medications...lined the drawers and cabinets with Rubbermaid liner.

It's done and I think it looks great but next time I'll hire a professional painter. The project began on a rainy weekend so we thought it was no big deal but we also worked on beautiful days when we could have been out on the boat. At night we were too exhausted to do anything but relax. When I think of how many times we were on and off the ladder and climbing over "stuff" I realized that we could have gotten hurt so easily. Would it have been worth it then?

There is something so satisfing though, with doing a job well done. I guess I miss that now that I'm retired. Work gave me that feeling of accomplishment that I guess I miss in some way. I think I'll write about my job some other time.