16 - North Shore News - Wednesday, September 6, 2000 ivinaroom MRIS ORANG ETE Tp AMES ARNETTE STONERS EEE RS ee eat plan, prepare, paint Three ‘Siefis to ci “PEACH was big in the 80s,” I said to my hus- band as we stood in the doorway of our daugh- ter’s room. lour: NEWS photos Terry Peters TO create a perfect little girl’s room, Barb Lunter kept the fireplace mantie white and painted over the pink tiles with taupe. The theme of the room is a garden with birdhouses. Green, taupe and white work won- Yes, peach was popular but it just wasn't going to work in our monochromatic home. This particular room had the _ Most promise of all the rooms in the house. _.., With a perfectly centred “pink fireplace surrounded by Jarge picture windows there was no question that this was to be a litle girl’s room. _<) Inv our six-year-old son’s room the walls were covered from floor to ceiling, with dark blue paint and teddy bear/doll wallpa- - per. Well, as much as our son loves teddy bears you can imagine . how appealing the dolls were to him. The wallpaper had to go. That’ s all he said. ~-. With this in mind we went to the paint store. Choosing paint is not an easy process, My husband claims I used the shoot-and-aim method. I will openiy admit that it did take three attempts to reach the exact green I was hoping for. >: [remember reading an article in a magazine shortly before we oe began the renovation that offered some pretty zood advice when "At came to planning a paint job. There is a three-step process to - SUCCESS: plan, Prep and paint. green guide derfully in unison to achieve this effect. Now with this in mind we forged ahead in the planning phase. Despite the fact that we did not actually paint the rooms ourselves, we still managed to stress ourselves out in this process. As for the plan, we learned that it really is worthwhile to learn about the various finishes and textures of paint out there. These days the pros prefer flat or satin-finish latex paints for most walls and ceilings. This is because of the fact that it dries quickly and cleans up beautifully. The downside of these paints is that they tend to be less durable than oil-based. It is true that the more expensive the paint the better cover- age you will get and less fading over time. In short, buy the best paint if you can — it’s worth it. We learned that lesson after the third coat of paint we had to apply to the beams in the living room. Jn the end we opted for a latex flat for both kids’ rooms. The prep process consisted of my husband’s removing an”: enormous amount of old and unneeded hardware from the'win- dows and walls espousing sweet banter ever so happily in his sunny disposition. The remaining holes and cracks were repaired and prepped with putty and caulking (carpenter in a tube) and a coat of primer was applied. We learned that a primer is specifically designed to help the top coat adhere better. It’s also 1 important to prime walls that are covered j in oil-based paint if you're planning to repaint them wi jatex, : Primers are all made in white. Our painter decided to tint the primer with some green in order to give the final coat more: colour and depth. You can ask your paint store to do this for you! See Natural following page SATURDAY, SEPT. 9: The West Vancouver Museum and Archives, at 608 17th St., offers an orchid work- shop to teach you how to care for your orchids while in bloom and at rest. The workshop is from 1 to 3 p.m. To register, please call 925-7270. MONDAY, SEPT. 11: The B.C. Fuchsia and Begonia Society presents Jack and Joan Lamb from Bramley, England on species fuchsia, 8 p.m. at St. Helen’s Catholic Church gymnasi- um, 3871 Pandora St., Burnaby. The Lambs maintain one of the national species fuchsia collections in the UK and are active with the Fuchsia International Research Project. Info: 856-3064 or 929-5382. SEPT. 14-16: From Il am. to 5 p.m. at UBC Botanical Garden, the _ Friends of the Garden present an indoor plant sale. SUNDAY, SEPT. 17: The second annual North Shore Natural Gardens. Tour, sponsored by the North Shore Recycling Program (NSRP) will high- light. 11 North Shore gardens this year, 10 am. to 5 p.m. Learn more about natural gardening practices and methods like composting, edible land- scapes, permaculture ~ and mulching, lawn | transformations, native plantings, water conservation and habitat restoration and you ‘will see working examples of these. prac- sheet” tour is free but “registiation is required. ‘For more. information or to‘ register please call the ‘NSRP at 984-973 . SATURDAY, SEPT, ‘24: The ‘Alpin Garden Club of B.C, hosts its fall sale 1 to 4 p.m,, in the Floral: Hall ‘at Van‘; Dusen, Botanical. Gardens ; on'-37th: Avenue and Oak Street. The Purpose of this: sale. is, to’ bring ‘uncommo! plants to club members and: the ub oorénad TOMA Evergreen, a non-profi environmen © group | whose, mandates‘: nature back into the environm They all belong to the same club. Lo At the West Vancouver Community centres we can acommodate the needs of all age groups. : | Pick up a hrouchure or call to find out what's available fer you, family, friend and pets too! tices in each garden. This educational | _ The Lions Gate Bridge. will be CLOSED to all traffic from 10 pm Friday, September 8 to’ 6 am Monday, September.11 . (Please note: planned closure is weather dependent): Plan to take © ; the Second Narrows ‘Bridge ‘to and from the North’ Shore. For upto-date information on detours and closures: to 94, 5 FM and. focal traffic reports your community newspaper . COMPLETION PROJECT - _ Stronger + | dota dectdabcbotctst