Demo Day

Remember the bunk bed in my youngest daughter’s room, the one that made it impossible for me to paint the entire room so I ended up painting these stencil designs on her wall? I blogged about this several months after we moved in. And my girl liked the stencils. Until she sort of didn’t. She’s had a new color for her walls in mind for months. A light shade of charcoal. The stencils had worn out their welcome.

Normally I might not be so accommodating. I’d likely throw a typical mom-response at her, something like, “Well, you’ll have to live with it for a while.” But here’s the thing. She did live with it for a while. She was a trooper and agreed to have the bulky bunk bed in her room even though she never wanted it. And I happen to love to paint. So . . .

Charcoal gray it is. I painted everything I could around the massive bunk bed, then when it was clear this wasn’t a priority project for anyone else in the family, I got to work. I dissembled the top portion of the bed. Taking it apart took hours. The bolts and screws were seriously secure. I got to the last screw and I almost lost it. It stripped out, making it a real task to remove the last awkward piece of wood. Of course. On the last screw. Then I remembered the hammer I stored in the bathroom cabinet after sealing the paint can lid tight. I channeled Chip Gaines and went nuts on the remaining wooden slat. It was both therapeutic and a little scary. It felt great. A real “Here’s Johnny” moment. But the slat wouldn’t budge.

Until . . .

After a good ten minutes of whacking the daylights out of the bed, I took a deep breath. I reconsidered the direction I was wailing on the wood. I changed the position of my hammer, as a fresh idea tickled the base of my skull. With a healthy whack, and a new game plan, I thought about the vulnerable points in the wood. Then I launched my last attack. And the last piece of wood gave way.

I’m free to paint the rest of the room today. And all is right with the world. Nothing a little spontaneous demolition and paint can’t fix.

*Went a little lighter w/ the color. It’s called Portsmouth Landing. Will post pics when room is finished.