Dentil work

I’ve been painting… and painting… and painting. Denise is back at her house. I am finishing up all the painting, and I will glaze the little dentil pieces. Then, she will be back to do the final wood graining on all the remaining larger expanses.

Getting paint up into that “channel” — a recess or tunnel above the dentils and behind the larger piece of molding ‘above and in front of’ the dentil —  is: A pain!

I paint for a few hours every day. It’s actually kind of relaxing — zen-like. That said, my neck hurts from looking up at the dentils for hour on end. And,  my right pointer finger cramped up yesterday because one of the brushes (in photo below) I use for tight spots isn’t very ergonomic.

Some tools that have come in handy — note, all links to Amazon are affiliate links, part of how I keep the blog boat afloat:

I’m loving the Louisville Ladder Platform Ladder that I found searching ladders and scaffolding on Amazon. I didn’t know such as thing as platform ladders existed until I went searching for something besides a regular ladder to help me do this dentil-painting job. The platform ladders come with the platform at a variety of heights. Using info from the company’s website, I measured before I ordered, and the 3′ ladder has the platform at pretty good spot for me to reach the dentils comfortably. I still crane a bit, though — hence my sore neck!

Denise and also have become #1 fans of The Whizz paint brush, which we saw in the store and tried for this project. And, I’m digging my Pelican pail.

After the graining is complete, we will then coat all the woodwork with two coats of Varathane, which is a nice top coat because of the way it self-levels. I think that early next week, I’ll jump ahead to this step with the bookcases, which already are grained. Once the Varathane cures, I can then start styling the bookcases. Doing some decorating-in-progress keeps my juices flowing.

Meanwhile — a little a break — I’m headed to Louisville on Friday night for the weekend. My family is getting together to celebrate with my dad, who is having his 80th birthday on Monday. Happy birthday, Dad!