painting my livingroom -- overwhelmed

[mamaduck]

I'm prepping to paint my livingroom. The previous owner had it painted lime green. It is a massive project, I'm doing it all by my little old self, and I'm running into the following problems:

1) the ceiling is vaulted to 12 feet on one side of the room, and I can only reach 10 feet using a 6 ft. step ladder. And even that makes me feel very dizzy and sick to my stomach. I could use an extension handle on the roller, but I still have to get up close with a brush or tape, to avoid getting paint on the ceiling.

2) There is a ton of trim work, all painted with something high gloss. I'm having to sand it all down, and it is taking for stinking ever.

3) The wall extends into several other rooms and the hallway. There are sections that have to be painted over top of stairways and such, and I can't figure out how to reach them. I can't leave them lime green.

4) I *think* I have narrowed down a color (pale creamy color with a touch or rust in it) but I really don't want to do this again anytime soon. I'm toying with the idea of doing semi-gloss instead of flat paint, so that it is washable. Will that look really terrible in a livingroom?

Help. I'm so overwhelmed.

[jerawo]

I would only use flat if your walls are not smooth. Flat paint will hide bumps and cracks, and glossier paint will draw attention to the bumps and cracks.

Eggshell is a good compromise. It wipes clean easier, but isn't glossy like semi-gloss. I actually think that flat starts to look bad after a while, because you can't clean any dirt or scrapes off of it.

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

You probably thought of this already, but you really need a higher ladder and someone to help you. Maybe your helper could be better at being up high. Sound like a major job. I second the eggshell vote. Flat looks nice, but only for so long. Semigloss shows off any flaws in the wall.

If it makes you feel better, I took, 6 months or so to paint by livingroom, and it's tiny
: .

[mamaduck]

Thanks! I'm half done. The high parts are killing me though. I can't will my hands to let go of the ladder to paint. I think I need to enlist someone braver to help me out.

I found a paint by Behr that is a washable flat enamel. It looks good.

I chose kind of a dusty rose color, that verges on tan. It is very pretty. I'm a bit nervous watching it dry though. From some angles it looks purple.