Have you ever started a one-hour project
that turned into four times that?
Over time ceramic pots holding plants marred
the painted wooden shelf behind the sink in several places,
and the shelf needed the paint refreshed.
Just a quick sanding, then repainting with the leftover
white paint from the bathroom vanity project should have
made this a quick and easy project.
On a nice sunny day, not a scorcher, the hand sanding began.
Just a little sanding to create a surface ready for new paint.
Uh-oh!
The paint peeled off in long strips.
With each curl my spirits sank a little lower,
dreading the work I knew it was going to take
to refinish the shelf.
A quick sanding of the top surface that should have taken only a few minutes
was turning into a sanding of the entire shelf to remove the peeling old paint.
Two hours later, the shelf was less than half sanded by hand.
Perhaps the shelf would look good with a white-washed finish?
Tired and hungry, I decided a break was needed
before resuming the arduous hand sanding that
was causing blisters on my thumbs.
The carpenter who was replacing the cedar siding on the house
stopped to look over what I was doing as he was leaving for his lunch break.
We talked about the options I was considering,
white washing, repainting, or leaving the shelf natural
with just a clear sealer.
He left, and I went inside to have lunch and to rest.
Surprise!
When I went back outside a couple of hours later
I found the carpenter had power sanded the shelf down to
its natural finish and had applied a coat of clear sealer.
My thumbs thanked him
for saving them from the forming blisters.
For now, the little shelf is natural with a sealer.
But, I think another sanding and some white paint to match
the cabinets are in the little shelf's future.
❦
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