my friend's bathroom

last weekend i painted my friend's bathroom.

she's an artist. i'm a painter.

here are some of her masterpieces hanging on her dining room wall:

here's her bathroom before i started:

the wallpaper was in good shape (even though she's lived with it for 17 years & it was there before she moved into the house so no telling how old it was), so she didn't want me to take it down, just prime over it & paint with texture sand in the paint. she chose a light pink color & they colored the primer the same color. she originally picked a very very white pink & i said "i like the next one up" & she said "no, i want it very faint" & i said "it's your bathroom!"

she & her husband went away for the weekend & when i got to her house friday night i noticed she had not got the lightest selection, but the one above it.

the room with the tub & toilet was already textured so i just primed & painted it. they tinted the primer to match the paint & it was a pretty bold pink & i knew she wasn't going to want the pink that bright, so when it came time to put the paint on the walls, i tested a small area. yeah, i knew she wasn't going to want it THAT pink, so i mixed the pink with a gallon of white. that toned it down to a nice light pink. i thought it turned out nice.

i also painted the ceiling, woodwork & doors, & vanity white.

a funny thing happened while i was painting the ceiling in the room with the sink.

(i SWEAR i don't make these things up just for my blog!!!!!!)

it was about 1am, i'm up on the ladder painting away, the house is quiet, i'm a little creeped out because i'm in someone else's house, with the window bare & feeling like there are people watching me, when i hear a crash! it sounded like glass breaking. my heart started beating 1000 miles per minute. i jump down off the ladder & think "oh crap! {i don't think i said crap, i think i said something else!!!} someone has broken into the house! my phone is on the kitchen table. i have no way to call 911 & nothing to protect myself with! dear God, if they kill me, please let me die quickly!!!" WHY do things like this have to happen when i'm alone at someone's house???

i went into the bedroom & saw the towel bar lying on the bed. i picked it up, looked down the hall, saw nothing, heard nothing (except my rapid heartbeat!), walked down the hall, looked into the living room. didn't see anything or anyone & all the windows looked fine. they have a glass door in their kitchen that goes to the garage. (that's scary enough as it is!!!!!) glass wasn't broken, but it looked like there was a note on the door. that really scared me because i thought "how did someone get into the garage to leave a note? the door was closed." now i'm really scared, but everything looked ok, so i go back in the bathroom & finish painting that ceiling at RECORD SPEED!!! you never saw anyone paint a ceiling so fast!!!!

i cleaned up & left about 1:45. but i had to go out the side door & walk to the front (they live in a patio home, door is on the side, garage door is at the front). before i opened the door i prayed, "dear God, i KNOW you are with me & will protect me. please Jesus, walk with me to my car & get me in it safely. if anyone's out there, protect me from them or let me die quickly & painlessly. amen"

i got to my car, locked it right away -- after dropping the keys TWICE while getting in!!! when i got home, my heart was still beating fast!!!

the next morning when i got back over to their house i went in the tub room to see how the paint looked. she has this tub mat that looks like clear plastic stones. the night before it was hanging on the towel bar in the tub. that morning it was on the floor of the tub. THAT was what fell the night before & scared the living bajeebers outta me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the door between the 2 rooms was closed & at 1am that falling mat sure sounded like breaking glass!!!!! all i could do was laugh!!!!!! and they say God doesn't have a sense of humor!!??!! He sure tested my faith that night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(the "note" on the garage door was a flag sticker that's been there forever & i have seen every time i've gone over there because i always come through that door!!!! but i SWEAR that night i couldn't remember that fact!!!!!) (like what would a "note" from the killers say, "hi, we've come to kill you but we're not going to do it right now, so we just left you this note to tell you that!"??????!!!!!!)

that primer is pretty bold!

pretty pink

saturday i painted the walls & woodwork -- here's a picture of the vanity partially painted - look at the difference between the old white paint (on the door) & the new white paint (on the vanity & door trim).....

here's the final product -- light pink is very hard to photograph.

and the "before, just as a reminder

she called me monday to say she loved it!!!
she called me on tuesday to say she thought it was TOO pink & she wanted me to paint over it with a lighter pink.
she said her husband loved it. i said i loved it, but it was HER bathroom. we both told her to "live with it" for a few days & she still felt the same way a few days later.
she called me on wednesday & said she got the lighter pink paint & when could i do it?

i went over friday after work & painted over the 2 rooms. it was lighter. it was still pink, but way lighter. when i got done, she said she LOVED it & it was EXACTLY what she wanted.

i haven't seen it dry -- i hope it turned out nice. she told me at church sunday that it was perfect.

i asked her what color she wanted me to paint it THIS weekend.
she punched me!!!!
(not literally, just figuratively!!!!!)

you need somethin' painted? i'm for hire!!!!