Painting is my nemesis and I think the light fixture had it out for me too!
Let’s chat painting stripes
As a compromise to my daughter wanting a dragon mural on the wall, we agreed to stripes. However, those stripes didn’t agree to me! Actually, I went about applying the stripes all wrong. Take this as your guide in How Not to Apply Stripes On A Wall.
Step 1
Use painter’s tape correctly. Meaning… do not put the painter’s tape up and realize you want some pieces longer so you add a piece on top of the already hung piece and extend it out that way. Yes that was a run-on sentence but it had to be said without taking a breath for the impact! Just start over. Trust me when I say, “it’s better to waste the tape and start over than to mess up the paint job.”
Step 2
I knew to paint my white base color over the stripes to prevent bleed through of the solid colored stripes. However, I got distracted and only did the base color. You know what that meant? When I finally painted those stripes, I had bleed through because the base (my white paint) was already dry. Instead, you should paint over your tape with your base color; allow to slightly dry, then proceed to paint your stripes.
It looked so good when I taped it!
These lines could have most certainly been crispier
Step 3
Pull the painter’s tape off at a 45° angle. Your lines should come out far more crisp than mine. Le sigh… I’ve got to fix these stripes. But before I do that … there’s a new light fixture to hang.
Lights On
I purchased a light fixture from Amazon with the intentions of having someone else put it up. The more I saw what was required via YouTube University, the more I felt I could do it myself. Only one problem… ya girl not trying to electrocute herself!
I turned off ALL power sources – meaning the breaker box and the light switch in the bathroom. Was I still afraid? Sure was. You know I’m not going to fake the funk with ya. It wouldn’t be genuine of me if I did. Then I proceeded to dismantle the light fixture. Admittedly, the first go round of this was quite intimidating when I saw all those wires back there.
Previous builder’s grade light fixture
The old junction box was an interesting plot twist. It was not attached to a stud, which was also non-existent meaning no stud behind the wall at all. Additionally, the junction box was not flush with the circular cut out in the wall. This meant my new fixture’s base would not appropriately fit.
Notice how the junction box sits back in the wall instead of closer to the edges of the drywall’s circular cut out
In my Insta stories I shared that I cringe at the thought of cracks and crevices. Guess what? I cringe more at the thought of placing my hand inside the wall; but I did it! <insert a mini dance party here!> The junction box was replaced with a nifty one that had flanges to open up behind the wall, allowing the box to sit flush with the wall and no stud needed!
We now have a fresh new junction box and the ability to proceed with hanging our new light fixture. Better light bulbs headed this way shortly!
Next Week’s Goals
Next week’s goals will be:
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Addressing the stripes -have to figure out how to make this look better without it being one big solid block of color.
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Start prepping the vanity to paint it
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Hang mirror
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Prep top of vanity for epoxy
A lot going on leading into Week 5 of the One Room Challenge. I’m hoping it all comes together; but in the meantime, here’s a link to the other guest participants: www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog.
