Getting down with the brown

Having taken the day off on Sunday, I figured yesterday that it was time to get back to it. I also figured that if I worked a slightly shifted day, I could probably get around the top of the walls - above the picture rail - before dinner.

Putting down my proverbial quill at 3pm and picking up my paintbrush, I started on the umpteenth circumnavigation of the room. Astonishingly, by around 4.30 I'd completed two tours - edges and filling in - and on such a bright sunny day I had at least another 3 hours of usable light left. What could I do but press on?

The simple explanation for my increased speed is the reduced accuracy with which I needed to paint the edges. Having already applied one coat, I could skim around the cornice, picture rail and door frame very quickly (and inaccurately) with no ill effect. In those few areas where the first coat hadn't quite covered the white base coat I had to take a bit more care, but these made up less than 5% of the total. I was flying!

I completed the whole room at 6.50, which made me feel very smug and put me back on track with my self-imposed schedule. This schedule is a double-edged sword. There's no doubt it has speeded up the whole process - when compared to the five months the study was out of commission, this room (admittedly only half the size) has so far only taken two - but it has also made me feel pressured to keep up the pace. Taking a day off has felt like a guilty pleasure. I like the increased level of control over the project, but if I plan the next one in such detail, I'll set a more relaxed pace and build in some down time.