A Coat of Paint.

I'm starting to believe that paint can fix anything. Seriously. Believe me on this one. It transforms the ugly into the beautiful. After looking at all the walls at our house, I realized that paint was going to become my best friend.

The plaster and lathe have created this wonderful wave effect on the wall. It looks like its intentional, but let me assure you it isn't. I can't wait until the day that we rip it all down, but until then, we are going to try to remedy it. Paint might not cover the wonderful undulating walls, but it will definitely cover the hideous wallpaper:

It will also cover the smell that seems to linger in this house. There is just a slight musty smell. I think it comes from the old carpet, window coverings, and absorbent wallpaper. Hopefully the paint will take care of the wall aspect and removing the window coverings and carpet will take care of the rest.

Speaking of paint, we just purchased half of the paint we will need for the house. I never knew how expensive paint could be. Oh. my. goodness.

The cost breakdown:

5 Gallons of Aqua Lock Primer: $144.95 (This is going on EVERYTHING in the house. Trim, doors, radiators, walls, ceilings, etc.So we will probably need to purchase more.) 
1 Gallon of Floor Paint: $39.99 (We are painting the floor in our master bedroom. We will need another gallon of this, but our local hardware store only had one in stock.)
3 Gallons of Benjamin Moore Ceiling White Paint: $80.97 (We might end up needing more of this, but this is a good start for now.)
4 Gallons of Benjamin Moore Green Wall Paint: $131.96 ( We purchased the paint for the walls in our master bedroom and living room. We still need the wall color for the bathroom, dining room, guest bedroom, and kitchen.)

Total: $397.87


Add in tax and then a few painting supplies and we were over $430 by the time it was all said and done. Reminder, this is just for HALF of the paint that we need. This also doesn't include the few gallons of primer and ceiling white that we have already purchased. Yea. It was a reality check for me. All part of the learning curve! :)

But, like I said, paint changes everything and this investment is well worth it, in my opinion. I think the wall colors are going to brighten up the space and transform it to our style. So, you may be wondering which color is which in the above picture...well let's talk.

The blue color is for our bedroom. Jonathan was excited about the prospect of having blue walls and I can't wait to see what it looks like with the carpet that we purchased (more on that in a future post). The tan color is for our living room. It may seem very calm and bland but wait, just wait, until you see the colors for the rest of the house. I think you will get my vision when all the colors come together! :) Don't worry, there is not going to be anything bland or lackluster about this house. Think color baby, LOTS of color.


I have something else to show you though. Something that speaks volumes about the miracles that paint can do. Behold our kitchen cabinets with one coat of primer on them! Here is the before:

and after:

Ahh!! Can I get a fist pump and a cheer?! We are getting there! I can totally see how its all going to come together. After a few coats of white paint on the cabinets and a pretty gray color on the walls, these cabinets are going to be beautiful. My cute, country kitchen is coming together.

Can you see the final results?  I'm itching to paint the rest of the kitchen and see how it all looks. Hmm maybe I will get it all finished by the end of next week. Stay tuned!

Now, I need to know, what is your favorite thing to cover in paint?