One thing I love about our house is that we really LIVE in it.  We repurpose and reuse rooms as we have added kids and our kids have grown, as we started businesses and began telecommuting.

One room that has seen many changes is our den.  I think it was first an office, then it transformed into a playroom, then an office again (sort of).  It’s current state is a built in office that my husband and I share while running his business and I use it to work from home two days a week.  There is another long desk in the room for our kids to do craft projects or homework.  This is my favorite configuration.

The playroom once lived in the room in the basement that is now my daughter’s room.  When she moved down there, we took out the multicolored ceiling fan and swapped it for the light fixture in the den.  I don’t remember how long the bright ceiling fan has lived in the den, but I am pretty sure it would be measured in years.

When Christina asked us if we would be willing to contribute to a Get It Done series – I knew the first thing on my list.  Paint the ceiling fan.  It is one of those projects that I think “well, how hard can it be?” and then I procrastinate for a long, long time because I was not really sure how to paint a ceiling fan.  This series was just the push I needed!

First, we (and by we, I mean my husband, because he was concerned I would electrocute myself) took down the fan.  I took it apart and set aside the black parts, which I planned to leave black.  I put all the screws into a container, so they would not get lost and I kept all the parts not being painted on a towel.  I used painters tape to wrap any sections that I did not want to get painted and smoothed it on with my fingers to get it nice and tight.

Next up, I primed the parts that were being painted with a tinted primer.  The can directions recommended sanding any smooth surfaces.  I threw caution to the wind and just primed them, but they did scratch easily, so if I was painting something that would be touched more, I would probably sand the surface next time.

I followed the direction on the can, and painted over the primer 1 hour later.  Usually, you would want to avoid direct sun, but it was a pretty cool day, and I did move the cardboard into the shade after I took this picture, just to be safe.  Everything went really smoothly, and I just about used 1 can each of primer and paint.

Once I was done painting, I let it dry the required 24 hours, then brought everything together to start reassembling the fan.  I removed the painter’s tape and reversed the order from which I took the fan apart.  There were a couple of scratches in the paint, so I sprayed some of the paint into a folded piece of waxed paper (to catch and pool the paint) and painted it on with a small paint brush.  This worked well enough, especially since the fan is above our heads in the room and we are not really that up close to it.

Finally, my husband reinstalled the fan and – just like that – we have a fan that matches the office perfectly!

I am happy to report that this turned out so well, I wish I would have done it sooner.

Your turn:  What projects have your crossed off your “Get it done” list?