Head Over Heels ~ the Beacon Hill Gets Its Ceilings Painted

When the build was started, I gave most of the main house pieces a thin coat of gesso to seal the wood. Now that it is time to begin electrifying, the ceilings need to be painted properly. Today I flipped the house on its head to make it easier to do the job.

The upper bits of the tower and the chimney without its cap are nearly level. Together they make a fairly steady base. I am patting myself on the back for not permanently attaching the tower roof section. :)  Over the course of the day, I managed to get three coats of satin finish white latex paint on the ceilings, including the ceilings of the front and left bays, which are part of the middle floor/ceiling piece.

This is an overview of the room. The house has been tipped on its head, so easy to do because of the light wood construction. At this point, even without the bays in place, it is quite sturdy. I had no qualms about manhandling it. It is sitting on a piece of cardboard, which makes it easy to slide around on the plastic surface of the table.

It was very easy to paint the ceilings with the house upside down. This photo shows the one wall of the house that didn't get a coat of gesso; easy enough to do it, now that I have the gesso. 

I stopped at Michael's yesterday on my way home from getting the paint at Home Depot. Was surprised at how much the gesso cost -- $36+tax for 32 oz.  (946 ml) With a gift card and the 40% discount earned by signing up for their rewards program, it was manageable. I have $1.90 left on the gift card. :) Since gesso can be thinned with water, those 32 oz. will go a long way.

You may have noticed the chaos on the desk in the first photo. Actually, it is pretty well organized. I've been sanding the various parts of the three bays -- kitchen, front, and left. Each bay has its own clear plastic bag. (Click for photo to enlarge.) The kitchen bay, on the right is finished and ready for paint or stain. The front bay is in the box. I sand above the box to collect the sawdust. Unfortunately this room is carpeted, so controlling where the dust falls is important.

The bag on the left, with the window frames sitting on top, is the left bay. I thought it was finished, then found the frames mixed in with those from the front bay. After they are sanded, they will go into the bag with their buddies.

There is a drawer in the closet with room for the bags of bay bits where they can await installation; they need to get out of the way. My thought is that it will be easier to do the electricity (and maybe some of the wallpapering, if I can ever decide on which patterns to use) if the bays and the shingled roof sections are not installed. I know what I want to use on the dining room walls; that may be the first room finished.

The next test will be to find the box of electrical stuff with the tape wire. I know I have at least one large roll. Somewhere. Maybe in the garage. I can't recall when I saw it last. *sigh*