Gettin' My Ragnar On

This morning I'm leaving for Las Vegas with five of my girlfriends from town, and we're meeting ladies who are flying in from AR, TN, and GA to run in the Vegas Ragnar Relay this weekend! I'm super excited since I've done the Wasatch Back in Utah 3 years now, but I've never done any other... can't wait!

I'll post pictures on my Instagram feed and send a few over to the Facebook fan page, too... are any of you going to be there? Find me -- we'll be the slow ones in prom dresses.

Go Team Off Like A Prom Dress!

Front Door: 0; Anna: 1

Oh, hey there.

I didn't see you there because I was too busy doing a ridiculous totally coordinated, award-worthy celebratory dance.

My front door? Painted. Boo-yah, take that 50 years of paint.

Anna's Secret Magical Recipe for Paint Stripping Success:

• Citristrip (yes, I'm still a fan -- it smelled orangey and I didn't have to evacuate the house or take my door off its hinges and move it to the garage. That spells win.)
• Plastic wrap -- this kept the stripper's moisture in and made a big difference.
• Plastic putty knife -- I could really scrape at odd angles and dig in without gouging the wood.
• Metal putty knife -- still helpful for totally flat scraping of any stubborn bits (there were a few).
• Small wire brushes -- a friend from college suggested these (thanks, Shawn!) and they saved my life when it came time to work in the detailed trim regions. I bought a pack of three at Lowe's, saved them for when I needed them and soaked them in warm water to help get rid of the messy paint.

After a few hours in plastic wrap the paint scraped right off. Honestly, it was disgusting. It was rubbery on top but the bottom layer was super wet and gloppy and it felt like cleaning off thick wallpaper paste. It was a big mess. It got worse before it got better. I may have cried a bit.

After scraping all the paint off I went back over it and scrubbed the remaining residue off with hot water and some cleaner. I didn't get it down to the bare wood but it was one level up and it was flat and smooth and perfect for what I wanted to do!

I primed and painted that sucker before I lost my door mojo. Then I got excited at the progress and added some trim around the doors.

My front door has been without trim for years (I mean years in the literal sense. Years, people!! I get distracted so easily.) so I've been spending the last day or two just standing in my entry, looking at it and smiling. I can almost convince myself that the entry is almost done... I mean, it looks so much better already... even without caulk and paint on the trim. Or baseboard. Okay, I may have been getting ahead of myself there. I've got plenty of work to do still.

On a side note, tomorrow I take Maggie back into the vet to get her stitches removed. I didn't really talk about it but she had a massive tumor on the outside of her cheek that we had removed a couple weeks ago. It was really bothering her and we still don't know if it was benign or if she's more seriously ill.

She may be a giant PITA but that doesn't mean she has permission to get cancer -- so I'd love your healthy puppy thoughts.

Stripping the Front Door, part 2

It's me vs. the front door, and somebody has to win. Soon. Cross your fingers that it's me, because right now I'm a little concerned...

Yesterday when I joked that instead of three layers of paint on my door there were more like one hundred and three, I was apparently tapping into some unrealized psychic powers. Because really, this is bananas. I feel like eventually I'm going to uncover some amazing fresco from ancient times, and then I'll really be glad that I used the more gentle stripper when I can sell it at auction for a million dollars and buy myself a new door.

I'm still comfortable with my decision to use the Citristrip, since taking my door off in 40°F weather just isn't in the cards, but I'm on my second application of product this morning and I feel like I'm on the edge of a DIY-induced psychotic break. It's not coming off of the detailed areas like it should, even though it looks like it's lifted on the edges, it hasn't really; it's a cruel game the door is playing with my mind. And there's so many little details around the window panes that I might just lose my mind if it doesn't just miraculously start peeling off this afternoon when I check it again.

I glopped (yes, it's a word. Says me.) the stripper on quite liberally this morning, and I just wrapped the entire door in plastic wrap to keep the moisture in longer.

This better work! I've got stuff to do, like getting facials in the name of education and being a chicken farmer. This door is cramping my style and it's about to see what happens when you go up against me in a stubborn contest.

Stripping the Front Door

Sometimes DIY is messy, and this is one of those times. When we first moved to this house, I  touched up our red front door and made an impulse decision to carry the color onto the inside surface as well. In my haste I didn't prime first, and a couple days later when the paint was already starting to lift and wasn't fully covering even after 4 coats, I realized the existing finish had been oil-based. Oops.

It's a story we've all heard before, but let this be a reminder to all of us DIYers to think before we act. A couple years later and the door was all scratched up and I couldn't put off fixing it any longer, as you can see from this photo taken earlier this month:

It's a nightmare, and I was so frustrated with myself and the situation it took until now to gather the motivation to go through with the (long) process to fix the mess I made.

Today I bought some Citristrip, a stripper which is safe for inside work and doesn't have the harsh fumes of the really strong chemical versions -- so while it'll take a little longer probably, I've heard good things about this product... so here we go.

After an hour or two I checked it and the paint scraped up nicely... but instead of three or four layers of paint there are like one hundred and three. So I reapplied and we could be here for a while. I can't wait to scrape it out of the details around the window panes -- did I mention that we should think before we act?

I think this definitely falls into the category of "dumb stuff I do," except this time I'm not quite to the place where I'm laughing about it yet! One day... right?