Do Your Homework Going nowhere and getting it done By Deborah Salomon Photographs by John Gessner
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all it quarantine, call it shelter in place, even house arrest. Call it going stir-crazy, looking at the same four walls, weeks on end. Wait a minute — those walls need painting. Those floors could use a once-over. And how about creating something wild in the kitchen? See how these residents turned home confinement into home improvement.
Jaime Hoffman
If beauty is only skin deep, the house Jaime and Erik Hoffman purchased in Weymouth desperately needed a dermatologist. Could anything be uglier than cedar shakes painted dark brown, with yellow trim? “Dingy and dated” was Jaime’s assessment. They decided on a radical transformation to white, with blue trim on the paned and bowed windows. Problem was, quotes came in upward of $11,000. Let’s give it a try, they decided, although neither had ever painted exteriors. This might be just the thing to while away the quarantine, especially since the weather was sunny and warm. First came two coats of primer, then two coats of paint applied to the rough shakes with a sprayer — another new experience. But that many window panes and frames would drive even Pete the Painter to drink. With the help of Google and YouTube, Jaime learned that windows could be covered with Frog tape. Even so, she had to open the upstairs windows from the inside and stick her head out to reach the trim. The job took a week, with Jaime and Erik surviving as friends. Only casualty, their dog, who sat in the paint, necessitating a butt shave. “Now, our house is bright and happy, like a (Nantucket) cottage,” Jaime beams. Bright, happy and the talk of the neighborhood. “The best part was that neighbors stopped by and we talked from afar. That way, we got to meet people.”
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PineStraw
Erik, Harper & Jaime Hoffman
The Art & Soul of the Sandhills
