Painting Confessions

Alright--Jared and I have painted our dining room (see post "Painting Plunge") and since then finally painted our family room. We choose blue ("denim" to be exact) for this recent color change, which kind of surprised me. Our color choice didn't start that way. I was thinking in a place where there are more overcast days than not, I'd want the opposite color inside. However, in order for the dining room colors to flow into this space, we realized the color needed to be darker. So we took a risk. I'm sure if some HGTV realtor guru were to see our wall color choices they'd insist we'd change them back to something boring and neutral. But they aren't here so I'm not going to worry about it. I guarantee you we are NOT changing the color anytime soon.


Painting the family room was much more than we bargained for. Of course with 4 kids 8 years old and younger we realized we can be most productive painting when they are in bed...especially when you're doing the main hang-out in the house. That doesn't include the baby I'm nursing either. So we spent the first night til after midnight priming. Then the next night we spent six, yes SIX hours putting up one full coat of paint and only two coats on the walls where the TV and computer are so we could put the furniture back and take away the temptation for little ones to grab wires and cords. The texture of these walls totally stinks and the walls where our TV and fireplace are have paneling. So after Jared put the first coat on, guess who got to go back with a tiny brush and fill in the grooves? I think I can speak for Jared when I say that we have found painting extremely overrated. I definitely do not like it one bit. Maybe it's because I'm so detailed and technical. We were up til almost midnight that third night putting a second coat of paint on the final walls that we didn't do the previous night. Oh and don't get me started on our popcorn ceilings! Not to mention the drag it is to clean up afterwards. (Yes, I'm complaining!) And we still have to continue the blue paint into our kitchen. Painting the family room took so much out of me, I just couldn't stomach painting the kitchen. So I put it off. We were hoping to get it done before our trip to Alaska. We leave in two days. It ain't happenin'.

But...we found our solution. We discovered almost out of the blue that a college student in our old ward actually paints interior rooms. It just so happens that she needs some extra money to go to BYU-Hawaii and WE just happen to have some painting that needs to be done. Needless to say, we hired her immediately to finish painting our kitchen, the family room trim and touch ups, the living room (with a color that has yet to be disclosed) and our bedroom while we're gone on our trip. That way she can come and go as she pleases and we don't have to work around kids, nursing or work schedules anymore and I don't have to live with the blue painter's tape around the kitchen edges nagging at me all the time. Call it lazy, call it impatience, call it whatever you want. I call it a good solution for both parties involved. And hey, I'm all about supporting a college education!


In order to prep for her to paint however, we (meaning "I" because Jared worked 12 hours at the urgent care yesterday and works another 12 tomorrow--the day before we leave) have to take pictures off the walls and pack up books off the shelves, take curtains down and get loose things put away and move furniture to the center of the room (ugh...that piano is going to be a bear!) I feel like I'm moving. It's just enough stuff to do on top of the already huge task of packing for a trip for six people to Alaska for 2 weeks and my normal cleaning and organizing around the house, that I've thought a couple times that maybe this wasn't such a great idea. But we're committed. And hopefully coming home to a little chaos with displaced furniture late at night will be worth it when I see my newly painted walls. I sort of feel guilty about the situation. Here we are finally in a place where we can paint our own walls and after 2 rooms we sell out. BUT...we're not off the hook. We still have two more bedrooms and three bathrooms and trim to paint. (Pause) Okay...maybe I AM being lazy. But sometimes my sanity and time are worth more than gold itself. I will happily use my own paycheck for such splurges!

*Here is the left side of our family room. When Jared started painting I was a bit worried about the color. But I think it turned out nicely.




*Here's the view of the family room from the kitchen. I forgot to take a "before" picture but no biggie. It was all white!