Painting fun

This is one part of the kitchen that is finished. We even replaced the light switch cover with a new brushed nickle finish that matched our faucet. The walls are pale yellow. The color is called Summer Wish. My Summer wish is to be done with painting.

Part of our tax return went to buying the rest of the paint we needed to finally finish painting the house. We have been here almost a year now and we still haven't finished the painting we started, we have done about half the house. We haven't hung any curtains and very few pictures. I think we keep expecting someone to come and tell us there has been a mistake we aren't allowed to live in this nice of a house and we have to get out.

Enough is enough already it is time to really settle in. So I have a giant never ending list of crap to do. I always do but now it has things on it like removing wallpaper, painting, hanging pictures and curtains. My list is 3 pages single spaced typed and some of the items on it are things like plan a birthday party for the boys and remodel the bathrooms. Really you could have a sub list of a dozen more things just under each of those.

First item was to finish painting the kitchen because it had already been started when we ran out of paint. Also we got one free can of paint in that color because the can sprung a leak while they were shaking it up. I figured I better use that first before it leaked all over eternity.

I thought it would take 2 or 3 days to paint the kitchen. It is not a very large kitchen. A week later we will still not be done. This is partly because I am a perfectionist and a little OCD. I decided all the interior surfaces needed to be painted as well. Even way back in the recesses of the cabinets were no one will ever look again. It just had to be. So a week extra and another gallon of paint purchased and it will still not be finished. So glad we get an awesome discount at Ace.

This is one of the weird places Kay likes to store half eaten bananas but it also is a good before shot of the hardware and color of the drawers and cabinets. I think this barn type hardware was used in every home built in our area in the 50's. It is very hard to keep clean because it tarnishes and it has lots of dimples to gather dirt. So happy to see them go.

Here are my practical real life painting tips:

Start from the top. That way if you start to fall off of your ladder you can still catch yourself on the unpainted lower section of wall without getting covered in paint.

Paint the most visible section first. You will really feel you have accomplished something and if you poop out before finishing the rest you will still have a nice section to look at.

It is easy to poop out. Painting is not fun after about 30 minutes and trust me it will take a lot longer than 30 minutes to finish even a small project. Just keep going. Eventually you will run out of things to paint.

This is very important. Only work in one room at a time. It may seem to make sense to tape off all the rooms and paint all the trim at the same time but DO NOT attempt this. Several rooms in a shambles all at once is a sure fire free ticket to your nearest mental health institution. Just do one room. You will feel a sense of accomplishment when you totally finish a project. Also you need at least one safe room to escape to for sanity breaks. Try to keep one room neat and untouched so you can get away because Calgon won't help you.

Think you don't have enough kitchen cabinets? Start painting and you'll wish you had less.

The kitchen is the hardest room because it has so many surfaces. Also you can't totally keep people out of it. We all gotta eat. so you have visitors the entire time you are working. Be well rested before you start this project because you won't get much sleep once you start.

You learn interesting things about your house while painting. You find past paint colors hidden away in little seen areas. Our kitchen has been at least orange, grey, slate blue, and puce in the past. The old kitchen flooring was linoleum tiles that were black with rainbow flecks. The stove was once gas and the water heater was once in the area that is now the pantry. Someone put in new counter tops and in the process buried one of those old fashioned slide out wooden cutting boards. I have fun trying to imagine what all those colors and features looked like when they were together.

Painting is much harder when you have a 2 year old climbing on your back. See if grandma wants to play.

The phone will always ring or a child will need something when your hands are hopelessly covered in paint.

The room you are painting, no matter which room it is, will become a kid magnet. It will suddenly for some inexplicable reason become the most fascinating place on the planet. Be prepared.

Most importantly. Pick a color you love. If you don't love it lie because I am never painting again.