Dismantled

If it's been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately, it's because I've been up to my eyebrows in painting.  (No, really, I had paint in my eyebrow last Thursday.) 

This is the "before" - pale pinkish-mauve walls, ugly blue carpet, and a chair that really needs a new slipcover!

We decided that the living room carpet had to go - a combination of old, ugly carpet and the smell of cat - so then it seemed that this was a good time to just give the whole room a makeover.  So three weekends ago we moved all the furniture out, ripped out the carpet and the padding, pulled staples out of the subflooring (my opera workshop set-build and strike training at work there!), and commenced painting everything.

Carpet gone, and I think this is after the application of cat-odor-killer.

Oh and did I mention the mantlepiece had to come off the wall before we could get all the carpet out?  Yeah, there was that too.

So most of the painting is finished now, but we're giving the floor paint ample time to dry before we load up the bookcases and drag sofas and pianos across it.  The living room is empty and light and airy, and the rest of the house resembles a junk shop - but it will be worth it in the end!  (And I only have three window-frames left to paint.  I'll be glad to stop washing paint out of my hair.)  I'll be sure to supply you with prettier pictures when we have everything back in place!