OT: Sponge-painting walls
Gutterboy
I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ... putting
down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
achieve a trompe l'oeil texture. I've got the instructions down, but I'm
wondering if anyone has any real-world experience with this, and perhaps some
tips.
Is it as easy as they say? I've seen some nice examples of this, but also some
ugly ones -- and the ugly ones seem to involve too much paint or a sea sponge
with holes that are too large, rather than delicate. Also: is it worth going
over the wall a third time with a still-lighter color to achieve a greater
sense of depth?
In any case, I thought I'd start with the dingy half-bath for practice and see
how it looked before proceeding -- anything I did to that room would be an
improvement.
Comments appreciated. Thanks.
Gutterboy
-----------------
"I can't think of a more pro-family, pro-child policy." -- Rep. Tom Davis
(R-Va.), announcing his support of a plan to give all federal workers 6 weeks
paid leave when they sprog
Helen Wheels
"kit" which included a pan, a roller, and a couple hand sponges.
The roller has one cover on each side, both have funky shapes.
You put one color in one side of the pan, one in the other.
Then you just roller the paint onto the walls. You might want
to play around a bit to see how you can best get the desired effect.
IMHO this looks just as good or maybe even better than hand-sponged
walls, and it's a HECK of alot less work!
Helen
Cathleen
gutte...@aol.comesnipme (Gutterboy) wrote:
>A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
>
>I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ... putting
>down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
>achieve a trompe l'oeil texture. I've got the instructions down, but I'm
>wondering if anyone has any real-world experience with this, and perhaps some
>tips.
Yes! I've done this many times now, some more successful than others.
The last one I did was my new home office, attached to our detached
garage. I wanted an Italian garden look, the room has French doors into
the garden. Anyway, I painted the walls a beautiful Tuscan yellow color
called Mocassin (Ralph Lauren) and then got Universal tints at the paint
store. They're about $7.50 for a bottle that will last forever!
I painted the walls the flat yellow/ocher color. The next day, take one
part paint, one part "glazing liquid" (which you can find everywhere these
days, craft stores, Kelly-Moore, Home Depot, wherever. I used Behr brand
from HD.) and then a few drops each of Burnt Umber and Burnt Siena, which
made a Siena/russet color. You can use sponges or rags or plastic bags
even but I used a large (6" across) bristle paint brush and painted really
large "x"s of the glaze over the already painted walls. Then take
damp-to-wet cheesecloth and wipe off the glaze. It looks just like the
walls in Italy I was trying to reproduce.
Of course, you can use any mixture of colors with this technique. If you
used off-white paints and a glaze of the same paint with a touch of the
universal tints (there are about 8 different ones) then you get a
parchment look on the walls.
This was, by far, my most successful job. The trick is to think use subtle
colors in layers if you want an aged look. I highly recommend the glaze,
it's easy to work with and gives great results. But don't buy the gallon,
I used about 1-2 cups total of the glazing liquid!
This room is 20' by 11' and it took one day to paint the flat latex on the
walls and about 4 hours total to do the glazing.
Here's a great website with techniques and "recipes":
http://www.paintedhouse.com if I remember. If thaat's not it do a search
on Debbie Travis Painted House.
John & Mari Morgan
wrote:
>Is it as easy as they say? I've seen some nice examples of this, but also some
>ugly ones -- and the ugly ones seem to involve too much paint or a sea sponge
>with holes that are too large, rather than delicate. Also: is it worth going
>over the wall a third time with a still-lighter color to achieve a greater
>sense of depth?
I've done it three times. It's harder than it looks. The first time,
my teenaged self loved the result (stark white sponged over midnight
blue, it looked like a nighttime snowstorm!) but my adult self
cringes. *laugh* It certainly was dramatic, but I've lost my taste for
drama, now preferring subtlety. The second and third times it was
"shades of ecru" (base color the darker off-white, sponged part
lighter) and it worked pretty well. The third time was the one I was
most pleased with and I did do the three-color version. Two shades
looked comparatively flat so I added the third. I just bought regular
latex paints and thinned down the one for sponging with some water -
back then, Christopher Lowell had not yet begun spouting the glories
of glazes and suchlike and well, I was cheap. :-) I think if I did
something like that again I'd buy one of the cheater rollers, though,
to speed up the process. A 10x10x8 room took me all of a long weekend
because of having to let each layer dry very thoroughly and I couldn't
lift my arms up to shoulder height for a week afterward. (And that was
when I was in _good_ physical condition!)
Good luck,
Mari
-
Trying to win an argument with an irrational person is like
trying to teach a cat to snorkel by providing written instructions.
--Scott Adams
Veronique
gutte...@aol.comesnipme (Gutterboy) wrote:
> A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
>
> I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ... putting
> down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
> achieve a trompe l'oeil texture. I've got the instructions down, but I'm
> wondering if anyone has any real-world experience with this, and perhaps some
> tips.
>
> ugly ones -- and the ugly ones seem to involve too much paint or a sea sponge
> with holes that are too large, rather than delicate. Also: is it worth going
> over the wall a third time with a still-lighter color to achieve a greater
> sense of depth?
>
> how it looked before proceeding -- anything I did to that room would be an
> improvement.
>
> Comments appreciated. Thanks.
I've achieved some gorgeous marbling effects with sponge painting and
several colors. I did a table in pink with white, and when a friend
picked it up to move it, he mistook it for real marble and almost heaved
it out a plate glass window!
But anyway, I'd use a base coat (darkish) with at least two other sponged
layers. One would be a lighter version of the base coat and the second
would be either white or gray (probably white) OR (if you want to be
daring) a contrasting color. You can also dip a feather into paint to
streak it (which increases a marbling effect.)
I think you're exactly right about smaller holes being better. You
needn't commit yourself to sea sponges; regular ones work fine if you
shred them a bit.
Best of luck-- sounds like a fun project!
V.
--
Veronique Chez Sheep
Love will get you like a
case of anthrax
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Tracey A. Callison
: A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
: I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ... putting
: down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
: achieve a trompe l'oeil texture. I've got the instructions down, but I'm
: wondering if anyone has any real-world experience with this, and perhaps some
: tips.
: Is it as easy as they say? I've seen some nice examples of this, but also some
Well, the room I tried to do that in ended up with a full overcoat of the
color I'd tried to "colorwash" it in, it jsut looked too terrible as it was.
I like it the way it is now, though - it's very calm and peaceful
(sherbet green).
Tracey
so no, it's not as easy as they say. The people that we bought the house
from "tested" it in my dh's bathroom, which looks like a cloudscape on acid.
They did a much nicer job in the kitchen. So if you don't mind the hallway
being a surreal experience, go for it. :)
ian_janet
"Gutterboy" <gutte...@aol.comesnipme> wrote in message
news:20000604122919...@ng-fm1.aol.com...
> A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
>
> I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ...
putting
> down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
> achieve a trompe l'oeil texture.
>
I once visited a house in which the occupants had created blue patterns
on white walls, in an apparent attempt to achieve a marble effect. It
looked like large varicose veins!
Be afraid. Be vey afraid.
Janet
Amy S Snyder
consuming. I found it helps to get glazes instead of paints.
(i.e. something more translucent than opaque) Otherwise
the effect is blotchy. I think the book "Recipes
for Surfaces" is pretty good. A preactice surface is a good
idea, too. You can find out what you like and what you
don't. I typically paint the wall with an undercoat and
then apply glazes on top. If you're doing a design which
requires a long "wet" time, oil based glazes work better,
though they're harder to clean up and stink to high heaven,
IMO.
--
------------------------------------------------
Amy Snyder Hale, Dept of Geology & Planetary Science
"When planets go around an around in circles,
Noelle
ian_janet <ian_...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:uLCsPSwz$GA.188@cpmsnbbsa09...
Some friends of mine (possibly the only two gay men I've ever met with no
decorating sense whatsoever) bought some (IMO) hideous blue carpet. They
carpeted almost the entire house with it. A note on the house: it's almost
30 years old, they got a fantastic deal on it, but they were only able to
see the great deal they got and weren't able to see how much redecorating it
was going to need, because it apparently hadn't been redecorated since it
was built. Burlap wallpaper in the entryway. Grotesque maize-colored walls
in the bathroom. Every decorating sin of the late 60s-early 70s imaginable.
Anyway, this carpet they bought: I can't do it justice. It's not quite a
regular textured carpet, it's almost like indoor/outdoor carpet, with that
really short nap. It's dark blue and has lighter blue...starbursts? on it.
The design looks like exploding fireworks. They must have gotten a great
deal on it, too. But to add insult to injury, they decided to paint the
walls of one of the 2 smaller bedrooms to match the carpet. And this was a
tiny bedroom to begin with. When I first saw it, I thought they'd carpeted
the walls; they duplicated the pattern that faithfully. The problem lies in
the fact that the carpet's butt-ugly to begin with. In that one bedroom,
they did light splashes/sponge blots on a dark background. Then they did the
other bedroom in the reverse. It's truly hideous. I had to keep telling
myself, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything..." when they
proudly showed it off to me.
I should talk: my computer room walls are still painted in the "clouds in
the sky" manner that they had when we bought this house in 1997. To be fair,
the previous owners didn't do a bad job. Most of the time we ignore it.
Sometimes it hits us just how silly it looks. :) The previous owners had
some peculiar color sense. Our house is a 2 story with pretty red brick, but
for some reason they painted the wood siding avocado green, with white trim.
They proudly told us they'd just painted the house before they put it up for
sale. The living room has a gorgeous vaulted ceiling...but 2 of the walls
were pale blue and 2 were Pepto-Bismol pink. We're still working to correct
that, painting all the walls in a vanilla ice cream shade, with white
baseboards and trim. It's hard to paint vaulted ceilings. The master bedroom
and bath were done in peach, which is a color I haven't gotten along with
since I was 16 or so. *sigh* Little by little...
Joyous
house that was painted.......pink. Very pink. Kind of a glowing pink.
This carried over inside, too. The downstairs half-bath had a pink sink and
toilet. Upstairs, one of the bedrooms was light pink, and when you opened
the closet door, your eyes were blasted by a sort of radioactive fuschia
that coated the inside.
Another bedroom was wallpapered with plaid wallpaper: pink, green, blue,
orange, white, and yellow plaid wallpaper. With matching drapes.
The master bath had bubble-gum pink trim with a sort of kelly-green carpet.
Not for the faint-hearted.
--
Joyous
"Men were created because cats can't mow the lawn. Women were created
because sheep can't cook. Neither of these explains children."
----------
In article
<B7A38BBC071CB5F7.A0A3D283...@lp.airnews.net>,
Noelle
Joyous <kissacat AT mindspring DOT com> wrote in message
news:8hhj2t$roe$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net...
> I lived for a short while in a huge 90-year-old brick mansion-y looking
> house that was painted.......pink. Very pink. Kind of a glowing pink.
>
> This carried over inside, too. The downstairs half-bath had a pink sink
and
> toilet. Upstairs, one of the bedrooms was light pink, and when you opened
> the closet door, your eyes were blasted by a sort of radioactive fuschia
> that coated the inside.
Sounds like the "Pink Palace" in "Sophie's Choice." :)
Kathryn Holmes
I hate to tell you, but as a professional in the design business I must,
that this look is considered rather dated.
Try a colour wash or some other tone on tone effect.
K
Tracey A. Callison <call...@wwa.com> wrote in message
news:hoG_4.767$vP1....@ord-read.news.verio.net...
> Gutterboy (gutte...@aol.comesnipme) wrote:
> : A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
>
> : I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ...
putting
> : down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges
to
Gutterboy
>I hate to tell you, but as a professional in the design business I must,
>that this look is considered rather dated.
Well, so is the bathroom...
>Try a colour wash or some other tone on tone effect.
What is that? How do you do it?
Helen Wheels
Kathryn Holmes wrote:
>
> Sure, I've done it many times, all in the 80's.
>
> I hate to tell you, but as a professional in the design business I must,
> that this look is considered rather dated.
I hate to tell you this, but as one who frequently uses usenet,
that came across rather snotty.
Of course you consider that look dated. If you people didn't constantly
declare everything out of style, you'd be out of work. But some of
us are more interested in creating homes that we like rather than
homes that are in style. Today's style, tomorrow's laughing stock.
Helen (sniffs, turns, walks away)
ian_janet
"Noelle" <gno...@fastlane.net> wrote in message
news:B7A38BBC071CB5F7.A0A3D283...@lp.airnews.net...
>
> ian_janet <ian_...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
> news:uLCsPSwz$GA.188@cpmsnbbsa09...
> >
> > "Gutterboy" <gutte...@aol.comesnipme> wrote in message
> > news:20000604122919...@ng-fm1.aol.com...
> > >
> > > I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ...
> > putting
> > > down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea
sponges
> to
> > > achieve a trompe l'oeil texture.
> > >
> >
> > I once visited a house in which the occupants had created blue patterns
> > on white walls, in an apparent attempt to achieve a marble effect. It
> > looked like large varicose veins!
> >
> > Be afraid. Be vey afraid.
Snip most of tale of people with revolting taste in home decoration.
The previous owners had
> some peculiar color sense. Our house is a 2 story with pretty red brick,
but
> for some reason they painted the wood siding avocado green, with white
trim.
> They proudly told us they'd just painted the house before they put it up
for
> sale. The living room has a gorgeous vaulted ceiling...but 2 of the walls
> were pale blue and 2 were Pepto-Bismol pink. We're still working to
correct
> that, painting all the walls in a vanilla ice cream shade, with white
> baseboards and trim. It's hard to paint vaulted ceilings. The master
bedroom
> and bath were done in peach, which is a color I haven't gotten along with
> since I was 16 or so. *sigh* Little by little...
When I was looking for my first home, back in the 80s, I grew all too used
to the sight of lurid purple or orange walls, and floors covered with a
hotch-potch of clashing carpets in hideous vomit patters (or perhaps they
really were vomit-stained.) Most of the vendors were apparently either
colour-blind or on acid trips when they decorated. Or puking drunk. Maybe
that accounted for the vomit look.
As regards your blue and pink walls, I believe there was a fashion around
the 70s for using different colours for different walls in the same room.
Avocado (or "toilet green" as my friend quaintly terms it) was another
70s/80s fad which I dislike. It was a very popular shade for bathrooms in
the UK. I envy you your peach bathroom. It's an improvement on my bathroom
suite, which is a charming shade of shit brown! (oh, well, at least no one
notices if you haven't cleaned the lav.)
Janet
>
Veronique
Hear, hear! Unless Gutterboy is selling his house in the next year,
surely the only important criteria is whether *he* likes the effect. Call
me odd, but I think it's very strange to decorate your house to please
some faceless "other" out there, rather than what pleases you. Who has to
live with it, anyway?
IleneB
Hmmm. I think it recycled. I believe my little cottage was last redone
in the late '50s, and it was completely tastefully done in avacado
green and harvest gold. I've painted all the walls blue or pink but the
fixtures remain... Until the demolition.
Actually, I was considering having some sponge painting done on my
new-to-be upstairs. I saw a sort of lilac with... markings... on it.
What is color washing, and how likely is it to turn out bad?
Ilene B "no, no septic permit yet. Why ask?"
In article <#qx6Ie7z$GA.289@cpmsnbbsa09>, ian_janet
Noelle
> As regards your blue and pink walls, I believe there was a fashion around
> the 70s for using different colours for different walls in the same room.
> Avocado (or "toilet green" as my friend quaintly terms it) was another
> 70s/80s fad which I dislike. It was a very popular shade for bathrooms in
> the UK. I envy you your peach bathroom. It's an improvement on my
bathroom
> suite, which is a charming shade of shit brown! (oh, well, at least no
one
> notices if you haven't cleaned the lav.)
But...but...my house was built in 1990...which hardly accounts for the
avocado siding! Thankfully, the actual bathroom fixtures are almond, not
peach, so they won't have to be replaced.
I have seen a bathroom with avocado toilet and sink before. Very, very
frightening. Green is my favorite color, but avocado (as well as mint and
Astroturf green) is a shade I've never gotten along with.
Veronique
>
> ian_janet...
>
> I have seen a bathroom with avocado toilet and sink before. Very, very
> frightening. Green is my favorite color, but avocado (as well as mint and
> Astroturf green) is a shade I've never gotten along with.
A friend and I once looked at a rental that had grass green carpeting,
avocado green walls and ceiling, lime green curtains...and an enormous
philodendron that encircled the entire perimeter. It was like being
underwater.
IleneB
Ha! Excellent point. Not much different than "fashion." All of that
exists to make us want to feel like we need to buy STUFF that we
neither need nor really want.
If I *liked* avocado green and harvest gold, I wouldn't mind that my
bathroom and kitchen look "dated." The fact is, they look bilious.
Reading home design/decor magazines is like reading Vogue or something.
Stuff, stuff, stuff. Attitude. Ranking on others via stuff. Identifying
one's self via stuff.
Ilene B
Jodi
>Snip most of tale of people with revolting taste in home decoration.
Which are pretty much on a level with our current rental house. I had
stopped seeing it until I had my enforced month off work in April. When
it comes time to re-negotiate the lease in August I'm going to beg for
new carpet in the living room, and flooring that is not carpet in the
bathroom and kitchen.
>As regards your blue and pink walls, I believe there was a fashion around
>the 70s for using different colours for different walls in the same room.
>Avocado (or "toilet green" as my friend quaintly terms it) was another
>70s/80s fad which I dislike. It was a very popular shade for bathrooms in
>the UK. I envy you your peach bathroom. It's an improvement on my bathroom
>suite, which is a charming shade of shit brown! (oh, well, at least no one
>notices if you haven't cleaned the lav.)
The bathroom suites in both the dump I own and the dump I rent are
avacado green. The former owner of the one I own decorated around it in
a rather nice way that went with but minimised the effect of the green.
Whoever decorated the bathroom in the dump we rent thought that because
the fixtures were green, so should everything else be. Tiles,
wallpaper, carpet.
I *hate* this house, but for various reasons we're going to be staying
in it for the next year and a bit.
Jodi
Jodi
>A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
>
>I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ... putting
>down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
>achieve a trompe l'oeil texture. I've got the instructions down, but I'm
>wondering if anyone has any real-world experience with this, and perhaps some
>tips.
I haven't done it myself, but one of my friends sponge painted her
bathroom a couple years back. It looks great, but her big tip was: keep
a steady flow of gin and tonic going. Otherwise it gets boring.
Jodi
Lizzie
<0BD256AE5CAA31C0.74FE68CF...@lp.airnews.net>...
>
>
> I have seen a bathroom with avocado toilet and sink before. Very, very
> frightening. Green is my favorite color, but avocado (as well as mint and
> Astroturf green) is a shade I've never gotten along with.
>
The tub at my sister's house is Taxicab Yellow. It's really heinous, and
doesn't go with the rest of the fixtures - the sink and toilet are white
and the tiles are an odd flesh color with burgundy trim.
The previous owner was a real piece of work - tried to do it all himself
even though he didn't know what he was doing. The garage had termites, so
instead of getting it treated he jacked up the garage onto cinder blocks
and SAWED THE BOTTOM OF IT OFF to remove the termite infested section.
Needless to say the termites just relocated upwards.
My favorite Ugly Bathroom story: When we were looking at houses one house
had what we called The Christopher Columbus Memorial Bathroom in it.
It was large and well laid out, but had a black tub, white sink and
toilet, with wallpaper that was white with HUGE black prints of ancient
maps of the world all over it. I mean the continent of Africa was about 2
feet tall. It repeated about 4 times around the perimeter of the bathroom.
The crowning touch was the crystal-chandelier sconces on the side wall, and
the bare-bulb fixture directly overhead. Very surreal effect <grin>.
Liz
Lizzie
>
. The living room has a gorgeous vaulted ceiling...but 2 of the walls
> were pale blue and 2 were Pepto-Bismol pink. We're still working to
correct
> that, painting all the walls in a vanilla ice cream shade, with white
> baseboards and trim. It's hard to paint vaulted ceilings. The master
bedroom
> and bath were done in peach, which is a color I haven't gotten along with
> since I was 16 or so. *sigh* Little by little...
>
Sounds like our house, but entire rooms were blue (master bedroom) and that
awful Pepto pink (spare bedroom). The blue room is now off-white but the
pink room is still pink and gives me a headache looking at it. Maybe I'll
get to it this summer.....
I paint everything off-white or cream as I have no decorating sense and
don't dare to do anything else, plus the house is really small and looks
bigger that way.
I like peach (very very light peach) for bathrooms for some reason but not
for any other rooms. My parents did paint their bedroom peach and it looks
ok, but my mom has good sense that way.
It takes forever to get it the way you want it, doesn't it? Seems like it
never ends.....
What I really want to do is redo the kitchen but we don't have the $$$
right now....
Liz
Lizzie
<8hhj2t$roe$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net>...
> I lived for a short while in a huge 90-year-old brick mansion-y looking
> house that was painted.......pink. Very pink. Kind of a glowing pink.
>
Sounds like a Mary Kay house <grin>....
Veronique
"Lizzie" <Green...@worldnet.spamless.att.net> wrote:
> Noelle <gno...@fastlane.net> wrote in article
> <B7A38BBC071CB5F7.A0A3D283...@lp.airnews.net>...
> >
> . The living room has a gorgeous vaulted ceiling...but 2 of the walls
> > were pale blue and 2 were Pepto-Bismol pink. We're still working to
> correct
> > that, painting all the walls in a vanilla ice cream shade, with white
> > baseboards and trim. It's hard to paint vaulted ceilings. The master
> bedroom
> > and bath were done in peach, which is a color I haven't gotten along with
> > since I was 16 or so. *sigh* Little by little...
> >
>
> Sounds like our house, but entire rooms were blue (master bedroom) and that
> awful Pepto pink (spare bedroom). The blue room is now off-white but the
> pink room is still pink and gives me a headache looking at it. Maybe I'll
> get to it this summer.....
> I paint everything off-white or cream as I have no decorating sense and
> don't dare to do anything else, plus the house is really small and looks
> bigger that way.
>
> I like peach (very very light peach) for bathrooms for some reason but not
> for any other rooms. My parents did paint their bedroom peach and it looks
> ok, but my mom has good sense that way.
Count me in as a peach lover (fruit and color.) Peach bathrooms tend to
make one look better under the harsh glare of bathroom lights, for the
same reason that pink lightbulbs make skin tones look better.
V. (who left her peach bathroom in San Francisco, alas)
Jason Steiner
> Kathryn Holmes wrote:
> >
> > Sure, I've done it many times, all in the 80's.
> >
> > I hate to tell you, but as a professional in the design business
> > I must, that this look is considered rather dated.
>
> I hate to tell you this, but as one who frequently uses usenet,
> that came across rather snotty.
Actually, I think she was pretty fucking tactful.
Sponge painting is right up there with powder blue suits, lavender
shag carpet, and avocado green on the list of things that weren't a
good idea even when they were popular. In fact, in decorating, as in
baby naming, popularity is a pretty decent guide to what to avoid.
If it's the hottest thing right now, you can be pretty sure that
it's objectively pretty hideous.
Full disclosure: My favorite piece of furniture is a huge red-plaid
chair and matching ottoman from Sears. But I KNOW it's ugly. I bought
it because it's going to go perfectly in my tongue-and-groove pine
paneled den with all my 3rd place bowling trophies, neon Pabst Blue
Ribbon beer signs and fine products of the taxidermist's art.
jason
--
"As we all know, the devil has the best tunes." - Michael York
Kent
: Full disclosure: My favorite piece of furniture is a huge red-plaid
: chair and matching ottoman from Sears. But I KNOW it's ugly. I bought
: it because it's going to go perfectly in my tongue-and-groove pine
: paneled den with all my 3rd place bowling trophies, neon Pabst Blue
: Ribbon beer signs and fine products of the taxidermist's art.
Hey, a friend of mine has a Farrah Fawcett beanbag chair he might let you
have...
Kent
Gutterboy
and see how it goes. I'm not exactly Mr. Home Improvement, but -- as I said --
the bathroom is pretty dingy as is.
The tips were really helpful, and between them and some stuff I've found on the
Web I think I can try it. If it looks crummy -- well, that's what white paint
is for.
Gutterboy
A Novice in the Home Arts
Nel...@ibm.net
>In article <20000604122919...@ng-fm1.aol.com>,
>gutte...@aol.comesnipme (Gutterboy) wrote:
>
>>A Sunday question for the Collective Fount of All Information:
>>
>>I am thinking of repainting some of my house with sponge-painting ... putting
>>down a base coat and then applying a lighter overwash using sea sponges to
>>achieve a trompe l'oeil texture. I've got the instructions down, but I'm
>>wondering if anyone has any real-world experience with this, and perhaps some
>>tips.
>Yes! I've done this many times now, some more successful than others.
>
>The last one I did was my new home office, attached to our detached
>garage. I wanted an Italian garden look, the room has French doors into
>the garden. Anyway, I painted the walls a beautiful Tuscan yellow color
>called Mocassin (Ralph Lauren) and then got Universal tints at the paint
>store. They're about $7.50 for a bottle that will last forever!
>
>I painted the walls the flat yellow/ocher color. The next day, take one
>part paint, one part "glazing liquid" (which you can find everywhere these
>days, craft stores, Kelly-Moore, Home Depot, wherever. I used Behr brand
>from HD.) and then a few drops each of Burnt Umber and Burnt Siena, which
>made a Siena/russet color. You can use sponges or rags or plastic bags
>even but I used a large (6" across) bristle paint brush and painted really
>large "x"s of the glaze over the already painted walls. Then take
>damp-to-wet cheesecloth and wipe off the glaze. It looks just like the
>walls in Italy I was trying to reproduce.
My experience has been very close to Cathleen's. Getting the right
materials for the job makes a big difference in the outcome. The
glazing liquid is much more sensitive than regular paint when it comes
to picking up texture. The drying time of the glaze is longer too..
this allows you to correct anything you don't like.
For me, natural sea sponges have worked better than rollers,
especially if I vary the position inwhich I hold the sponge.
>Here's a great website with techniques and "recipes":
>http://www.paintedhouse.com if I remember. If thaat's not it do a search
>on Debbie Travis Painted House.
wow... what a great site. Thanks to Cathleen for posting it.
Before you start on the wall, pratice on a piece of white oaktag.
After it dries you can stand back and decide if your color combo is
exactly what you want. When applied to the shiney side of the oaktag,
the colors look very similar to how they'll look on a latexed wall.
Good luck with your project!
NellePas
Jim
Rabbit wrote:
>
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Tee hee! My bathroom is Taxicab Yellow! I was a cabbie and have a fairly
> large collection of toy taxis and memorabilia (rooflights, meter, fare
> cards, etc.). We don't have a recreation room, and so we figured what the
> hell, why not make the bathroom fun?
>
> We painted it chrome yellow, and put a checkerboard border (they sell them
> in the children's department for race-car themes!) around the wall just
> above the wainscotting. The cars are in cabinets on the wall, and my taxi
> plates are hung up just below the ceiling. It's pretty cool. All the
> accessories -- towels, table, etc. -- are black.
>
> Rabbit
Do you charge $4.50 for the first mile and $1.00 per additional 1/8
mile?
Jim - plus tip, of course.
John & Mari Morgan
wrote:
>The tips were really helpful, and between them and some stuff I've found on the
>Web I think I can try it. If it looks crummy -- well, that's what white paint
>is for.
And Kilz. Kilz is your friend.
Mari
-
Trying to win an argument with an irrational person is like
trying to teach a cat to snorkel by providing written instructions.
--Scott Adams
Ellen
[lots deleted]
>Sponge painting is right up there with powder blue suits, lavender
>shag carpet, and avocado green on the list of things that weren't a
>good idea even when they were popular. In fact, in decorating, as in
>baby naming, popularity is a pretty decent guide to what to avoid.
>If it's the hottest thing right now, you can be pretty sure that
>it's objectively pretty hideous.
A few thoughts on this thread:
1. "Hideousness" isn't objective, it's subjective, as taste can't be
measured. Maybe you were going for the "familiarity breeds contempt"
idea.
2. Something chosen and preferred by many people is a drawback to
others. For example, I don't like see-through doors on kitchen
cabinets; they make the place look cluttered, even when it's spotless.
But, they're common in some housing styles and parts of the world,
and are considered a feature. I just don't want 'em in my house.
3. It was nice to see something other than 70's decorating/fashion
get picked on for a change.
4. Kathryn gave her professional opinion, and said, "...this look
is *considered* rather dated" (emphasis mine). Her comments
didn't come across as snotty to me, or to Gutterboy either,
since he asked about the color wash suggestion.
5. Something that's "dated" or "unattractive" to one person, even to
the majority of people in the same boat, is "Hey, cool!" to another.
(orange formica countertops, anyone?)
--Ellen, being way too nitpicky, sorry
Noelle
Tara D <mand...@echo-on.net> wrote in message
news:ssfsjsg19ltm6733t...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 08:59:35 -0400, Helen Wheels <hl...@psu.edu> wrote:
>
> > Today's style, tomorrow's laughing stock.
>
> was from the 70's in appliances.
You should have seen my parents' kitchen in the late 70s-early 80s. My dad
has some decorating ideas that are...unique...to say the least. The floor
was old, old avocado linoleum in a faux-tile pattern, peeling all over the
place. The refrigerator was a matching shade of green. My dad, in his
infinite wisdom, decided to start Formica-ing all over the place. Now, my
dad really does build beautiful cabinets, but he covered the door panels of
the kitchen cabinets with black Formica. The cabinet door handles were huge,
baroque antiqued brass things. The bar (we ate at a bar, not a table) was
black Formica, but the food preparation counter was hideous red-orange. I'm
not sure what he was aiming for, but the overall effect was Halloween-scary
and together with the avocado made the kitchen look like a mold experiment.
Some of the other rooms in my parents' house: Carpet on the walls of one
bedroom. A bed that appeared to be suspended from the ceiling by chains (in
a bedroom with a color scheme of red, white and black). A faux portico along
one bedroom wall, complete with stucco arches, beyond which a
flocked-wallpaper "ivy-covered" wall could be seen. My canopy bed--which
looked like a giant white table (flat top, not the curved, arching canopies
of "little girl" bedroom suites), with strips of mirror set in the bedposts,
an upholstered, padded headboard covered in green-gold velvet, and fake
white fur covering the inside of the canopy. Actually, the bed was kind of
cool. :)
Noelle
Ellen <e...@raisins.ssc.com> wrote in message
news:8hm88p$ku0$0...@216.39.159.17...
> 5. Something that's "dated" or "unattractive" to one person, even to
> the majority of people in the same boat, is "Hey, cool!" to another.
> (orange formica countertops, anyone?)
LOL, I posted the message about my parents' hideous kitchen before I read
your posting, Ellen. Orange formica countertops, indeed. :)
Noelle
Kent <kmp...@nospam.not> wrote in message
news:_oC%4.210$CY....@news-reader.ntrnet.net...
> Noelle said:
>
> : Some of the other rooms in my parents' house: Carpet on the walls of one
> : bedroom. A bed that appeared to be suspended from the ceiling by chains
(in
> : a bedroom with a color scheme of red, white and black).
>
It was my older brother's room and actually decorated in the early 70s. He
had moved out by 1981. :) Further eccentricity in the decorating: each
window had a padded frame over it with an oval opening. The frame was
covered in black leather-like vinyl, which matched the bedspread. Black
chains hung from the ceiling to the four corners of the bed, which created
the illusion that the bed was suspended. Bright red shag carpeting. Black
woodwork and cabinetry. I'm sure everyone thought it was cool back then. :)
I didn't get off as lucky; my dad decided that his little girl's bedroom had
to be decorated in pastel yellows and greens. :P
> : flocked-wallpaper "ivy-covered" wall could be seen. My canopy bed--which
> : looked like a giant white table (flat top, not the curved, arching
canopies
> : of "little girl" bedroom suites), with strips of mirror set in the
bedposts,
> : an upholstered, padded headboard covered in green-gold velvet, and fake
> : white fur covering the inside of the canopy. Actually, the bed was kind
of
> : cool. :)
>
> You were a love goddess even at that age! ;)
LOL! I always thought of it as my "princess bed." It also had sheer white
tie-back curtains on all four sides. Certainly none of my friends had
anything like it. I also had built-in bookshelves and an enormous closet
with sliding mirrored doors (my dad installed the doors without telling me,
so I came home one day, went to my room and almost died of fright when I
walked past my own reflection). Actually, the worst sins of my room were the
celery-green shag carpeting and the wallpaper that covered the window
frames. My parents' house is 100 years old and has BIG windows. My dad had
built rectangular, boxy wooden frames around the windows (I could use them
as window seats) and they were covered with the most hideous wallpaper you
ever saw. Enormous daisies and sunflowers in BRIGHT yellow, orange and
green. Very 70s.
Lizzie
> Tee hee! My bathroom is Taxicab Yellow! I was a cabbie and have a
fairly
> large collection of toy taxis and memorabilia (rooflights, meter, fare
> cards, etc.). We don't have a recreation room, and so we figured what
the
> hell, why not make the bathroom fun?
>
That's a neat idea - I should suggest that to my sister. Right now she's
trying to fight it and just keep the shower curtain closed all the time.
But your way would turn a eyesore into an asset!
Thanks for the idea!
Liz
Kent
: Some of the other rooms in my parents' house: Carpet on the walls of one
: bedroom. A bed that appeared to be suspended from the ceiling by chains (in
: a bedroom with a color scheme of red, white and black).
Woo, that color scheme just SCREAMS "early '80s" to me! My best friend at
the time went off to college at Barnard in '81 and got rid of ALL her
clothes that weren't one of those colors, got sheets in those colors, etc.
At the time, I thought it was a cool idea. But the other day, I was in a
fast-food restaurant with that exact color scheme on the wallpaper, and I
could almost HEAR Joan Jett singing "I Love Rock & Roll".
: flocked-wallpaper "ivy-covered" wall could be seen. My canopy bed--which
: looked like a giant white table (flat top, not the curved, arching canopies
: of "little girl" bedroom suites), with strips of mirror set in the bedposts,
: an upholstered, padded headboard covered in green-gold velvet, and fake
: white fur covering the inside of the canopy. Actually, the bed was kind of
: cool. :)
You were a love goddess even at that age! ;)
Kent
Kent
: x-no-archive: yes
: The meter was a real find. It's an old Novel brand, the big chrome one with
: the key and the flag that you turn around to turn it on. It was set at a
: 70-cent drop (what comes up when the meter is first turned on), which was
: the price when I started driving.
That is REALLY cool! Even for a non-former taxi driver, it would be cool.
Wow!
The first time I visited NYC, I was walking down the street and saw a
parking meter completely ripped OUT of the ground, just lying there. My
immediate thought was "Wow, I've got to have that!" [my last name is
"Parks" after all...]. Of course, I knew I'd never be able to get it back
home (if indeed I could even lift it--those things go pretty far into the
ground) since I'd carpooled up with 3 other people. And, of course, I'm
sure the NYPD wouldn't take too kindly to see me strolling down Broadway
lugging (I guess I should say "schlepping" since we're talking NYC!) a
parking meter! Still, it was cool.
Kent
Jason Steiner
> On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 08:59:35 -0400, Helen Wheels <hl...@psu.edu> wrote:
>
> > Today's style, tomorrow's laughing stock.
>
> Ah, that explains Harvest Gold, Burnt Sienna, and whatever that green
> was from the 70's in appliances.
>
> <who does have a Harvest Gold toilet; but it's in a knotty pine tongue
> and groove basement bathroom. It suits.>
Harvest gold _can_ be done, but it really needs contrast. Goes very
well with dark wood trim and furniture in a similar color with dark
brown leather cushions. '50s lighting fixtures are also a necessity.
Avocado, on the other hand, is just plain evil.
Veronique
Jason Steiner <ja...@gaydeceiver.com> wrote:
> Tara D <mand...@echo-on.net> wrote:
> > On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 08:59:35 -0400, Helen Wheels <hl...@psu.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > Today's style, tomorrow's laughing stock.
> >
> > Ah, that explains Harvest Gold, Burnt Sienna, and whatever that green
> > was from the 70's in appliances.
> >
> > Tara
> > <who does have a Harvest Gold toilet; but it's in a knotty pine tongue
> > and groove basement bathroom. It suits.>
>
> Harvest gold _can_ be done, but it really needs contrast. Goes very
> well with dark wood trim and furniture in a similar color with dark
> brown leather cushions. '50s lighting fixtures are also a necessity.
>
> Avocado, on the other hand, is just plain evil.
Au contraire, mon ami; I have seen a brilliantly done Victorian-era room
in avocado green with deep reddish/burgundy trim...a stunning effect but
I am too wussy to try it myself.
V.
Jason Steiner
> Jason Steiner <ja...@gaydeceiver.com> wrote:
> >
> > Avocado, on the other hand, is just plain evil.
>
> Au contraire, mon ami; I have seen a brilliantly done Victorian-era
> room in avocado green with deep reddish/burgundy trim...a stunning
> effect but I am too wussy to try it myself.
Normally I'm a big fan of all things stunning, but when it comes
to living environments... well, I don't like getting hit on the head
every time I walk into a room.
Veronique
Jason Steiner <ja...@gaydeceiver.com> wrote:
> Veronique <veroniq...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> > Jason Steiner <ja...@gaydeceiver.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Avocado, on the other hand, is just plain evil.
> >
> > Au contraire, mon ami; I have seen a brilliantly done Victorian-era
> > room in avocado green with deep reddish/burgundy trim...a stunning
> > effect but I am too wussy to try it myself.
>
> Normally I'm a big fan of all things stunning, but when it comes
> to living environments... well, I don't like getting hit on the head
> every time I walk into a room.
>
Jim
Jason Steiner wrote:
>
> Tara D <mand...@echo-on.net> wrote:
> > On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 08:59:35 -0400, Helen Wheels <hl...@psu.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > Today's style, tomorrow's laughing stock.
> >
> > Ah, that explains Harvest Gold, Burnt Sienna, and whatever that green
> > was from the 70's in appliances.
> >
> > Tara
> > <who does have a Harvest Gold toilet; but it's in a knotty pine tongue
> > and groove basement bathroom. It suits.>
>
> Harvest gold _can_ be done, but it really needs contrast. Goes very
> well with dark wood trim and furniture in a similar color with dark
> brown leather cushions. '50s lighting fixtures are also a necessity.
>
> Avocado, on the other hand, is just plain evil.
>
> jason
>
The absolute worst, however, were the two tone brown* fridges from the
early-mid 80's. Patty had one in her last apartment. If you want to see
one, just tune into "Married with Children" reruns.
Jim
* brown with a darker brown around the edges of the doors.
Ellen
>> (orange formica countertops, anyone?)
Noelle wrote:
>LOL, I posted the message about my parents' hideous kitchen before I read
>your posting, Ellen. Orange formica countertops, indeed. :)
They make me think of the Brady Bunch house :) I've never actually
seen them in a RL kitchen, although the small U. of Washington branch
library I worked at for 3+ years had one. It was cool.
Noelle
Jim <flam...@cybercomm.net> wrote in message
news:393FD168...@cybercomm.net...
> The absolute worst, however, were the two tone brown* fridges from the
> early-mid 80's. Patty had one in her last apartment. If you want to see
> one, just tune into "Married with Children" reruns.
> * brown with a darker brown around the edges of the doors.
My late grandmother had the epitome of late 60s-early 70s decorating in her
house. Every room had a color scheme. The kitchen was brown--brown
appliances (including a fridge just like the one you mentioned),
orangey-brown cabinets, and pears. Pears were everywhere--from the yellow
and brown curtains to the plates on the wall (she collected decorative
plates and had a lot of them from different states). Brown Hullware
dishes--which she bequeathed to me, along with her carnival glass.
The living room was green in all its glory. Multi-shaded green shag carpet,
bright green tweed furniture. The second bedroom was the "red room"--red
shag carpeting, red sheer curtains (so the room always had an eerie red
glow), red bedspread. The "den" or TV room in the back was all dark browns,
a very gloomy and cavernous room. Since it was also one of the only 2 rooms
in the house with a window unit air conditioner, and because the blinds were
always closed, it was also the coolest room in the house. I have many fond
memories of going to my grandmother's house after school, sitting in that
cool dark cave of a room and watching cartoons with my brother. :) (while we
had sandwiches made from government cheese and drank Dr Pepper)
Rat & Swan
Ellen wrote:
> They make me think of the Brady Bunch house :) I've never actually
> seen them in a RL kitchen, although the small U. of Washington branch
> library I worked at for 3+ years had one. It was cool.
You would have loved the kitsch-en in my first house, the Offhand
Manor. When we bought Offhand, one of the selling points was a
"recently remodeled kitchen". Wow.
It had a cheesy Western motif with tacky cabinetry painted "ranch brown"
(what DO we find on ranches that's *that* shade of burnt umber, Class?)
with counters that were burnt orange in hue. The linoleum floor was
Harvest Gold and the appliances (stove fridge and sink) were all
cinnamon brown! With the orange glass light fixture (wagon wheel motif)
and the coffegrinder decorated wallpaper and the faux brick wall behind
the stove (what a nightmare THAT was to clean!) it was H*I*D*E*O*U*S
indeed! Oh and the paneling was "ranch brown" all through the house.
Oh well... at least it had lots of electrical outlets. One in the
cupboard, four on the walls, one under the sink and one on the floor.
The livingroom had one IN the fireplace! I Don't Want To Know.
And of course, the house had the mystery Switch. I think EVERY home has
one. That's the light switch that doesn't seem to turn ANYTHING on. Not
the light, not the nearest outlets, nothing. It sits there, on the wall,
connected to absolutely nothing. We put a book case in front of it
every time we change homes. We had one on murrieta, we have one here,
there was one in the Manor. I wonder where the Mystery Switch will be in
our new place.
H'mmmm.
So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
Swan
Renee
wrote:
>And of course, the house had the mystery Switch. I think EVERY home has
>one. That's the light switch that doesn't seem to turn ANYTHING on. Not
>the light, not the nearest outlets, nothing. It sits there, on the wall,
>connected to absolutely nothing. We put a book case in front of it
>every time we change homes. We had one on murrieta, we have one here,
>there was one in the Manor. I wonder where the Mystery Switch will be in
>our new place.
>So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
Ours is in the living room, right next to the entrance, beside the
thermostat-thingy. The room has floor-to-ceiling mirrors, too, and the
previous folks actually had a cut made so the Mystery Switch would be
accessible. Dunno why. We use it solely for the "Stinker the Cat"
switch cover that someone gave us (Stinker is the cat of some artist,
and she Stinker-izes various pieces of art and whatnot).
So it's even a prominent Mystery Switch. Why not, I guess.
Renee
Warning: Keep out of reach of children. They're really, really annoying.
Veronique
My flat is the bottom floor of a Victorian that has had various
depredations done in the ensuing years since it was built at the turn of
the (last) century. My kitchen cabinets are yellow oak with tan tiles,
obviously ripped out of some other remodel and put in, which is a strange
contrast with the dark redwood flooring, very dark doors and moldings.
AND there are two light switches, one that turns on the fluorescent light
over the sink, and the other that...that...that...hey, it's a Mystery
Switch!
Kent
: So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
'Bout midway 'tween my knees and my shoulders. (That was TOO easy, even
for a Friday afternoon!)
Kent
Renee
But, according to Mystery Switch rules, this means that yours doesn't
seem to do anything. Are you trying to tell us something?
Veronique
sma...@yahoo.com (Renee) wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Jun 2000 19:11:08 GMT, Kent <kmp...@nospam.not> wrote:
>
> >Rat & Swan said:
> >
> >: So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
> >
> >
> >'Bout midway 'tween my knees and my shoulders. (That was TOO easy, even
> >for a Friday afternoon!)
> >
>
> But, according to Mystery Switch rules, this means that yours doesn't
> seem to do anything. Are you trying to tell us something?
>
> Renee
<<<wiping tea from monitor>>> Bl00dy h&ll, Renee, give us some warning
next time!
LeiHei
>>
>>: So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
Middle of three switches in the master bedroom does nothing.
There was an episode of "Friends" about Monica being obsessed with finding out
where the mystery switch went and she pretty much tore up the walls and floors
until she admitted defeat.
The end shot showed Monica flipping the switch on and off, while in the
apartment across the hall the TV kept going on and off, and Phoebe was doing
the "I Dream of Jeannie" eye-blinking-arms-crossed thing and thinking she was
the one doing it.
Leisa
Kate
Mystery Switch. In my bathroom I have what seems to be a fan with no way to
turn it on. Okay, everyone flip your switches (I'll let you know when I'm
done).
Kate
Rat & Swan wrote:
> Ellen wrote:
>
> > They make me think of the Brady Bunch house :) I've never actually
> > seen them in a RL kitchen, although the small U. of Washington branch
> > library I worked at for 3+ years had one. It was cool.
>
> You would have loved the kitsch-en in my first house, the Offhand
> Manor. When we bought Offhand, one of the selling points was a
> "recently remodeled kitchen". Wow.
>
> It had a cheesy Western motif with tacky cabinetry painted "ranch brown"
> (what DO we find on ranches that's *that* shade of burnt umber, Class?)
> with counters that were burnt orange in hue. The linoleum floor was
> Harvest Gold and the appliances (stove fridge and sink) were all
> cinnamon brown! With the orange glass light fixture (wagon wheel motif)
> and the coffegrinder decorated wallpaper and the faux brick wall behind
> the stove (what a nightmare THAT was to clean!) it was H*I*D*E*O*U*S
> indeed! Oh and the paneling was "ranch brown" all through the house.
>
> Oh well... at least it had lots of electrical outlets. One in the
> cupboard, four on the walls, one under the sink and one on the floor.
> The livingroom had one IN the fireplace! I Don't Want To Know.
>
> And of course, the house had the mystery Switch. I think EVERY home has
> one. That's the light switch that doesn't seem to turn ANYTHING on. Not
> the light, not the nearest outlets, nothing. It sits there, on the wall,
> connected to absolutely nothing. We put a book case in front of it
> every time we change homes. We had one on murrieta, we have one here,
> there was one in the Manor. I wonder where the Mystery Switch will be in
> our new place.
>
> H'mmmm.
>
> So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
>
> Swan
Jennifer Landry
wrote:
>H'mmmm.
>
>So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
I'm sure we had one when we first moved in here (I wonder if it was
supposed to power that outlet that had no power to it?) but Don is a
Master Electrician and he quickly rewired the whole house when we
realized just how old and decrepit the wiring here was. The house is
110 years old, and I think most of the wiring was original!
By the way, re:70's look.....this whole house except for this tiny
office (which is supposed to be the 2nd bedroom.....yeah right) and
the bathroom, is paneled in this dark paneling, and I so mean THE
WHOLE HOUSE. Even the insides of the closets! The office is off
white, not bad, but the bathroom is that awful Pepto-Bismal pink some
folks were talking about, and the kitchen cabinets were a rather vile
shade of dark yellow (mustard?). We finally got tired of looking at
said darkly paneled kitchen with yellow cabinets, and painted right
over the paneling in a "kitchen ivory" and painted the cabinets peach.
The peach color did not come out exactly what we wanted, I don't think
we used enough primer on them so the peach has a slightly more orange
tone than I was hoping for, but they look miles better than they did!
And we plan to replace them within a year or two anyway. Next
stop......gut the bedroom, rip the paneling right out, insulate,
sheetrock, and paint it a color that doesn't make you feel like you
are waking up in a cave!!
Jennifer
Jennifer Landry -- http://www/gis.net/~dlandry1
mailto:jdla...@mail2.gis.net
"Friends don't let friends breed"
Ellen
Swan wrote:
>You would have loved the kitsch-en in my first house, the Offhand
>Manor. When we bought Offhand, one of the selling points was a
>"recently remodeled kitchen". Wow.
>
>It had a cheesy Western motif with tacky cabinetry painted "ranch brown"
>(what DO we find on ranches that's *that* shade of burnt umber, Class?)
Melted crayons, I'd hope. But they smell different.
>with counters that were burnt orange in hue. The linoleum floor was
>Harvest Gold and the appliances (stove fridge and sink) were all
I expected to see "avocado" here ;)
>cinnamon brown!
[snip]
>And of course, the house had the mystery Switch. I think EVERY home has
>one. That's the light switch that doesn't seem to turn ANYTHING on. Not
>the light, not the nearest outlets, nothing. ...
> So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
IME, the mystery switch isn't for a non-functional light, but one
that's in a very awkward place. My (small, cramped) basement apt.
has one behind where I keep the toaster oven. It turns on a
wall-mounted light in the tiny "living" area (just barely big enough
for a desk & chair) several feet away.
Which reminds me - garbage disposals often have a switch that looks
_exactly_ like a light switch near the sink. Whoever designed those
was a sadist. Maybe in order to prevent accidental shredding of
who-knows-what, they often get disconnected, accounting for a number
of "mystery switches".
--Ellen
Susan C. Mitchell
: And of course, the house had the mystery Switch. I think EVERY home has
: one. That's the light switch that doesn't seem to turn ANYTHING on. Not
: the light, not the nearest outlets, nothing. It sits there, on the wall,
: connected to absolutely nothing. We put a book case in front of it
: every time we change homes. We had one on murrieta, we have one here,
: there was one in the Manor. I wonder where the Mystery Switch will be in
: our new place.
: H'mmmm.
: So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
In my bedroom. Between the door and the closet, there's a four-place
light switch. One turns on the power to a couple of the outlets, one
turns on the closet light, one turns on the OUTSIDE floodlight, and the
fourth ... I know not and am frankly afraid to find out.
Several years ago I almost bought a house that had been standing on its
current lot since 1939. Where it had been before that, and for how long,
I do not know. But when I looked it over, it appeared that the previous
inhabitants had been in the process of installing all new rocker-type
light switches ... on the ORIGINAL wiring. Cloth insulation.
(I pass that house regularly, and I still like it -- it has a flavor to it
that my current house lacks -- but it's probably just as well I didn't buy
it. The porch was sagging, the front casement windows were rotting out,
the fireplace was only half bricked in, and six months after I was outbid,
someone drove a truck through the west wall.)
Think globally, act locally.
Susan
--
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"Gadfly is what they call you when you are no longer | Seditious libel
dangerous. I much prefer troublemaker, malcontent, | for fun and
desperado." -- Harlan Ellison | profit
Tudorldy
Living room. On a panel with a switch that actually does work -- the overhead
light in the living room, which I never use. There's a book case in front of
it now.
Meagn, who now is the *sole* owner of this nice 1908 house (with the mortgage
to prove it)
Rat & Swan
Kate wrote:
> Oh, this *is* exciting! I have a Mystery Appliance to match someone's
> Mystery Switch. In my bathroom I have what seems to be a fan with no way to
> turn it on. Okay, everyone flip your switches (I'll let you know when I'm
> done).
> Kate
Right. It's been disconnected, perhaps, by a handyperson who lived there
before you. If I'm correct it was originally connected to the bathroom
light wiring and would turn on whenever the light went on. It has either
shorted out (in which case you need to take care of it) or it's been
disconnected by someone who disliked the racket whenever s/he turned the
light on.
First, turn OFF the power. Failure to do so may well result in
electrical burns, cessation of breathing and really strange hairdos!
Next remove the fan cover or grill. If I'm correct, you'll find a short,
two pronged electrical power supply cord. You will also find the wall
plug type receptacle. Plug the fan in, replace cover and turn on light.
Voila. Racket (and air circulation) returns.
Frankly, I dislike automatic bathroom fans and will disconnect them when
I can. I always RE-connect when we move out of a place. Your former
tenant wasn't so considerate... or perhaps s/he WAS.
The only reason I can see for bathroom fans is in case of seriously
poisonous farts... at which time the fan merely spreads the joy around.
OTOH, being trapped in the dunny with a truly toxic airbiscuit may well
be a Fate Worse Than Death.
Swan
As personal as a fart in a phonebooth!
Joyous
In article <g9a3ks8da7n7b65qc...@4ax.com>, Jennifer Landry
<jdla...@mail2.gis.net> wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Jun 2000 10:31:13 -0700, Rat & Swan <lab...@pacbell.net>
> wrote:
>
>
>>H'mmmm.
>>
>>So where is YOUR Mystery Switch?
>
> I'm sure we had one when we first moved in here (I wonder if it was
> supposed to power that outlet that had no power to it?) but Don is a
> Master Electrician and he quickly rewired the whole house when we
> realized just how old and decrepit the wiring here was. The house is
> 110 years old, and I think most of the wiring was original!
Ye Olde Pink House was 90 years old, and also had original wiring, dating
from roughly 1920 or thereabouts. The lights weren't turned on and off with
flip-switches, they were push buttons. In some rooms, you had to push the
button, then jiggle it just right to make the connection. All the lights
were constantly flickering, and it was a little scary.
It took a year after I moved out to stop flinching whenever I turned on a
light.
And yes, we had a mystery switch in the kitchen. There were 2 entrances
into the kitchen, and I think the designers had planned to put a switch for
the kitchen light near each door.
--
Joyous
"Men were created because cats can't mow the lawn. Women were created
because sheep can't cook. Neither of these explains children."
----------
Dora Robinson
Rat & Swan wrote:
> The only reason I can see for bathroom fans is in case of seriously
> poisonous farts... at which time the fan merely spreads the joy around.
> OTOH, being trapped in the dunny with a truly toxic airbiscuit may well
> be a Fate Worse Than Death.
>
> Swan
>
> As personal as a fart in a phonebooth!
Fans are for moving moisture out, aiding in keeping mold down, or at least that's
my impression. However, since we don't have fans and had a horrible mold
experience in both bathrooms, I painted the bathrooms with some mold-inhibiting
paint from Orchard, I wish I knew the name--aha! just came to me! Zinsser or
Zinzzer...something like that. Let me say that it took more coats to cover the
lime green than I ever thought (3-4) but we have ZERO mold problem. It's
expensive...something like $25/gal, but well worth it.
(BTW, Kilz is also a very, very good friend. Covered up a whole lot of avocado in
this house! Yes, the house was avocado, lime and puke green throughout!) Also,
use engine paint on your appliances. At least the oven door. I painted it. The
set-in cooking range, I simply bought some burner covers and spray painted them
the same color as the cabinets, which I had to cover avocado stained dark
cabinets. So, until I come up with the bucks to replace everything else, looks
great!
Candles, however, are for farts. There's a candle right by the toilet, and you
better use it!
Dora
<chuckle>love the term "airbiscuit"
Veronique
In article <39441a4e...@news.newsguy.com>,
john...@nospam.gis.net (John & Mari Morgan) wrote:
>On Sat, 10 Jun 2000 08:38:17 -0700, Rat & Swan
<lab...@pacbell.net>
>wrote:
>
>>The only reason I can see for bathroom fans is in case of
seriously
>>poisonous farts... at which time the fan merely spreads the
joy around.
>
in your
>bathrooms? [...]
Au contraire, ma amie, those of us in the Fog Zone definitely
have
mold problems. A bathroom was carved out of the back parlor here
at Chez Sheep, sort of like a hurricane closet in the center of
the house. No windows, no ventilation except for the Monstrous
Fan, which sounds like a helicopter taking off (but sucks a fair
amount of moisture away post-shower. Twice a year I mop the
ceiling with a bleach solution (tell me about how you use tea
tree
oil!) and my heating bills are horrendous in the winter.
And of course the Monstrous Fan is connected to the overhead
light, so when I want to take a calming bath AND read in the tub,
I must import a desk lamp to augment the candles.
V.
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John & Mari Morgan
<veroniqueun...@yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:
>Au contraire, ma amie, those of us in the Fog Zone definitely have
>mold problems. A bathroom was carved out of the back parlor here
>at Chez Sheep, sort of like a hurricane closet in the center of
>the house. No windows, no ventilation except for the Monstrous
>Fan, which sounds like a helicopter taking off (but sucks a fair
>amount of moisture away post-shower. Twice a year I mop the
>ceiling with a bleach solution (tell me about how you use tea tree
>oil!) and my heating bills are horrendous in the winter.
Spritzer bottle with 1 teaspoon tea tree oil per pint of water. Spray
liberally, concentrating on ceiling, crevices, and joints around the
shower area. We have a textured ceiling (what shithead thought a
textured ceiling in the bathroom was a good idea?) and touching it
results in a shower of sandy stuff, so spritzing is a necessity. Once
in the six months we have lived here I spritzed everything with a
50-50 mixture of distilled water and white vinegar, which is stronger
but can damage the paint if used too often. Warning, I don't know what
either of these preparations would do to wallpaper!
Mari
-
Trying to win an argument with an irrational person is like
trying to teach a cat to snorkel by providing written instructions.
--Scott Adams