The Sanding Saga Continues: 2 Weeks After Starting

Here we are, two weeks after sanding the walls and I still have dust flying EVERYWHERE! But I will admit, I gave up on cleaning. I got the big stuff done (mostly) and the rest....Well, it will probably be flying from now until next year.

Somebody please stop me before I take on any more home updates! Oh, wait, I started to re-stain the deck this weekend. And that is turning into a whole nother nightmare project right in front of my eyes.  Wasn't supposed to work out that way, but what in life is?

Between the wall and the deck I am about to go broke and crazy. It is all Lowe's fault for having paint and stain on sale at the same time. I can't miss a sale and I'm too impatient to wait until one thing is done to play with my new "toys." I'm just waiting on the day the nice people at Lowe's tell me they are sick and tired of seeing me. I've made 4 trips in 3 days and still need to pick up a few more things.

Anyways, this is all turning out better than I could have ever imagined! I was so tired of scraping and sanding I decided to do what I could do and just try a coat of primer over what was left. I patched all my holes and started in a small area to see what would happen. It was a thing of beauty! There is something about a clean, smooth, white wall that just can't be beat. Okay, it wasn't completely white just yet, but it was progress. I read on a home improvement blog "progress over perfection" and I have to keep repeating this to myself when I get fixated on something that is beyond my abilities and I need to just stop. One thing is my trim. 40 year old trim will never look like brand new trim no matter how bad I want it to even out and be smooth. I have to just do what I can do and move on.

Here are some before photos

Main wall after sanding texture

Around closets after sanding

I applied at least three coats of Killz primer to the wall. With every coat just a little more damage faded away. Just a few more specks of leftover brown paint got covered. I ran out of Killz and didn't want to make a trip to. Lowe's (gasp!) or Wal-Mart so I stopped by Sherwin Williams on my way to work. I had looked it up before going and knew they sold a primer that was close in price to Killz so I thought it wouldn't hurt to just get it. I've never been in a Sherwin Willams store, but holy crap, that is some expensive stuff! I asked for a basic primer and walked out paying $30 for a gallon. I doubt I'll be going back.One good thing was that made for the final coat of primer. I finally could live with the way the drywall looked and was ready for paint. I went to Lowe's, got my paint and could not wait to get some on the wall to see what would it would one day look like.

Main wall after priming

Around closets after priming

And this is where the break down happened.

I'm on my 4th gallon of this exact paint in this exact color so I know what it is supposed to look like and what the texture is supposed to be. It was so far from it I could not believe it. The paint was the consistency of water. Thank goodness I used a drop cloth (which I don't always do because I'm lazy and not the brightest.) I got more of the paint on the drop cloth than I did the wall. It just would not stick to the roller. This is a type of roller I've used before, so I know that wasn't the problem. I stirred it well before I poured it out, so I know that wasn't the problem. The only thing I can think of is I just got a bad can.

I could have possibly lived with that but once I got it on the wall, it was nothing like the color it was supposed to be. I have this color in my dining room and my hallway and this wasn't even close. This was something like a yellow brown taupe when the other rooms were the perfect cool greige color for our house.  I want to get rid of yellow undertones, not be surrounded by them. I sat back on the bed and seriously fought back tears. All this work, time, and money. I got it so pretty only to ruin it with the wrong color of paint. I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry a lot over this.

Doesn't look like a big difference but it was huge to me

After letting it sit overnight it only got worse. My husband agreed that something wasn't right. We had to go to Lowe's anyways so I just thought I would ask if there was something that could be done. I didn't even have to explain the story, I just started with it wasn't the quality I expected and they said bring it back. I can not tell you how happy that made me. I got another gallon that I think is going to work out much better. I know it won't be the exact same because of all the primer under there and the lighting in the room but it looks like it will be close. I'm not stable enough to handle painting a lot of it just yet but in time I will be.

For now I'm just going to sit back and be amazed at how lovely a clean white wall and trim is. It isn't perfect, there are still small bumps and rough patches but it is good enough for me. No one will ever criticize it the way I will. I have to let go of thinking that someone will walk in my bedroom and only see that patch of texture that just would not come off in that one corner. I'm not yet 100% convinced that all of this will be worth it in the end but I'm getting there. One day I will look back on all of this and say I was an idiot to tackle it but I love our bedroom so much more because if it. Perhaps.

My Dumbest Home Makeover Idea Ever: Removing a Textured Wall Part One

Let me start off by saying that if you are considering applying a thick, heavy texture to your walls, think long and hard about it. Take into consideration that if you ever want to paint it, it takes up paint like you wouldn't believe. Our bedroom should have used about a gallon, gallon and a half of paint, but because of the texture we used almost 5 gallons. A job that should have taken a couple of days took weeks.

Not that bad from a distance but it is like sandpaper up close

Keep in mind texture adsorbs light making your room dark and dreary

Also think long and hard about how much and how long you will love it. If you have even the smallest shadow of a doubt in the back of your mind that you will one day not love it, just stop right there. Also think about how long you plan to stay in the house and how it will affect the resell of your house. And please, please, think about the poor woman who comes along and buys your house and breaks down in tears when trying to remove the horrid thing all by herself.

If I had to do it over, I would have never painted it. But it was the first thing I did when we bought our house 5 years ago. Over time, the pretty brown color has developed chips from the simplest of things, such as pushing a laundry basket up against it too hard or knocking into it with the vacuum cleaner attachments. If something that simple knocks off bumps it can't be that hard to remove, right? [Insert biggest sarcastic laugh ever here]

I started by chipping off just a little in a corner of the bedroom behind the door just to see what was under there. Since our house was previously owned by heavy smoker and I remember the wall underneath being white, I figured they had to have put this texture on not too long before they sold the house. This meant there should have been smooth drywall under there. I had no idea what condition it was in, but it should be under there.

I felt like I was in an episode of Orange is the New Black, quietly hacking away at this paint and plaster without my husband finding out what I was doing . I wasn't sure how he would react when he found out what dumb idea I had gotten into my head now. So I sat tucked down in the corner trying not to make any noise and finding that it wasn't that bad. Scrape  a little, find some smooth wall under there, chip off a little more. It was only slow because I couldn't make noise and I was being super careful, right? [Insert second biggest sarcastic laugh here]

So, after showing my husband what I could do and asking his thoughts on it, I went full steam ahead. And this was about the biggest mistake since the Titanic went the same way. He swears now that he knew it wouldn't work but that he knew better than to try to stop me. Probably so, but it still gives me ground to ask him every day "why didn't you stop me?!?!?" And make him shoulder some of the blame.

I think I read every article on the best was to cover up texture. Mudding, scraping, sanding, installing new drywall, you name it I thought about it. Here's where I need to say that if you can afford to do it and it doesn't bother you, please hire someone to do this for you. My daddy is a construction worker and my mom has been a frugalista since long before it was cool, so I'm not paying someone to do anything I can potentially do myself. No matter how much plaster and drywall dust I have to suck into my lungs. But if you've got the money, at least look into your options for professional removal or covering. Plus, if there's any doubt in your mind there might be lead paint under there, have it tested or consult a professional.

My first attempt was to try what was basically like removing wallpaper or a popcorn ceiling. Spray with water, let soak in, scrape. Didn't work. Add fabric softener to the water. Didn't work. Add vinegar to the mix. Didn't work. When I say it didn't work, it doesn't mean it didn't work at all, it just didn't work effectively. I was staring to soak the drywall that I had exposed and the carpet too. How did I soak the carpet if I was spraying it on the wall, you ask? Because water and latex paint don't mix. Water rolls right off that crap like it was a duck's back. Yeah, that was a quick way to ruin the bedroom and turn my fairly inexpensive transformation into a really expensive pro job. Someone once told me it is full price if I have to do all the work myself and double the cost if I have to go back over your mistakes. I'm pretty sure my goal was to avoid this so I moved on.

My next train of thought led me to how to dissolve the latex paint. Really the plaster isn't that hard at all to get through once you get down to it, but it's getting there that's the problem. One was chemical strippers. This was going to be costly and bad. We were still sleeping in there and my husband is extremely sensitive to stuff like this, so that was out. I read somewhere that you could put oil on it. I had a giant jar of coconut oil so I slathered sections of the wall up like they were sunbathing in the '70's. Keep in mind that on some sections of this wall I had oil, water, vinegar, and fabric softener. There was an interesting smell in my bedroom to say the least. I cut my hand I don't know how many times because I would forget and grab the putty knife on the side and it would slip, taking a chunk out of my finger but not that paint.

I kept reading more articles and found a heat gun method. I didn't have one but I had a blow dryer I found in the dumpster that would work. My husband thought he had a heat gun, but being my impatient self I went ahead with the blow dryer method. I must say this method worked the best. Lightly score the paint, heat it up, scrape away. With this method I got a 3 foot section done in a day instead of a two foot. Problem with this is you have to hold the dryer with one hand and scrape with the other. I am not nearly strong enough to get much done like that. My husband didn't like the idea of me playing with a heat gun by myself, which is fair enough. While I try my best to keep from setting the house on fire, there's a good chance I would have had to break out the fire extinguisher at least once if he had ever found his heat gun.

By this point I've had multiple panic attacks and many sleepless nights over this stupid wall. I realize I am a complete idiot for trying to take this on. I am convinced by now an atomic bomb wouldn't budge this paint and plaster. I was almost to the point of supporting the stupid company that makes this nightmare of a product , eating my diy pride, giving up and going to buy a couple of cans of spray on texture and a gallon of paint to cover up all 10 feet of wall I had cleared. You won wall, you won.

But then my daddy stepped in. Funny how dads sometimes wait to let you learn your lesson before saying I told you so and bailing you out anyways. He too knows that no matter how many times he tells me not to do something I'm going to try to do it anyways. I thought I had outgrown my tendency to go against what he tells me, but I guess I really haven't. Most life lessons and any other advice he gives I usually listen to carefully, but not this time. I guess that's why he waited until the stupid thing broke me before he stepped in. Bet I don't give him a chance to say I told you so again for a good while.

If you've made it this far through this, I hope I have got you to take a step back from a project like this and really, really, really think about what you are doing whether it be putting texture on your wall or taking it off. If you do decide to remove it, just know that it is messy, hard work. If you have a big room, be prepared for it to take months unless you have a ton if time to devote all at once. But don't worry, I'll be here doing it all the wrong ways so maybe you can skip a few steps.

Next time I will share with you mistakes to avoid when sanding a wall. This one will probably have even more mistakes than this post. I'm pretty sure I'll be paying for these mistakes from now til Christmas! And that's really fitting since it looks like it has snowed in my bedroom. But somewhere under the tan colored snow is a smooth white wall just waiting for me to patch, prime, and paint.

New Design Day!

I'm kind of stuck on my home renovations right now, so I thought it would be a good time to get some snoods and hats listed while I watch Flip or Flop on Netflix and plan out what I need to get done next. If I can't work on my house, might as well watch someone else work on theirs, right? 

Most of the time I feel like I've run out of new characters to turn into snoods, but occasionally I'll be browsing Pinterest or a magazine and see a "why didn't I think of this sooner" idea. Today's idea is the hippo. Really, this is a huge duh moment in my life. I see tons of comparisons of pit bulls and hippos, so it is only fitting that I turn my pit bull into a hippo in hopes someone put there will want to as well.

Mr. Hippo Man

This one is a lot like a mouse snood, but instead of pink on the inside of the ear they have white. The ears sit a little closer together than on a bear snood. I think he makes a great hippo!

Lincoln was in a good mood today and we managed to make it outside in time before the sun was too high and hot. As long as he's in a good mood and likes my choice of cookies for the day I figured I might as well get some more photos done. It isn't often we get a chance to do a lot at one time, might as well go for it while you can.

The next one I really, really like. I love the color combination on this one. I'm calling this a white mouse. This one is really a beige color with cute little beige and  pink ears.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm, But the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese

Just as with the hippo and the grey mouse, this one has cute little rounded, close set ears on top. I think this one turned out well and can't wait to sell my first one.

I also got a shark photographed, but I'm not so sure how I feel about it just yet. I'm not sure I like the design on the fin as well as I should. Here's a peek at it

I'm thinking a re-do is in order for this one. I stuffed the fin with scrap yarn to help it stand, but I think it just made it bulge in weird places. One day I'll get the shark just right. I'm just hoping I get it done before Shark Week!

That's all for now. I'm off to prepare to try to sand down a textured wall tomorrow. That's a long story that I plan on sharing in the near future. I just have to make sure I don't let it defeat me first!

The Real Rules of Living With Pit Bulls

The Real Rules of Living With a Pit Bull

1.) The first and last bite of every meal will be mine. From every person eating.

Mmmm, Corn!

2.) All the pillows and blankets are mine. I will skillfully arrange them to my liking, not yours. Don't bother folding them, I don't like them that way.

All Comfy Now

3.) Your favorite spot on the couch is really mine. Thanks for warming it up for me though.

There's Some Room on the Floor For You

4.) Your king size bed is mine. If you can manage to fit in a space I'm not taking up, great. I like to cuddle, but I will push you out of the bed if you take up too much room. Don't go messing up my blankets and pillows when you go sleep on the couch though, it took a long time for me to get it like that.

I Didn't Like the Pillows On My Bed

5.) All the dirt in the yard is mine. I will dig holes in it the way I want and then I will drag as much of it as possible onto your freshly mopped floors. I don't like the floor being clean, I need some of that dirt in the house with me.

We Need More Dirt for the House

6.) All the guests that come in the house are mine. They aren't here to see you, they are here to rub my belly and have me sit in their lap. Quit being rude and offer my guests a drink. Better yet, offer them dinner so I get extra food.

I'm Waiting on That Drink

7.) All of mom's attention is mine. All of dad's attention is mine. This leave no attention for mom and dad to share with each other. If that begins to happen I will gladly step in and put a stop to it.

Sorry Mom, No Room For You

8.) That hand of yours? It is mine. When I want my head rubbed I will demand it be on me by taking my nose and forcefully ramming it into your hand. It doesn't matter if you have a cup of coffee in it, you have plenty more in the kitchen. Hey while you're at it, can you grab me some chips?

Just Hold My Hand

9.) That face of yours? That's mine. I will lick your face when you come home, when you are sad, when you are happy, and at 2am if I feel the need to do so. Sometimes I just need reassurance that I will be able to wake you up for breakfast. Oh, you're up and going for a drink? Grab me some cookies while you're in there, ok?

Got Your Face

10.) This heart of mine? It's yours. I will love you with all of it, I will do what ever it is that you ask of me, no matter how good or how bad. Please don't abuse this love. Only ask me to do good things. I don't want to be bad, I want to love you and everyone else. Please guide me in the right direction and show me the love and kindness I deserve. That's all I really want of out of our life together.

Just Love Me

What Is A Snood

Pink Cat Snood

My most popular product would have to be my snoods. While the idea is not an original idea, it was an ah-ha moment suggested by one if my favorite customers. I sold cowls and hats and someone asked me to put them together and make something that would cover the ears and the neck at the same time.

I listed my first snood and sold the first one in an hour and not even to the person who it was intended for. I ended up selling three in the first day of listing them. I never dreamed they would take off quite like they have. From bears to mice I try to offer a large range of themed snoods. Before you think they are just something silly and serve no purpose other than to embarrass you dog, let me explain what makes them more than just a costume.

Snoods are traditionally worn by dogs with long ears to hold them back while eating and drinking. Most of these are sewn with a satin fabric which isn't the warmest fabric ever. While this type of snood has plenty of uses I wanted to make something to focus on helping keep dogs warm.

We all know I love the pit bulls of the world. As hard as it is to think about, some of them come from a very bad life before they find a loving home. Sometimes this includes having horrible things done to their ears. Once they find a person to love and take care of them, they need something to protect what they have left of their ears. This is where a snood is practical. No dog should have to endure going out in freezing temperatures, wind, rain, and snow with nothing to stop the elements from getting in. True they may look a little silly with big bunny ears flopping around, but at least they are protected. Of course they can be used for any breed with any kind of ear problems, but my biggest focus is pit bulls.

Even if your dog doesn't have ear problems, snoods are still great for dogs who spend a lot of supervised time outside. Some dogs love to be outside running or walking with their owner no matter how cold it is. Even though they love being outside, they still need something to keep their ears and head warm. 

With a lot of the large breed dogs they look scary but they are quite the opposite. I've had people dash to the other side of the aisle way when I've had my dogs out in public all because they are big and scary looking. Both of my dogs love people but I won't force them on someone who is truly afraid of dogs. I keep the leash tight and have them as close to me as possible when we are around people who don't know them. But if you see a dog out in public dressed up in a funny looking snood it takes some of the intimidation away. People aren't nearly as quick to judge a dog when they are trying to look like a cute little piggy.

My newest products are coordinating snoods and baby hats. With the growing trend of having your dog in family photo shoots I thought it would be adorable to have your baby and dog in matching hats. I'm thinking it doesn't get much cuter than a fall picture with a baby and a dog dressed up as pumpkins together. I've also had a few people do their babies in pigs with their dog in a wolf snood. How cute is that?

While some people think it is strange to dress a dog up in anything, especially bigger dogs, I find it completely normal and necessary. Even if some of my snoods are used for a good laugh, at least their ears are nice and warm while they are looking a little silly. 

Meet Our Family

Hi!

My name is Courtney and I run a little etsy shop called Courtanai (court-a-nay.) Weird name, right? So confusing even my dad can't always get it right. It's what happens when you put my first name and my middle name (Anai) together. I still have an engraved bracelet my dad gave me as a kid that says "Courtania." Can't blame my dad, it was my mom's idea. She said she wanted something unique and boy did she ever find it! The only other reference I've ever found was Anais Nin and I don't have the heart to tell my mother what she wrote.

Anyways, enough about me. Since this is my first blog post I want to tell you the story of my little family and how we all came together.

Any one who knows me knows my dogs are my family. They are my children. I could also say that about my cat, but that would just anger him. So I would like to take a moment and introduce you to my little family and how we all came together.

Lincoln is the oldest. He is the happy brown pit bull you see in most of my photos. You could say he is the reason I'm here today. He demanded I let him wear a scarf one day and posed beautifully for me to take his picture with it on. Because he was so good at it and so easy to work with we have continued this business for almost 4 years.

Lincoln

Lincoln came to me as a stray. Someone found him wandering around all by himself when he was about 8 weeks old. They brought him in to the animal hospital I work at. It was love at first sight. It wasn't hard, Lincoln loves everyone and I love pit bulls so it was the perfect match. I didn't even ask my husband, I just brought him home. We can laugh about it now but he wasn't pleased when he came home that night to find this pit bull puppy with ears bigger than his head curled up on the couch. We had made an agreement we wouldn't have dogs in the house that we had just moved in to a couple of weeks before. I knew that wouldn't work for me but I figured I could sweet talk him later if I needed to. I didn't have to do any sweet talking for Lincoln, he instantly loved him as much as I did. Hubs put on a good show pretending that he didn't, not talking to me, not playing with the puppy, going to bed mad. When I went to bed that night, there was Lincoln and hubs all snuggled up together. I am so thankful Lincoln was brought in. He's more than a pet, more than a dog, he is the greatest friend you could ask for.
Fitzgerald 

Next up in the family is Fitzgerald. I tried to make cat cowls once but he turned it into a belly band and wouldn't let me get it off of him. He isn't a sociable guy at all. Most people who visit don't even know I have a cat. He might creep around a corner when someone is here and look at them with horror, but he has never once approached anyone in the house except Lincoln and myself. I've had him 3 years almost and still haven't sweet talked my way out of this one. Someone left him at the back door of the hospital in a box with "help me" wrote on it. It took some time for him to warm up to me. I had no intentions of bringing him home, I was even convinced he hated me because he would try to get away from me any time I came close to the cage. But as I got him out more the more attached to me he became. I knew I had to bring him home when I got him out one day and he wanted to make biscuits on my arm and kept looking at me like he couldn't believe he was getting to do it. I had puncture marks for awhile from his over zealous kneading. I still get those marks when he gets to spend time alone with me. Sometimes you can see him in photobombs or when I bribe him with ice cream for a better photo on Instagram. Even if you don't see a lot of him, he's always lurking in the shadows close by.

Kennedy
Last in our family is Kennedy. Sometimes she sits still long enough to get a picture, but it is still pretty rare for that to happen. I try to get her to dress up but she would rather go out and roll in the mud than put on a cute outfit. I thought I needed a girl to dress up but I got a girl who wants to be one of the boys. Kennedy was another drop off. She had two broken and badly infected legs. She couldn't walk when I brought her home but her strength and determination never waned. One of the most heart breaking things you will ever see is a puppy so proud of herself that she can't stop wagging her tail because she learned how to pull herself across the floor. There were so many days of putting her out in the snow in a desperate attempt to get her fever down, months of carrying her everywhere and never once did she act like she wanted to give up. She still has a few issues sometimes, but if you don't know what to look for you would never know there was ever anything wrong with her. Sometimes I wonder if it was unfair of me to make her go through all of that but then she looks at me with complete happiness and I know I did the right thing.

So there you have our little family all summed up. I believe each one of them found me for a reason and I love to share their stories of how it happened. Thanks for listening to me ramble on about my kids!