Oh, stop rolling your eyes at the overuse of the word epic because this actually is appropriately used. I've logged 38 hours already and have barely started. I decided to do this project for many reasons and I also have many alternate titles for this post. Yes, lots of paint fumes going on these days and lots of time to think of blog post titles. I could also call this, "We can do hard things" which is a phrase from Momastery. I think it's supposed to be applied to hard life situations but whatever. A good reminder that as daunting as this task looks, it's nothing like what other people face and accomplish.
Another way to remind myself of that is to listen to Epic Soundtracks on Songza. This is a good suggestion for anyone who wants to make their day seem more significant, just listen to one of those scores. We do have fun trying to guess which movies they are from. Anyway, suddenly my menial tasks seem essential and important. No matter how tedious it is sanding and wiping and priming and painting is, I am accomplishing GREAT THINGS.
So when people ask what I am painting, I respond, "portraits". Impressive? No, more impressive than portraits (to me today) is painting OAK TRIM AND DOORS AND CABINETS. (The native men of Kansas weep at the thought). It is game on here. I have logged many many hours contemplating this project, when in fact I should have just started it. I was intimidated though by the questionable job done painting the oak vanities in two of the bathrooms. I read many instructional blogs on the internet but still worried about the finished product. I'm not messing around here, I plan to live here a long time and didn't want to be irritated with ugly painted trim. This project was originally rolled into the kitchen remodel, the elusive kitchen remodel. The price kept going up and up as the project kept growing and growing. I was beginning to think it would never happen and not only would I have to live with falling apart cabinets (seriously, another one fell off the hinges this week) but I'd have to live with oak trim forever. No more. No more!
So I stopped at Sherwin Williams and the kind salesperson explained to me that it's not hard to paint oak, it is just tedious and time consuming. I suspect it isn't a job that painters are eager to take on. So I bought the right products and I just started. And it's not hard, really, it's simple, just time consuming. I am excited to do it though, the payoff is enormous. I am taking some risks, going bolder than usual but why not? I can always change it. So let's have some photos:
First, some of the items to use-- very fine sanding sponge. Hmm, now I see that I should be wearing gloves to do this. Interesting. Also, the press and seal on the carpet is better than taping, which I don't bother with. I suppose I shouldn't trash the carpet in case it takes a while before we put in the hardwoods and refinish the whole first floor.
Yes, good bye oak doors. The rest of the doors in the entryway area are cream (now white), except for these. Just primed here, finished product later when I get to it. Right now I am mostly just priming every surface I see. I am considering going bold with the paint choice in the library... that's right, I'm painting the cabinetry in there. Men faint. Sorry, I hate it. Much too country for me and for this house. I suppose it looked fine back in 1991.
Patrick's vanity, the one that scared me off painting for a long time. I finally realized that perhaps this project just wasn't done correctly.
Here's a close up. They must have just put one thin coat of paint on. Wrong. Sand. Wipe. Prime. Paint. Paint.
Just a coat of primer on the top there and already looks immensely better. Most satisfying job I've ever had.
This sums up everything I hate about the paint in this house. Obviously the miles of oak trim, but also the yellow and gray together. I know some professional picked it out and yes, gray and yellow were THE colors a couple years ago but it looks terrible like this. I still don't know what I will do color wise on the walls as the yellow goes up really really high. It's not that I don't like yellow it's just that I've done yellow in my past three houses. I am over it. Done. Time for something new. I don't mind the gray, except with the oak so perhaps it will all go gray after the trim is white.
And here it is... my test doors. No one ever sees them so I figured it would be a good place to experiment. I can't wait to see the final product, I should do that today.
Okay, my first project, photos out of order here. I figured that if I screwed up the vanity in the powder room, no big deal because I planned to replace it anyway. Well, saving money is my game while we wait for the tax bill....
Ta-da! Not the best photo but you get the idea. I put another coat on after this and it is nice and smooth and shiny and best of all, not oak and dated.
I tried out painting one corner so far to see if I like the white I picked out. I feared it was "too white", but that is just in contrast to the cream that I am painting over. (By the way, I learned that the best way to pick a white is on the computer where they have all their white choices in a page together and then you can see the undertones in them). As I am doing this project I just can't believe what bad shape it was in. Clearly a project long overdue. Now that I have primed everything I can get a feel for how it will look after I paint it. Figured I would just keep up with the priming to force me to do the entire project, rather than finishing a room and then giving up on the rest.
Also, I think it was very prophetic that we had a pile of these dropped on our front porch. We are definitely experiencing greatness now. Also, my knees are loving this. Time to get back to it today. Miles of trim to tackle. Go big or go home. The kids live in fear that I will pick them up from school in these jeans...
