Duty (An Armorer/Paladin Story)

Back to the grindstone

I spent most of the rest  of the day preparing the house for paint. I masked the windows with  plastic and found a really neat plastic adhesive sheet on a roll that I  put down to protect the floors. I'd rented a sprayer so that the  painting would go as quickly as possible, and before I went back to the  hotel that night, I had managed to spray primer on all the new drywall.  The dogs went into the sun room, and I promised I would bring dog beds  with us the next day. Not all the rooms had overhead lighting, so I'd  gotten a couple of camping lanterns and made do with those. We were up  with the dawn--the dogs moaned pitiably, but I was firm-- and I stopped  at a pet store for new beds and to buy a new bag of food. All this and  some toys, and the dogs were happy. The door from the sun room to the  outside was a handle rather than a knob, so they could let themselves in  and out.

I had to be focused; I  wanted the house to be more-or-less ready by the time I had to report to  work, and time was in short supply. I started off by spraying all the  ceilings a flat white, then moved on. I was saving time by painting most  of the rooms a warm white, with a rose cast to it. I like reds,  purples, blues, and greens, not yellows or oranges, so this would go  with pretty much anything. It would be a lot easier to bring in color  with accessories than to paint the walls whenever I got a wild hare. The  exceptions to this paint consistency was the dining room, in which I  planned to use a rich green below the chair rail and white on top for  now until I found some nice wallpaper, a sweet periwinkle in the  kitchen, the sun porch's few paintable surfaces would be a light green,  and my bedroom a pretty, very light pink. It wasn't as if I was planning  hosting an orgy or anything, and lord knows I never paid attention to  lighting when I was younger, but now that I had a few years on me, I was  beginning to see the value of flattering light. Even if it was just for  me. As I painted, I wrestled with what to do with the bathroom. I hated  the tile in there. There was nothing wrong with it per se, it just  wasn't me. I don't like small white octagons. But it would really put me  behind to have tile redone. In the end, I reasoned, I could use the  full bath across the way. It had plain white beveled tiles in the  shower, with glass accent tile that was also used as the backsplash for a white vanity, and would look pretty when I painted it in a  purple color that was too peppy to be a proper lavender, and I really liked it. I would have  to find some how-to videos to see if it would fit in my timeframe. By  the time we left late that night, the painting was done in all rooms  except the master bath. That was going down. And I had painted the trim  in the rooms with colored paint.

The next day I felt I  was in a pretty good place. Sure, I was exhausted, but I was making so  much progress. I still had the tin ceiling to put up in the kitchen and  the butler's pantry, but that was going to take some help. I dropped the  pups off at the house and went back to Home Depot, where a very nice  associate helped me locate everything I'd need to remove the tile and  put up nice stuff. Then I said to hell with it, and bought a new vanity  and faucet sets for the sink and shower and the tub. I liked the new  low-flow toilet and a medicine cabinet had been installed that had a  lovely oval mirror, so that was great. Shelves for towels and stuff had  been built (I'd sprayed those white while I was at it), so I wasn't in  that bad of shape, all things considered. The associate in plumbing  warned me about overtightening when putting up the fixtures, and advised  me to buy some replacement washers until I got the hang of it.

I spent a huge chunk of  the day at furniture stores, but I'd decided already that if I didn't  really like something, I'd wait to buy until I did. But I was in luck  and found a great bed, night stands, and bureau for my bedroom with a  cedar chest for the foot of the bed. I planned to outfit one bedroom as a  guest room, but didn't know what to do with the other, so I passed on  furniture until I figured it out. Aside from lining the walls in the  attic with three-shelf bookshelves, I didn't know what I wanted to do  there, either. The parlor with the turret would be an office/library,  and I found a wonderful desk, a huge, gorgeous art deco beast and a good  desk chair. I thought I'd splurge and have bookshelves custom made; I  didn't have nearly as many books as I used to, and it would take time to  build up my collection anyway. I'd probably have to have a cushioned  seat custom made for the window seat that lined the turret. There was a  great sectional for the other parlor with a supremely comfortable  armchair, a coffee table sized will for the sectional, end tables, and  an entertainment center. What I couldn't really find was a table and  chairs for the dining room and a sideboard. Lamps where they were  needed. I found a great pedestal table and four chairs for the kitchen,  so when I was home I wouldn't have to eat on the floor. The dogs were  awesome and smart, but they tended to believe that any food on the floor  belonged to them. I paid extra for prompt delivery. Then I went to a  couple of lighting stores, where I found the perfect crystal chandelier  for the entryway hall, another beauty for the dining room, and new  sconces for my bedroom. I liked the pot lights in the other rooms  downstairs, all on dimmers, which was nice, and the overhead lights in  the upstairs rooms and the lighting in the bathrooms was excellent. Then  to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target for sheets, towels, pots and pans,  the lot. After a hurried dinner, I hit Nordstrom for the last stuff on  my list: really good pillows, a down duvet,  the last of the kitchen  stuff, and stoneware, everyday glasses, and cutlery. I'm sure I was  missing things, but the bulk of the work was done.  It wasn't really the  right season to get furniture for the sun porch. I dumped everything at  home and went back to the hotel early at nine. We slept in til seven,  too.