Update on the painting

[amyamanda]

I don't know if any of you will remember my posts about my ugly house and needing to paint it inside so I can stop hating it and feeling overwhelmed at the prospect.

I'm not ready to post pics yet, but I wanted to give an update in case anyone needs some inspiration.

Well, about a month ago I got the tri-level hallway painted and the huge rec room walls painted, with the help of a couple of friends and a lot of chocolate (LOL). I basically spent a week prepping the godawful walls and stained woodwork, then plowed through the painting to get all the color up at once. In hindsight it was very smart to do the biggest, hardest areas of the house first.

I'm slowly getting the niggly finish work done in the rec room - trim, little things here and there, replacing outlets so they are all white, baseboard heaters, etc. There is one wall in the rec room that needs extra work, and that is on hold for a bit, but I LOVE how the room feels, even without that done. I used to hate the room before. Now I have a comfy chair and little desk down there and I love spending time there. I didn't imagine it could make such a difference.

So I have all the tools and some experience now, and I surprised myself yesterday by getting started on the kitchen, which is the next-biggest-ugh-room. A friend gave me the advice that you can always paint a room in little sections (the idea that you can't paint a wall in halves because there will be a "seam" is a myth, she says). So yesterday I did the walls under the cabinets and above the stove and fridge and countertops, because that is where I mostly look. I'm going to do some other bit today, and it might take me several different chunks of time to get the kitchen done, but this idea of doing it in small, manageable bits really appeals to me.

It occurred to me that I could get our overwhelmingly large living room done the same way. The living room is a pain because of the big furniture - bookshelves, piano, armoire, china cabinet, etc. The idea of moving all that furniture at once makes me groan and it feels impossible (and makes me want to procrastinate indefinitely!) But if I can move just one big piece of furniture on any given day and not more than that, I think it won't feel so overwhelming. There is very little prep work to be done in the living room - unlike the other rooms, it wasn't wallpapered, thank goodness. The wallpaper removal/wallpaper paste removal is dreadfully time-consuming.

The hallway is buttercream, the rec room is a deeper butter yellow with white trim, and the kitchen is sage green.

I will post pics when I am ready, I promise! The kitchen bit was so (relatively) easy yesterday, I'm glad my friend helped me get my feet stuck out of the mud, helped me overcome my fears of painting (she mentored me so much those first couple of days), and encouraged me. She was like a painting doula. I'm so grateful to her.

And I am starting to like my house more.

[iowaorganic]

I needed to hear this. Thank You. We are moving from our cute little farmhouse (that I have spent the last 5 years decorating and absolutely adore) to a big old ugly farmhouse in 2 weeks. I have been painting like a crazy person. And it is super overwhelming to have 4 bedrooms, a huge hallway/landing area/ kitchen/ cupboards/ office. But it is either that or I know that I will only want to live in my car..... I just want mine done before we move in though because my kids are soooo good at screwing up wet paint.

I didn't do before pictures- because all it was was filthy flat white paint with crappy plaster. But I have one room finally done (never let your very small children loose at a paint store with no concrete plan) and it looks awesome- but took 5 days of painting. I have 2 rooms that I believe I can have done today. And then start on the hallway.....

Good Luck mama! It will hopefully all come together.

[sunnysandiegan]

Great work, Ladies!

[hillymum]

Well done! Maybe this will inspire me to get back to work on painting!I can't wait to see pictures! That always inspires me.

[bigteamug]

I do have to say, that having our stairwell painted an ivory instead of the poopy brown remains one of my favorite improvements for the house. So much lighter and airier.

[iowaorganic]

I started my new kitchen today. It is all an off white. I am first painting the ceiling bright white, then white cabinets and honey colored walls. I am excited.

[amyamanda]

It's amazing to me how calm new paint makes my walls feel (compared to cluttery crayon marks, wallpaper paste smears, finger prints, nail holes, etc). I was a little freaked out by the green in the kitchen when it first went up, because it seemed too dark (under the cabinets), but later in the main part of the room it looks just right. I haven't done the section above the cabinets yet, still need to remove an old electrical wall fixture and patch that and two other spots and paint those, replace the electrical outlets and switches with white, and eventually paint the ceiling and woodwork.

In all rooms, my goal is getting the walls done. I'm leaving ceilings and woodwork until after the walls are finished. The walls are what make the biggest impact. (Though when the walls are done, suddenly it becomes obvious how needy the woodwork and ceilings are...)

The kind of strange thing is, the main colors in our common areas are yellow and green. I don't particularly like the combination of yellow and green. But it needed to be warm and not cool, DH will NOT have any beige in our house (LOL), I am avoiding pinks in the main areas because they're so...pink... (though our bathroom is pink and it's staying that way). Plain white is too stark for our house, except on woodwork. The bedrooms are cooler colors (periwinkle, turquoise, blue). The bathrooms are or will be warm (pink, peach). I'm thinking of doing a pinky-purple in the laundry room just for fun. So I guess the greens and yellows have their place.

I love seeing my house be transformed. It is an amazing feeling.

[ChristyMarie]

It IS an amazing feeling, good for you!

Can I ask, did you have high ceilings in your stairway? How'd you ge to them? I'm still afraid I'm going to have to hire mine done or rent scaffolding - which DH is very against doing. He thinks I'll fall. Not that I'm a klutz or anything...

I'm off to paint DS's bathroom. Getting started is always the hard part...

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie

It IS an amazing feeling, good for you!

Can I ask, did you have high ceilings in your stairway? How'd you ge to them? I'm still afraid I'm going to have to hire mine done or rent scaffolding - which DH is very against doing. He thinks I'll fall. Not that I'm a klutz or anything...

I'm off to paint DS's bathroom. Getting started is always the hard part...

Go, you! I didn't do the stairway ceilings (saving that for another time) but I borrowed a ladder from a neighbor to do the stairwell and it went fine. I also had a very tall friend help out. I think a good plan is to do that sort of work when there is another adult in the house, just in case, but it did not feel overly risky to me. OTOH, we have a split-level, so our stairwell is not horrifically high.

[ChristyMarie]

Ah, in our split level I probably could have done it with a ladder.

Now, mine are, indeed, horrifically high. I'm guessing...25-30 feet? And the family room is maybe 30-35. I just don't see how I can do it and it is p!$$ing me off because the thought of paying someone to paint just irritates me.

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie

Ah, in our split level I probably could have done it with a ladder.

Now, mine are, indeed, horrifically high. I'm guessing...25-30 feet? And the family room is maybe 30-35. I just don't see how I can do it and it is p!$$ing me off because the thought of paying someone to paint just irritates me.

I hear you. I honestly don't know what DIYers do...

[iowaorganic]

My update is that the honey color turned out to be more of a pale lime- which while pretty- was NOT what I wanted. I figured I would have a lot of problems getting menards to remake me paint (but at $28/gal) it is really the least they could do. But there were no problems- and I got the first coat of honey in the kitchen late last night. It is awesome. So today my SIL and I are going to paint the master bedroom and kitchen (same paint) and perhaps tonight I can sweet talk DH into helping me paint the cabinets.


STAIRWELLS- I lean up a ladder and build my own scaffolding out of some sturdy planks back to the landing. Obviously not a plan for a 35' area- but for a normal stairwell it works. That is hopefully going to happen tomorrow.

[ChristyMarie]

Ok, I'll update too:

So I think I love to make more work for myself.

I started to paint DS's linen closet first and originally I was just going to do the walls yellow (same as the ceiling) and leave the wood shelves white. Well then I got this grand idea to paint each shelf a color from the shower curtain. It is going to be so stinking cute but...work. Extra work.

So the shelves will be: indigo, orange, turquoise, green and fuscia to match:

http://www.target.com/Alex-Moody-Mon..._com_brand-bin

Off to start taping/prepping so I can do the ceiling tomorrow.

[amyamanda]

Here's an update:

The living room/dining room is just about done. There is a patch above the fireplace that needs doing because the fireplace frame used to go all the way up the ceiling in an H shape (faux rustic beams). DH removed the upper half, leaving just the frame and mantel, and now I have to patch, sand, and paint that bit. But otherwise the whole L-shaped room is done. It is lovely and clean looking. Used to be lots of handprints, smudges, and kid wall graffiti. It is so "quiet" looking now!

To get the living room done, I did it in five chunks. Also there is one armoire that I just pulled away from the wall and carefully painted behind. And to make the project less overwhelming, there is a huge heavy china cabinet that I faked it with - I didn't move it, I just painted back around the edges; no one will ever know I didn't paint the wall behind it (until we move, and then we can paint the unpainted bit). Except all of Mothering.com knows now. But don't tell. I loooooove the color of the living room - a warm yellowy cream. So cheerful and sunny, even at night.

The kitchen is also all painted. The color I chose is not exactly right, but I am not stressing it. It's sage green and it's a little too minty/dark and not quite warm enough. But I figure once all the other house painting is done, it will be a small job to put on a coat or two of similar but more perfect paint. All the prep work has been done on those walls; it would just be masking tape and dropcloths and a single afternoon. So I'm letting it go for now and will go back to it.

I haven't done ceilings yet, or trim, but those will get done in time.

The state weatherization folks came last week to assess our needs and I am thrilled to say that they are coming back in a month or two to do a whole bunch of projects that we can't manage ourselves. I feel really blessed by the weatherization program. They handle moisture issues and they're going to put a new, properly-vented bathroom fan in our windowless bathroom, among other things. Feels so good to know our house will be "more fixed" soon.

When I find my camera cable, I will post pics.

[zoebird]

cool.

the way those super high ceilings are done is with scaffolding. you can rent it from home-depot like shops (with instructions on how to put it up), and then do that.

my parents had their whole house painted at once (literally, over three days--and it was a big house), and i was there to "watch" the painters (let them in and out mostly). it was all about long handled rollers and scaffolding. 5 guys, three days. worth it to my parents, who are not DIYers at all, and besides, my dad should nto be up on ladders and such (big guy, sore feet, etc).