Other Tips

I've also learned to wet the brush with water before painting. I used to have a problem with paint getting stuck way up in the bristles and drying that way. Wetting the brush seems to help with the clean up. Jason used bungee cords to hang the brushes to dry. So far this has kept the brushes from spreading out and getting stray bristles.

This may be way too much information for you and hopefully you'll never have to paint as much as we have.

Some of my Favorites

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite painting tools. The brush I've used to paint all of the trim is the Purdy angled 2". It's wonderful for cutting in too. I'm not sure what this other handy tool is called but it's great for cleaning the brush with the tooth edge. The curved edge can be used to wash out rollers (which is my least favorite thing about cleaning up!)

Speaking of cleaning rollers, why do it if you don't have to? I saw this trick on a DIY show. If you're going to use the roller again just store it in the fridge. I keep mine in plastic bags. This is just for latex paint though. And the roller of choice for us is the Wooster Pro Classic 3/8".

I've mentioned the paint colors we're using from Sherwin Williams, but the actual brand is called Cashmere Low-lustre. It's been wonderful to work with, some of the best I've ever used! It goes on smooth (like cashmere, haha) and doesn't leave roller lines.

Painting Cabinets

Finally we're able to paint the cabinets. I put the first coat on today! We're using oil based paint which is not fun to work with, but is the most durable. Sherwin Williams Pro Classic was recommended and the color is Wool Skein. I smell like mineral spirits after working with this all day :) I'm attempting to paint the drawers without removing them. It will go a lot faster this way. I keep a cloth with mineral spirits handy and use it to wipe off any paint that gets where I don't want it. So far so good...

Here's a look at the trim Jason installed. It's all coming together nicely. The final step will be to glaze the cabinets. The color we're considering tinting the glaze is a brown, maybe SW Van Dyke Brown.

I believe I mentioned this in a previous post, but we installed beadboard on the sides of the cabinets. Jason trimmed it out so the cut side of the beadboard wouldn't show. Basically the trim framed the beadboard. On some cabinets you can use a corner piece to take care of this problem but our cabinet doors come all the way to the edge so we couldn't use the corner piece. Just thought I'd mention this solution in case you're faced with the same type of cabinets.

Carpet Installation

Today the carpet was installed!! I can't wait to see the finished product. Here's a sneak peek at one of the rooms. We ran the hardwood up to the carpet at the entrance of each bedroom and turned a piece of harwood in the opposite direction for the transition. Love the way it looks!

They also installed hardwood in the hallway upstairs. Eventually the entire downstairs will have hardwood but we have to finish painting the trim first.

Upstairs Paint Colors

Wow! It's been forever since I've posted anything. So sorry! I promise we have been very busy painting though. Our goal was to have all the bedrooms upstairs painted, as well as the baseboard trim, so that carpet could be installed. Yesterday hardwood was installed in the hallway upstairs and today the carpet goes in. Very exciting!

Olivia's room and bathroom are painted in Sherwin Williams Pinks. She insisted on a pink room with a chandelier. I refuse to pay for a chandelier so I'm making one. Crafty me! I'll post pictures of that project later. It's looking good so far. Garrett's room in Sherwin Williams Languid Blue.

The guest bedroom in Sherwin Williams Ethereal Mood. We loved this color so much we also used it in the 1/2 bathroom, playroom and full bathroom upstairs.

The master bathroom in Sherwin Williams Plantation Brown. One day we plan to gut the whole thing but for now I'm trying to make all the white and gold work. I bought this great circular rug that really pulls it all together.

Adding Beadboard to Cabinets

To dress up the cabinets we decided to add beadboard. It's fairly inexpensive and will be painted with the rest of the cabinets. In order to cover the cut edge of the beadboard we used a trim piece.

For the island we added beadboard as well as baseboards. I can't wait to see how it all looks once painted and glazed. It will be one of the last things we do but I wanted to share this idea with you now.

Painting the Foyer

Nothing ever goes exactly as you plan. Jason's week off for Thanksgiving was spent in the hospital. He had a staph infection in his leg. He's doing much better but was very disappointed that he couldn't work on the house. Needless to say, the painting got done. We had rented a scaffold for painting the foyer and had it for a week. So my father in law helped me paint the ceiling, walls and hang a new light. We were very pleased with the color (SW Sandbar) which will be the main color throughout the house. Here's there result...We got the light for a steal at Overstock.com ($70 and $1 shipping)! I didn't want anything with glass that I would have to figure out a way to clean.I still have to paint the trim (Benjamin Moore Ballet White). I was just thankful to get the foyer painted and not have broken bones from a fall. That scaffold was 18 feet tall and we had to build a "bridge" to paint over the steps! In case you don't remember here's a picture of the foyer before. What a difference paint makes!