Goodbye 1979, Hello 2013...Right?

Our school is a neighborhood school that opened in 1979. Open infrastructure was the rage at this point and our library has no walls. It is literally in the center of the school and given definition by the book cases. That concept seems nice and typically is.....except the cases that give that definition were BRIGHT 70s orange. This year we had the back wall of the library painted a moss-y green and while the color itself is nice, all I could see was the fight between the cases and now green wall.

To the rescue, PTA! They generously approved my request to prime and paint the cases on their dime. I hit Pinterest, researched the best way to paint laminate and did a test run on an orange cabinet. The primer is expensive, and I requested up to $250.00 - happily, I spent under $160.00 on all materials needed.

Fast forward to Spring Break. The very first morning I bribed my two daughters with SONIC, grabbed our supplies and hit the library for some serious priming. I handled the edges and the girls split the tops and sides of the cases. The primer is THICK and it was slow going. If I sped up too much I had primer everywhere and it did not come off the trim.

Priming took about three hours, just enough for the SONIC to wear off and kids to realize they were spending their Spring Break painting. In a school. For their mother. Quick evacuation at that point.

We gave the cases a day to dry completely and got back in there with the paint first thing Monday morning. Thankfully, the actual paint applied smoother and we had the enjoyment of seeing our goal accomplished. Painting two coats on each case took a little over two hours from start to finish. We will be back after the carpets are cleaned  to push those monsters back into place before Break is over.

As we proceed as a STEM school, our thinking shifts forward. Hopefully this change in appearance will help us move forward ...I figure anywhere from the 70s is progress.

As an update.... we have been in school after break for almost 2 weeks. I am surprised to report that as a whole, the kids MISS the orange cases! Does that mean I regret the change? No way!  I love the open-ness and modern colors but find it very interesting that the kids like the color.