...house, she looked a bit like this:

There was tons of chaos happening on the inside and it was clearly visible from the outside too.  Our sun porch windows alluded to the hoarders-esk nightmare going on inside. It wasn't pretty and it seemed to only get worse once the moving-in process began. I can only imagine what our next door neighbors were thinking. Note-to-self: make sure to empty porch asap ;)

Anyways, we need to go back to where we left off in the updating process. After this post, where I showed our cheap kitchen floor update, I began to paint the living room. It was the last space that needed to be worked on before we moved in. We decided that everything else could wait until after.

So, about a week ago I began to paint the living room. I started with the ceiling and the trim, of course, and then moved on to the walls. Oh the walls. I just couldn't wait to tackle them. After picking  our new rug, I decided to go with a creamy white to compliment and pull out the neutral star bursts. We chose French White in eggshell by Benjamin Moore and after two coats, our living room was starting to look like the rest of the house--homey.

After the first coat, I knew that I had made the right choice. I even sent a quick text to Jonathan, ecstatic about the results!  I couldn't wait to get the rug and furniture into this space. The vision of having a neutral wall color, accented with punches of color (via the room's furniture and decor), seemed to becoming a reality!

I like it even more, now that the furniture is in!

What do you guys think? Have you ever planned a room out, only to have it come together exactly how you wanted it? 


P.S I have also had the opposite happen. ;) 

Covering a Multitude of Sins

Every time I walk into our house, I swoon over the wonders a coat of paint can do. In the four months that we have owned this house, a lot has changed and honestly, most of the changes involved paint in some form. 

In our house, paint has covered floors, wallpaper, cigarette-smoke damage, a tub, and a sink. It has hidden sooo much ugliness in a cost effective way. Thank goodness paint exists. I honestly think it has saved my sanity. 

I have a few paint-related things to show you today. Jonathan and I worked hard this past week.  Isn't that the best feeling? Seeing that checklist get smaller and smaller? As we inch closer and closer to our move-in date, we get more and more anxious to get things done. Heck, last week we even worked at the house until 9:30 one night, trying to finish up a bunch of things. I know that doesn't seem very late, but when you don't eat dinner until after you get home, your tummy insists that's waaay late. 

This past week we finished up the paint in the kitchen and started putting the doors back on the lower cabinets. 

We also finished painting the dining room ceiling, the trim, and we put one coat of color on the walls. I was so excited to get this color up. We chose Pistachio by Benjamin Moore. It was the perfect grellow color. 

Now, the color isn't reading that great in the pictures because of the poor lighting (we have very little overhead lighting and it has been overcast lately), but in reality it reads the perfect shade of yellow-green. When I walk into the house and see this color, I'm instantly happy. It's such a cheery color and reads really well with the gray from the kitchen.  

The last thing we accomplished this weekend was "painting" the tub and sink. Last week, we moved the tub into its place in our bathroom, but before we could finish plumbing it, and the sink for that matter, we had to re-coat the inside. 

Remember their sad, rust-covered state?

They needed a little TLC to say the least. So, Jonathan grabbed a DIY kit from Home Depot and went to work. Following the box's instructions, first, he had to wipe down the tub/sink with a solution that consisted of water with an additive meant to wipe off all the dirt and grime. Then he had to steel wool the whole surface that he was going to be spraying. This process had to be done three times. 

Then, after drying down the tub and sink, he began to spray. The directions specifically told him to do two thin coats. No more, no less. Once he was done with the two coats, I asked if he had enough left for three--thinking that the more layers, the more durable it would be. But, Jonathan had already read the box and it had specifically warned against doing three coats!!! So, two it was. After the coats were finished, you were instructed to leave the sprayed area alone for at least 72 hours. Here is what the tub looked like all freshly painted.

Such an improvement. 

Now, this method isn't fool proof and if you look closely there are a few places where the paint has "sagged," but overall, it is a huge improvement. No more rust stains, thank goodness. Plus, the kit only cost $50. If you wanted to have your tub professionally done the prices usually start around $300 and go up from there. So we are pretty happy with the savings.

As for how long this treatment is supposed to last? We aren't sure. Jonathan said that he will be happy if it lasts for two or more years. We will have to let you know how it goes. I'm betting it will hold up pretty well considering we don't have any kids and our dogs will now be getting hosed down outside. Plus, I can honestly say that I'm not looking for perfect. I think the eventual dings and scratches will add character. It was just the rust that I wasn't a fan of. 

Have any of you ever refinished a tub/sink? Any tips? How long did your new surface last? 

The Progression Of A Floor

I have my hopes pretty high today.

I am praying that when I show up at the house today, our bedroom floor isn't making me see red.

Last night I put the first coat of paint on the floor in our master bedroom! It is very exciting, but I'm a bit nervous.

I quickly snapped some 'before' pictures to show you how clean our floor looked before the whole paint thing. It's amazing that it went from this:

to this (covered in drywall dust):

and then, finally, to this:

Sidenote: Did you notice the place where the walls were in the above picture? See the wood that is exposed and doesn't have any paint on it? That is where the wall used to be that divided the two rooms. 

After much sweeping, vacuuming, and moping...she was all cleaned up and ready for a coat of paint. Jonathan had fixed all of the holes

and sanded down the areas that needed to be smoothed out. And she was all pretty and ready for some "makeup" so-to-speak.

I grabbed the paint that we wanted to use, Benjamin Moore's Floor and Patio in Country Redwood, and got to work.

First I cut in, under the radiator, with a brush. This was fairly straightforward. I just used a smaller paint brush and made sure to get as close to the wall, behind the radiator, as I could. Then, I made sure to go out around the radiator with the paint, so that when I rolled the floor I had plenty of room and  I wouldn't hit the radiator.

I didn't have to worry about edging the perimeter of the room, because the baseboard was going to cover it--as long as I got close enough to the wall. Also, I didn't have to worry about hitting the wall with the roller because the baseboard was going to cover that as well.



It was pretty fast work. The paint was very thin which allows it to really seep into the wood and spread fairly easily. I think I painted the whole floor in about fifteen minutes.

Here are some after pictures, prepare yourself.

The red is a bit more cherry than I was expecting it to be. I still need to put another coat on the whole thing, but I am hoping it becomes a bit more brown in the drying process. If not, I am contemplating taking some stain and rubbing a thin coat over the floors to get a darker effect. We will see. I just don't want our room reading too stars and stripes. Not my idea of a relaxing get away. I will keep you posted!

Have you ever tried to tackle something, only to fear that you made it worse? Any horrible paint experiences? Do you think the stain idea will help?

Full Steam Ahead...

Yesterday's post outlined the basic things that we needed to get done in each room. And I have to say, we jumped right into crossing things off the list. We have really started putting our noses to the grindstone.  

On Easter Sunday a few friends volunteered to help me prime our living and dining room. I was so excited to have some help and couldn't wait to get started! 

Monday we tackled the living room and finished it in four hours. It was a blast singing, chatting, and painting together. I'm so thankful for them. Our living room went from this:

to looking like this after our first coat of primer:

What do you think?! We decided not to prime the doors and windows yet. The doors are going to be taken off and sanded down first and the the windows will eventually be replaced, so we might just leave them as is. 

On to the dining room. Before:

and now:

So, we are saying good-bye to the hideous wallpaper and hello to a fresh breath of white. It also helps that we took down those wonderful lace curtains. I sorta miss them (rolls eyes). Yet again, we are waiting to paint the doors and the windows.

I just have to say thank you SO much Laurie, Laura, and Joanna!!! I cannot believe everything is primed. It is such a huge weight off my shoulders.

Tonight, it is on to painting kitchen cabinets and prepping our bedroom floor for paint tomorrow! Like I said, we are full steam ahead!

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?

A Fresh Perspective

As promised, I am back today with pictures of my painting job!

Yesterday, after posting about our new molding, I headed over to our house to put the first coat of primer on the entire upstairs and the lower half of the bathroom downstairs.

Now, let me tell you, I never anticipated how long it would take me to do this. I was planning on heading over and being there for a couple of hours and then coming home to finish the rest of my to-do list. Ohh--no. No, no, no, no, no! I was very wrong.

Let's just say that seven hours later I was walking out of our house aching like I had just completed a full body workout. I arrived at 10:30 am all chipper and ready to go and left at 5:30 pm a walking zombie. Jonathan came to check on me as I was leaving and kept asking me if I was ok--yea, it was that bad. Apparently, I looked exhausted. Not to mention, I was also covered in little splatters of paint from head to toe.

 {source}

Except, I was exceedingly less excited and colorful. :) But, without further ado, her is our bedroom all decked out in a coat of primer. She is looking exceptionally bright, wouldn't you say? 

You know how I mentioned that Jonathan was really excited, when I told him about the trim option for our master bedroom? Well he was excited, because it would save him a lot of time. Yea, all that time I saved him? Well, it was added to my painting time. The first step in painting a room is always to paint whatever trim work there is. You have to make sure to also paint the corners as well. Basically, you take a paint brush and cover whatever you won't be able to use a roller on. It took forever to do this first step. 

I have to say, it felt great to accomplish the upstairs though. Jonathan said that it was very important to get the primer on asap because it will help him notice any flaws in the drywall. Now, he can go back through and repair anything that may showed up, as a glaring mistake, before we paint the final color. 

As far as the bathroom goes, Jonathan asked me to also throw a quick coat of primer on the lower half of the wall. The paneling that we ordered will be adhered to the wall using some kind of glue. Apparently, the glue attaches better to paint than it does to drywall. So that was on my priming list as well. Thankfully, all I had to do was spend five minutes throwing a quick, imperfect coat of primer up. No trimming involved here!

That felt like two seconds compared to all the work I had to do upstairs. 

Overall, I felt very accomplished yesterday. I also feel like everything is finally starting to come together! I am starting to really envision what the bathroom and master bedroom are going to look like when they are done. I can't wait. I also have decided that I am enjoying all of this work. Where some people may get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that needs to be done, I truly enjoy putting so much time into our future house.

As I was painting yesterday, this song by Miranda Lambert,  just kept playing over and over in my head. 

I kept thinking,  "Our children will probably grow up in this house. There will be so many memories and firsts for us in this place." So, as I worked, I focused on that thought. I want to put all of my love into our house because of what it means to us now and what it will mean in the future.

God has blessed us with so much and I am so thankful that I have this opportunity. Jonathan and I are in a very special place in our lives and I don't want to miss a day of it. So, instead of being overwhelmed and stressed, I am soaking it in. I wouldn't trade these days for anything.