10 Tips to Know Before Painting.

Last week, I posted about my various plans for my new home.  This weekend we tackled the living room painting.

Here is the before:

Blue and Mustard Original Colors.

With the previous owners stuff. 

We chose to use Sherwin Williams Adaptive Shade for the accent wall, and Analytical Gray for the main walls.  I chose these colors because of their warm gray color.  The accent color was a greenish tint to it and the regular color has a beige-ish tint to it. LOVE

1) Buy a tarp for the floor.  We got a painter's blanket thinking that it would protect our gorgeous floors... it went through.  Thankfully, I was able to clean the paint off.

2) TAPE TAPE TAPE.  My fiance didn't want to use tape.. He told me it was a waste of time.  We didn't use it for the primer... boy was he WRONG. I got it everywhere and had to constantly clean up my messes with a damp rag.  For the final 2 coats, I taped the room. Granted, it took FOR-EV-ER, but the painting itself was so much better. 

3) The Edger. We used this.. It really REALLY helped.. just be careful not to overload it. 

Shur-Line Pro Paint Edger

4) 2 Story Walls are a Pain in the @$$. End of story. 

5) Buy a OOPS paint remover.  Chances are, you are going to get paint on something... it will be worth it. See number 1.  We left our area rug underneath the painter's blanket thinking it would be ok.  Some paint got through and this took all the paint out without damaging the carpet. 

6) You will hurt. A Lot.  I am sore and I feel like I got hit by a bus.  

7) It will take longer than you think.  It took us two days to prep, prime, paint and clean up. 

8) Buy an extension if you have high walls. It helped reach the hard to reach places. 

9) You will make mistakes.  It is ok. Remember you aren't a professional and everything can be fixed. Don't sweat the small stuff! 

10) It will be worth it.  During the process, I started to doubt if all this work was worth the end result.  It most certainly was.  Even my fiance, who HATES painting, commented after that the room looked more like 'us' now. We are very happy we got this room out of the way first.  It was definitely the hardest room and we love the results!

Accent Wall :)

WE HAVE THE HOUSE :)

After a few months of waiting, we finally closed on the house on January 30th.  That being said, I have to admit that.... I HATE PACKING.  At the end of packing, we were just throwing crap into boxes.  After all that hard work, we officially moved in this weekend.  We hired my cousin's moving company to help move us.  They were awesome.   Phil's Moving Company, LLC.  Highly recommend.

I absolutely love the house, but boy does it need some paint and our own personal touches.  The painting will start next weekend... We will be doing the living room in these two colors:

I love this color.  A greyish brownish.  This is going to be the main color.  We are going to be doing this color as an accent color:

Right now, the colors are mustard and blue.... that is going to have to change. These pictures are with the previous owner's belongings.. 

The blue accent walls will be the darker Adaptive Shade. 

For the kitchen and dining area, we will be doing a true gray..  

Our plans are to chalk paint the cabinets white and putting a dark butcher block countertop in. 

 That will be this summer.. We will also be taking out that brass ceiling fan... replacing it with a fixture that matches the dining. 

This is my inspiration:

So far we have replaced the light fixture in the dining room.  Out with the country tiffany!

Also on our painting list is the bedroom.  When we moved in, there was a free willy wallpaper.  Needless to say, it was not our style.  Thankfully, it was easy to remove with just hot water, a sponge and a wall paper scraper. We will be doing this color in the master: 

Here are the before picture with the previous owner's belongings. :) 

We have a ton of work ahead of us, but I am very, very excited for this year :)