Thursday Thirteen--We're painting the master bedroom

Banner by EmilyThat's a "royal we." I don't paint. I just wring my hands, give advice and worry. But this time, my husband isn't painting either, although until we moved here, he always did for 40 years. Two years ago I decided I could at least strip wallpaper to save money, and before the painters came to do my office, I nearly killed myself and had a sore back for months. Don't do that. Here's some tips learned and relearned along the way.

1. We decided to flip the colors from the guest room painted two years ago. This idea worked really well with the dining room and living room.
2. We discovered we didn't have a drop of the wall color left--not even a stir stick.
3. This painter uses a different brand, and even with two of us eyeballing those little paint strips and both being artists, do you think we could find an exact match? My advice is, always keep a little paint even if you have to buy an extra quart you don't use.
4. It takes two people (one of them preferably another man--your son-in-law) to move a queen size mattress and box springs into the hall.
5. No matter where you decide to move things, something will be in the way. With the mattresses being in the hall, all the paintings and art work had to be moved, and most space was already taken with the paintings from the room to be painted.
6. Faux glaze has a texture and requires sanding and a special primer to cover. That increases your cost and the dust factor, so cover everything in the closets.
7. If your dressers were on hard wood floors in the last house, you've probably forgotten that there are levelers on the legs, and they will snag the carpet in the new place.
8. Mirrors on dressers are much heavier than you remember (and you are much older) when you try to remove them.
9. Always have the carpenter come before the painters. Somehow I missed that by having my husband make all the arrangements for putting a soffit in the bathroom. That is going to be oodles of touch up, plus if I remember this guy, he doesn't show up when scheduled.
10. If possible, don't schedule a meeting at your house while you're painting. We messed up on that, too. I just may have to close some doors, since we've moved a lot of stuff to where ever we have space. I think Thursdays are bad too, because if they don't finish, and have a Monday conflict, you're stuck until the following Tuesday.
11. Cover the cable connection/outlet with tape. We found it had been painted over in the guest room when we moved our TV this week.
12. When we removed one of our paintings, we found the intercom system. We'd forgotten there was one. Nothing works in an intercom that is 30 years old. Don't even install one. Just shout or use your cell phone.
13. Try to agree before all the tools have been put away what exactly is being removed from the walls. "Why didn't you take down the lamps?" "What? You want the lamps (with about 10 screws each) removed?"

So I'm down here in my office blogging like it's just another day, trying not to think of another 13 things I can add next Thursday.