In which hope returns

Priming

Today Mr. Squatter dropped me off at the squat on his way to work, around 6:45am. I got to painting by 7:15, and finally returned home about 30 minutes ago. I am posting this from bed, and will cram in a couple hours of sleep before returning at the same time tomorrow. But I must share, as there are finally signs of progress!

After finishing up the second coats of paint in the record and bedrooms, it became apparent that the colors we had chosen and spent the last couple days applying were hideous. The light grey in the record room appeared lavender, and the lighter khaki-ish contrast was an awful tone that I can only describe as "doll flesh beige." The combination made it look like a nursery. This obviously was not going to work in Josh's manly den. Unfortunately the lighting was so bad this morning that I couldn't get my white balance right, so you'll have to take my word for it.

We don't have a baby.

The darker grey we had chosen for the bedroom was almost okay, but when natural light hit it also appeared to be a dark purple. Also, we'd decided to save money by buying Home Depot paint, which is always a terrible idea. Behr sucks. We all know that.

As luck would have it, our landlady sent a friend over to haul some junk out of the basement and yard, and he happens to be a professional painter. He sent me to Rodda with his info, where I was able to use his discount on replacement paint: yay! The new colors seem to be working out much better.

In the meantime, we had our first guests at the squat today. First our friend Sunday stopped by, followed by my father a few minutes later. As predicted, he is NOT happy about the living situation. He's horrified. They spent a good deal of time trying to convince me that the house is far from livable, and that we need to break our lease before moving in. I was feeling pretty down and defeated, and was racking my brain for other options.



But then something wonderful happened: we got carpet installed in the bedroom and hallway. Before the crew even finished, it was apparent that we hadn't been crazy in thinking we just might be able to turn our little dump into a cozy-- and dare I even say cute?-- home. Our excitement returned, the planning started up again, and hope is reinstated.

hope

Even the yet-to-be-painted hallway almost looks normal.

Though it probably doesn't hurt that we're both a bit nuts.