I don’t know what it is about February, but it often involves some variety of home project. Last year it was painting our built in book shelves – all 15 feet of them. The year before it was painting the living, dining, and kitchen space. Before that, it was the tin tiled kitchen backsplash.

On to this year. Paul and I used to share an office. A few years ago, I claimed the guest room for mine as our overnight guests are few and far between. Paul has emptied his office to paint – a long-overdue project. This process left two of these monsters sitting in our dining room – corner shelving units purchased 14 years ago because I got a crazy good deal on them. They are imposing, weigh a ton, take up a lot of room, and the corner thing is awkward with wasted space. So onto Facebook they went; a week with no takers.

All along, I’d been whining about the lack of storage in my office – dreaming of a custom built-in bookcase. Then I got a bee in my bonnet. I would paint one of these monster shelving units and use it until something better comes along. I found primer and pale gray paint leftover from last summer’s found on the side of the road porch table project and went to work.

Finished with the painting, it became clear that the cabinet’s gray paint clashed with the office/former guest room’s soothing blue color. I dug around in the laundry/storage/junk room and found an almost full can of white paint – that left me 1+ wall short of paint. Not relishing the 45-minute drive to Home Depot to match the paint, I called it quits and moved back in. The rest can wait for another weekend.

Only now the trim work looks dingy against that fresh white paint and begs for attention. And the ancient beige/brown rug purchased to go with a sofa we no longer have doesn’t vibe at all in the space (not that it did before either).

On the doors I had Paul cut off the oriental flourish giving it more of a classic look. I’m pleased with the way this turned out. The lighter color feels so much happier than the black. but it sure was a weekend where one thing led to another!