Something about this time of year makes me want to change things up. Maybe it’s the coming of winter—the idea of more time spent inside—that gives me the urge to DECORATE. No, not holiday decorations. My neighbors always have that covered. I mean my own version of interior design.
Working on home improvement TV shows beat this desire out of me for a while. But it’s been a whole year since the demise of Trading Spaces, so I’m thinking about decor again. But what to do?
I lived for a long time on the top floor of an Edwardian building in San Francisco. I did some of my best projects there, including growing climbing ficus on the defunct fireplace in the living room.
The place was huge; the bathroom alone was the size of some studio apartments. There was a 6′ claw foot tub (original 1902) and the toilet was in a separate small room.
My friend Scott stayed with me for a while at the end of his first cross-country bicycle trip. Since I was working every day, he got restless and said he needed something to do. I suggested painting the bathroom. I thought a nice lavender would be good.
For days, it seemed like nothing was happening. Then I noticed faint pencil marks on the walls. Instead of the expected gallons of latex, I saw tubes of acrylic paint. In very bright colors. Then, one day I came home from work and found this:
This photo really doesn’t do it justice. It was the most magnificent trompe l’oeil garden you can imagine. It covered every inch of wall space—including the ceiling—with wisteria, grapes and other flowering vines. With a lavender floor.
P.S. Seeing this photo, I better understand the HGTV “no open toilet lids” rule—which is annoying as an editor if the only footage you have has an open toilet and you have to cut around it. Oh well, can’t go back and reshoot this one. I’m sure this masterpiece was long ago covered in good old antique white, the color loved by landlords everywhere.
Well, you can bet your, uh, backside that it took SEVERAL coats!!!!
Yeah, Scott laid that paint on pretty thick. Here’s what he said about it after seeing the post. “I would do it so much better today! What was up with the flowers growing right on the vine. WTF, dude!”
But knowing the awful people who bought the building, they probably did a complete remodel, ripping out the old bathtub and gutting the bathroom. That’s what they did as apartments opened up. They bought a cheap new stove for Jan’s apartment when she moved out, and gave the gorgeous old O’Keefe Merit with the bubble window oven to the delivery guys who brought the new stove. I saw them as they were happily loading it into their truck. They said the thing was worth about $3,000.