When I paint my masterpiece

Last week was pretty quiet around here, with workers here for just one day of texturing the walls and ceilings.

textured walls and ceiling

ceiling texture up close

The real action happened over the weekend, as we tackled the biggest task that was our responsibility: painting. I really can't adequately express how grateful we are to my dad and father-in-law for giving up their weekends and putting in many, many grueling hours to help us. Thank you so very, very much.

Day One (Friday)

We started out with a rental sprayer and 14 gallons of primer.

plain primer (most of the house was done in this)

kitchen (this will be painted orange)

bedroom 2 (two of the walls will be dark green - a different

shade than the primer you see here - and two will be light)

the den (this will also be orange)

empty primer cans (we went through 24 gallons in all)

I was not involved with the spraying, as inhaling a bunch of paint vapor didn't seem like a great idea*, but I did help out a bit by make two trips to the paint store for 10 additional gallons of primer. Due to the nature of a sprayer (the fact that the air is constantly full of vaporized paint and such), we weren't able to get any action photos, but my dad was able to get these shots as they were working. They all put in a long, full day, but finished the priming!

Day 2

After yesterday's multiple trips, I was certain I'd be heading out for more paint but, as luck would have it, priming had its intended effect and the paint soaked in a lot less, so the paint I had ordered was enough. Yay! They started the day by spraying the ceilings and then went back to finish edging the colored primer.

Dad edges the kitchen

Tres edges a closet

Next, it was on to the primary color in the house (the dining and living rooms, bathrooms, closets, laundry room, hallways, and one bedroom will all be this pale teal). After edging, they sprayed in the first 2/3 of the walls (so as not to get spray up on the ceiling). 

My father-in-law edges the dining room

After that, we went after things the old-fashioned way and I was able to lend some assistance. I only rolled for 3 hours, but I was able to do two rooms, the kitchen and the den, so I was some help. By the end of the day - around 7 p.m. - all of the house had a single coat of paint (in addition to primer), except the master bedroom, bathroom, and closet.

the kitchen (this is only one coat - the color is much brighter in person) 

Day 3

Our third day started off with preparation for the final spraying (they sprayed everything that was painted our primary color - man, what a great invention!). While everyone else did the trim on the rooms that would be sprayed, I put a first coat on the master bedroom. I won't lie, it's the color I'm least sure about, but I guess it's good we'll be subjecting ourselves to the iffiest color in the house.

our room

They sprayed the second coat of our main color in a few hours and it looked great.

Most of the house is this color

Next, I got back in and helped to roll a second coat in the den. Unfortunately (and not unexpectedly), we can out of paint when I was about halfway through. We were able to  put a second coat on the other two bedrooms, though, which meant that we were finished with everything but the two orange rooms (which would have to wait for the paint store to open up again the next day). It was another really long day of hard work and everyone was pooped.

 bedroom 2 (yes, this is two different greens you're seeing)

my intrepid painters

Day 4

The day began with a trip to the paint store for our final gallon (we returned the sprayer and some unused supplies while we were there) - the end was in sight. Once we got back, I finished up rolling the den and the kitchen, while the others worked on edging and various other tricky corners that needed touch ups.

the den (actually the same color as the kitchen;

you can see how they look in different lights)

Then, while Tres' dad started the lengthy clean up process, my dad and I touched up any ceiling spots. We left everything to dry for a bit while we had lunch, then the dads cleaned their hearts out - pulling up all of the paper off the floor, uncovering the windows, sweeping and shop vac-ing (vaccing?) all of the drywall/texture dust out of the nooks and crannies, cleaning the drywall mud off of the windows, sliding door, and showers, and otherwise exhausting themselves - to help us get ready for the tilers to come later this week. I'm pretty sure that, when you plan to have children, you don't consider getting roped into jobs like this one. All I can say (although it is woefully inadequate) is thank you.


*Before you go thinking that I'm a jerk who's perfectly alright with her nearest and dearest inhaling vaporized paint but can't subject her tender nasal passages to the same, you should know this 

that's me gestating, if you can't tell -

we're expecting him/her in early October