Kitchen day 24: the exile is ended

Yesterday, those of you who are my friends on facebook may have seen my jubilant post that the kitchen drywall was almost done.  Today I am (very) pleased to announce to friends, Romans, countrymen, EVERYONE that the drywall IS done.  And it's been primed to boot.  Also the ceiling texturing is done.  Also I wish I could get this much done everyday.  :)

I have to say, I am extremely pleased with how the drywall turned out.  Of course, the completion of any drywall finishing project always produces extremely pleasurable feelings, just on the very nature that you no longer have to spend hours coated in white dust.  But this time, I'm extra pleased, because my drywall skills have clearly improved since my first attempt up in the sewing room.  Let's just say that the sewing room has some "charm" or some "character" (that's a nice way to put "lots of lumps," right?)  The kitchen, however, is super smooth in comparison.  For as many times as you run your hands over the sanded spot (with your eyes closed) trying to test for a seamless finish, the real moment of truth is when you cover it with primer.  I think it's the gloss of the wet paint that illuminates lumpy patches.  In case you haven't heard yet....I'm really excited the kitchen isn't lumpy.  I suppose I can take some credit for being more careful and more experienced this time around, but really I just had better tools.  Do not ever attempt a drywall project without a screen sander (instead of regular sandpaper) and a 8 or 10 inch taping knife.  Believe me, you will live to regret it (sewing room, cough cough, sewing room!)

Have you noticed the angle from which these pictures were taken?  The doorway of the living room!  And there's not a plastic barrier in the way!  The exile is ended, and we're giddy about being able to walk upstairs without going through a plastic tunnel, and being able to access the refrigerator from indoors (although technically the fridge is still outdoors on the back porch, you can now walk through the kitchen to get there; eliminating the need for both shoes and an umbrella when seeking food.  Both major pluses).

I think that photographing the ceiling is nearly impossible, but this perhaps gives an overview of its finished quality.  Although there are some spots that drive me crazy on the ceiling (places where the texture isn't quite consistent), it's quite the improvement from 13 months of unfinished drywall!  I'm hoping that once the rest of the kitchen is put together, people will have enough other things to look at and won't stare at the ceiling imperfections :)

And now, I'm off to bed.  I think the next post you'll see from me will have some color photos of the kitchen! I'm itching to open the cans of paint and get the color up on the wall.  Any guesses on what color we're painting??  Leave your thoughts as a comment...there are some virtual gold stars up for grabs for anyone who guesses correctly (unless of course you already know, but then you get your own gold stars for helping me choose)