A project in earnest

A few weeks ago we started a large project in earnest. Painting the house. About a year ago (summer of 07) we remodeled the bathroom into a bathroom that I wanted from the start. With that finished, I had to paint. So I pasted a whole bunch of sample on the walls while the guys finished the construction and spent evenings just looking at the samples. When I finally decided, I chose two shades of taupe. In the end I really like the color I chose for the walls but not the trim.

When I decided that the entire house needed a face lift, I wanted paint the same color or very close to the same color I used in the bathroom. However, the paint I used in the bathroom wasn't the paint that I like best. So I had to choose a color that matched as closely as possible.

Since I like Benjamin Moore paints, I went with a lovely Broken Arrow color, a medium taupe for the walls and a nice cream color for the trim which I liked much better. I chose these colors because they were close to what I wanted and also matched the ceiling paint called Kitten Whiskers.

For the kitchen I wanted something a little different. I had a nice wallpaper on those walls that resembled a sponged look. I liked that for my kitchen but Shalimar didn't like the paper and kept ripping it off. So we removed the paper and painted the exact same thing back on using the colors I had chosen. The only thing to be done to the finished wall is the ceiling border paper that will tie this in with the rest of the house. I cannot put crown moldings in the main part of the house because of the cathedral ceilings. So this wall will get the border paper to even out the top line.

So far we've been doing good with working on the painting. Other than the border, the finished walls in the kitchen are sponged nicely (one project piece complete). The all (except for the laundry closet doors) are all painted including the trim (another project piece complete).

Now, the question is, do I paint the kitchen wall against the garage? Now that's a tough one. It will need to be done as it is part of the house. The problem is, it is also 16 feet high at the peak.

Then there is also an artwork hanging there that will need to be brought down. This Divan was put there when we first moved in and hasn't been touched since. I wouldn't want to be the person responsible for taking it off that wall! The thing weighs over 50 pounds and has been bolted to the wall, straight through to the attic wall and supported on two different joist. It's a beautiful piece and fits there so nicely it's almost like we built the house around it. But to do this job it will need to be taken down, the wall painted and it replaced to it's original spot.

Getting up there to paint that will will be a feat as well. But once we get this wall as well as the wall at the opposite end of the public area, I will be happy. I'm simply happy we're not painting this ceiling which is why I had the house painted the Kitten Whiskers when we built. I simply didn't want to have to try and paint that ceiling. And I still don't.

With further thinking about the project again today, I've decided that I would like to sponge the guest bathroom. We should have enough glaze and wall paint to do that room too. I don't have the crown molding there yet, but that shouldn't stop us from painting the room and get it ready for the crown molding.

So I think the order I will continue with is to finish the moldings in the kitchen. There's only one door and two very short baseboards there. I can do that in an hour or so. Then move into the guest bathroom and do the trim and the walls since the whole thing will get a good shot of the same color. Then put on the darker sponged glaze. Since we're doing this on weekends only, it might be a few weeks until we get it done. But it will get there.

The crown molding should be easy to save up for. It's the hardwood floors and closet organizer that will cost some bucks and I will have to put away for that. Since both those items are for the bedroom suite, the bedroom will have to wait until I can afford the wood floors. The organizer will also cost some bucks. I saw the perfect one for my closet at a True Value today. Of course, Bob will build it but I will have to go look at it again so I can sketch it and take it home to see how it will fit in my closet and give him a plan. The closet will also get painted the house colors, but it will not get the crown molding.

I have the border paper for the kitchen, but I won't put it on until the paint has had a few weeks to cure. I don't want to put it on to early should we ever decide to remove it for something we like better.

We will do what we can over the winter but when spring comes, we'll be outside taking care of the garden. I'll see how far we get. We'll just keep working at it until it's done. The house is screaming for a new color. The color it is was nice in our other house, but not this one. The warm taupe and cream trim seem to be the ticket for this house. There are just a few areas where we need to be really brave.