The alluring whiff of gloss paint

As you may or may not know, I had the last week off work. I promised myself that I'd spend a few days bumming around and generally recharging my batteries, and then get to work on finishing off the games room (or second bedroom as probably everyone else would refer to it). After a few days of frenzied (well, moderate) activity the decorating part of it is done, much to my relief.

For those who saw it when I moved in, it was painted dark blue, and all the walls were covered in that lovely bubbley=textured wallpaper. There was also a particularly delightful painting of Spiderman, Shrek and Scooby-Doo on the wall. To top it all off there was a wooden Daido rail round the place. When I took the rail off it was obvious that it has also pulled off a lot of the plaster underneath it.

The wallpaper itself was horrendous stuff to get off...it had been painted over several times, and was also of a 2-ply nature, meaning it came off in sheets, with the added bonus that it was covered in wallpaper paste. Once iit was removed I had to wash the walls to get rid of the gloop. That done, there was the job of getting the walls vaguely flat. This was done with a lot of Polyfilla, a long stick (for smoothing, and getting everything the same level) and some special gloop for damaged walls, to smooth off the places where the old basecoat had peeled away. It was time well spent, as once the basecoat was applied the walls looked, if not perfect, at least un-damaged.

I spent a bit of time picking a shade for the walls. As with other rooms I wanted a fairly neutral colour, but something a bit more colourful than the living room (this room isn't going to get the benefit of large red sofas to brighten it up). I ended up picking a shade of yellow unfortunately called "Wild Primrose". Once I'd slapped that on I was happy that the work I had done on the walls was worth it...there are a couple of dodgy places, but I doubt many people could spot them casually...I'm only aware of them as I've just spent 3 days in intimate contact with the place.

The finishing touches were glossing the skirting board, door frames and window sill (how come matt emulsion doesn't smell at all, yet a small tin of white gloss can reek like an industrial chemical plant?), before sticking up a curtain rail and a blind for the window...then it was just a matter of putting the carpet back down and assembling the foosball table...job done!

...well, almost. I want to replace the carpet, probably with carpet tiles (and I may do some kind of pattern...not sure yet, but I reckon a big chess-board in the floor would look good). I also need to get curtains and a lamp shade, as well as some furniture (book cases along a couple of walls, to store all the books currently sitting in boxes). These will have to wait unti lafter Christmas probably, as I'll need to co-ordinate delivery, and sweet-talk someone into a B&Q run to get the carpet stuff. The room is servicable now though, and means that I can start eyeing up the hallway and stairwell as the final big indoor project on the house...