I’ve been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it.
- Stephen Wright
We have been doing a lot of painting around these parts.
Here are a few sneak peeks.
You only get a sneak peek because, well, life around here is a project in process.
Our living room has gone from dingy white to Shoreline Haze (Valspar), an oatmeal gray:
Our office/craft room has gone from (again) dingy white to Frozen Pond (Behr), a brooding, stormy green-blue:
Our upstairs bathroom has done from plastic Barbie skin peach (it is the identical color I tell you), to Astral (leftover kitchen paint) to Lucy Blue (Valspar), a preppy nautical teal.
And, finally, our bedroom has done from light blue, to terrorizing irremovable pink wallpaper, to Seashell Gray (Valspar), a misty silvery gray.
Now that I’ve finally been able to remove paint speckles from the forehead and elbows, I thought I would share a few painting tips.
1. Carry a wet paper towel with you while you are painting for the occasional paint roller spittle or brush flecks on to your beautiful hardwood floors (*gulp). It’s better to clean as you go.
2. Don’t dunk! Anytime I use a paintbrush I barely dip it into the paint. This will avoid drips and a messy handle. And as you can see, gravity will bring the paint down the bristles without your over-exuberant dunkage.
3. Getting sleepy and you’re not done painting? Wrap your brush or roller in a plastic bag and stick it in the refrigerator. This is especially helpful for painting trim, which can take weeks. It will keep for a while (*erm, longer than I care to admit).
4. Stubborn bristles? After painting for a while your brushes will start to become stiff and unusable. Extend their life by soaking them in a mixture of 2 parts hot water to one part vinegar. I let mine soak for about 30 minutes. Clean them with dish soap and water and let dry.
5. Collect your paint chip samples in a basket. (You know you’re renovating your entire house when you have this many samples). When choosing a color, tape them on the wall and view them throughout the day to see how the light changes the color. Then, buy a sample for $3.00. Don’t be cheap and skip it! We have changed our minds in every. single. room. except for the dining room from our initial paint choice because of the sample. We went through FOUR different colors of sample cans in our living room. And it was worth it. Otherwise instead of relaxing Shoreline Haze we might have ended up with Green-that-looks-like-gold, Weak-coffee-with-too-much-creamer-tan or Willy-Wonka-Chocolate-Milk brown.
6. Clip the paint chips together and write on them with a sharpie which room it is located in. It’s handy and you will want to have to make sure your choices are harmonious with the other colors already in your home. It will also be handy to have when making other purchases down the line like countertops, furniture or lamps.
And, on a final note, for the best painting results, give your ceiling a fresh coat and be sure to take the proper steps of prepping your walls for painting (be it scrapping, spackling, sanding, puttying, epoxying, etc.). This takes three times as long, but is well-worth the effort.
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Other exciting things in the world of renovation? We got a new garage door! Hurricane Irene left behind enough wreckage we can have bonfires for a year. We have started the kitchen countertop hunt. I’ve officially been inducted into Ikea. More about that later.
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