Friday 7 September 2012

The Plotting Shed Gets a Facelift

I spend so much time inside the shed that I barely notice the outside of it. Rob recently commented that it was looking a little shabby and suggested that it could do with a bit of a facelift.

"No problem" I said, not minding the thought of spending a couple of hours, paintbrush in hand, artistically slapping eau de nil paint over the tatty woodwork.

"You'll need to wash the green from the sides though," he added, smiling at my naive enthusiasm.

"Fine."

The forecast states that the next three days will be hot, sunny and perfect weather for washing down the shed, letting it dry and then painting it. So, this morning, while Grumps was reluctantly held hostage clipped at the beauty salon, I set to work.

Firstly, I noticed that the elderberry hedging from the field next-door was touching the back of the shed. So, I found the loppers and climbed between the seven foot wall by the field and the woodwork. Suffice to say, I now have one crushed thumb (slight exaggeration, maybe), a bruised chest (the less said about that the better), and I dread to think what insects down the back of my tee shirt.

Then, I filled the mop bucket with hot soapy water, got the soft yard brush and began the awkward task of washing the woodwork. I'm now soaking wet, gritting my teeth from close encounters with several behemoth spiders, and not quite so keen on having to paint. *shivers*

Time for a cup of tea, I think. I have a feeling I'm far better suited to lying in the sunshine reading a book than trying to act as if I'm good at this DIY lark.

UPDATE: I've updated the picture at the top of this post with an 'After' photo. Yes, I know, it doesn't look much different, does it? And naturally the day couldn't pass without his grumpiness getting in on the action.
Guess who got covered in paint? I'm not sure how well you can see it on his grey coat, but thankfully it didn't take too much effort to get rid of the evidence.

18 comments:

DAB said...

Are you going to be a tad radical and paint it a new colour?

B.E. Sanderson said...

I think lying in the sunshine is a wonderful idea. Sorry about your various injuries, but I bet it'll look lovely when you're done. =o)

galant said...

Oh dear, I think him who suggested the re-vamp of the plotting shed should've gone the whole hog and done all this cleaning himself, plus the painting of course!
Margaret P

Melissa Amateis said...

I'm not so good at the DIY stuff, either. We painted our entire house when we moved in (it was a rental and needed it), plus made some other improvements, and that was enough for me for a long, long time.

Jennifer Joyce said...

You've done a great job of cleaning it up!

Cara Cooper said...

Looks fabulous, well done! My shed's getting too cold to write in this time of year but I do love the idea of hiding away....

Chris Stovell said...

Lots of hard work and scary bits... just like writing a book! Well done, Debs - I was waiting for the bit when Rob took over so I'm particularly impressed!

Teresa Ashby said...

I so hanker after a shed, but not sure I'd like maintenance side of things :-) x

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

TF - lol, no. Same colour, again! x

B E Sanderson - it doesn't look much different in the picture, but it's a great improvement closeup.

galant - Rob ended up helping with the painting, as I knew he would. He's Mr DIY!

melissa - I always love the result of all this effort, but don't enjoy it much at the time.

mama j - thanks m'dear.

cara - I love having a shed and being able to lock myself away in there. I think the family enjoy it too ;0)

chris - he did help with the actual painting and did the 'cutting in' and the higher bits.

teresa - I don't think the shed has had anything done to it for about two years, so there isn't too much maintenance needed. They're well worth having.x

D.J. Kirkby said...

I laughed, I shuddered, I may not be quite so keen on getting a writing shed of my own.

Diane Fordham said...

So lucky to have your own space :-)

Rosemary Gemmell said...

The shed is looking great, Debs - and so is Grumpy!

Unknown said...

DJ - the shed is usually clear of spiders inside because every so often I spray it with bug killer when I lock up overnight.

Diane - I know and I'm really grateful for it.

rosemary - thanks. I knew he'd get in the way and get paint on him at some point!

Anita Chapman said...

That shed looks like new now! Poor Grumps getting paint on his coat.

LindyLouMac said...

No radical change then how disappointing, only joking!

Unknown said...

anita - thanks. It doesn't look very different, but it's all ready for the wind and rain I'm presuming we'll be getting soon.

Grumps is such a pain sometimes.

LindyLou - lol, you're quite right. Husband wanted to paint it a different colour, but I like this one, still. :)

galant said...

The paint job on the shed looks wonderful - is the shade a different one or is that just because a change of light when you took the pic?

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