PAINTING the 1950s balustrade at the front of our home in black at the weekend, I have a flashback to the only other DIY project I've done during the coronavirus pandemic.
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I painted most of the internal doors black in March.
My youngest wants to know why I only ever paint stuff black.
Fair question.
I bought the black paint for the metal balustrade two minutes after we moved into our mid-century house eight years ago and the black paint for the internal doors exactly three years ago when we renovated two children's bedrooms over the July school holidays.
"I'm making do with what we've got," I tell her.
"Lucky you didn't buy red instead!" she says, deadpan.
True enough.
I Google whether paint goes off, find the answer that best suits what I want to hear and then push on with the task at hand.
My youngest shakes the paint tin like she shuffles cards; for not nearly long enough and keen to get things moving.
Paint parties are well and good at the start until people soon realise they need to be somewhere else, anywhere!
Seven minutes after saying "painting is so much fun", my youngest says she needs to be on her scooter, immediately ... like right now.
My husband realises we have nothing to wash out the acrylic paint from the brushes - and mop up the myriad drips on the tiles - and charts a course for Bunnings.
This leaves my eldest daughter and me painting a seemingly never-ending metal balustrade, joyfully in the winter sunshine.
It's DIY, Vitamin D and a workout to boot.
Circling below on her scooter, the youngest points out all of the bits we've missed with the paintbrush.
"The top of that arch," she says.
"Actually, the top of all of the arches. The side bit. Just about everything I'm looking at from the front of the house!!"
My eldest and me are buckled over the railings like impaled bats trying to paint all of the bits we've missed.
MORE MATERIAL GIRL:
I Google whether paint goes off, find the answer that best suits what I want to hear and then push on with the task at hand. My youngest shakes the paint tin like she shuffles cards; for not nearly long enough and keen to get things moving. Paint parties are well and good at the start.
In the spirit of the TV renovating show, House Rules - that I'm presently bingeing with my eldest - here's my take on DIY July.
House Rules for a Pandemic
- Try to tick off your unfinished projects first. Happily, you may have even bought all of the materials you need for them. Sometimes it's pure luck if you can find them, however. By chance we found a wire brush for surface preparation and black paint for the balustrade safely tucked away under the stairs just waiting for the 2020 pandemic!
- Declutter. Moving house and pandemics are probably the only two big opportunities to do a good stocktake on your stuff. I regard myself as a minimalist and have a strict, one-in, one-out policy on stuff yet it's amazing what can pile up in eight years! Charity shops are testament to the next-level decluttering going on. In theory, we shouldn't be replacing it with other non-essential stuff right now. #silverlinings
- It's easy being green. With the Border Bubble shrinking by the week, we're more confined than ever to our homes. Pick up a few indoor plants. Invest in the retro-inspired and hardy snake plant or aloe vera pups. Alternatively, look for plants labelled: Thrive on Neglect. Seriously, I found some at Peards Complex Albury! You're welcome.
- Style the beds ... made! Turns out it's easier said than done, even in a pandemic.
- Tidy the one corner of the office visible in Zoom or Google meetings. No one is likely to see the rest of the mess, any time soon.
With nine days remaining in DIY July but plenty of time left in this pandemic, you may be able to get heaps done yet.
If you're already party to Dry July, this month can be more productive than usual.
I have black paint in my left ear and on both feet (not noticeable in Zoom chats) to prove it!
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