put a(nother) coat on

Things have been quiet around here because we have been quite busy on our latest house project. Those who know us know that we don't rush such things. We hated the paper in the kitchen from the moment we moved in six years ago. You can see it in the background of the soccer boy picture below.

But we knew that it was going to be a major project to change it. It was, we figured, original to the house, and it was not going to like being removed after 20 or so years on the wall. One snowy day in February, with the kids out of the house for a ski weekend with a set of grandparents, my LSH rented a steamer. Two sweaty, curse-filled days later, the paper was down. The walls remained bare for the next three months,* despite my FIL's assistance with spackling the bits of drywall that had come off with the paper.

But as a long weekend loomed, we decided we HAD to do something. A decision was made on color, thanks to a talented friend of mine who owns her own painting business. Furniture was moved out. Paint was purchased. Woodwork was taped. Walls were primed. We had passed the Point of No Return.

After finishing the ceiling, I cut out the walls with the new color, called "Moroccan Spice." My LSH promptly had a heart attack and second thoughts, in that order. Thanks to the color, however, we had passed the Point of No Return a second time.


Thankfully, once the second coat was rolled on, the paint color was closer to the chip. Unfortunately, it was such a rich color that I had to cut the edges a third time to get an even coat. And there are a lot of edges in this kitchen. As a matter of fact, there is barely any wall a roller can fit on. As I am anal retentive a perfectionist, I get the job of cutting. I gritted my teeth and tackled it this morning, with the end in sight....

Finally done! Now, all we have to do is remove all that blue masking tape after the paint dries. But horror promptly ensues, when the tape takes paint along with it. (I resisted the urge to run screaming into the night, but I did throw up a little in my mouth.)

I am Determined. To. Finish. This. Project. (Those of you who know me, try not to be too shocked.) I pulled out one of the boys' craft brushes and tackled the multiple bare spots, which may as well have spotlights on them, they are so glaring with this color.

NOW we are finally done. At least, I hope and pray. I will have to see what happens with the patchwork bits when the paint dries down, but I will not be responsible for my actions if I have to tackle those stinkin' edges again.

* Our reputation is such that when I told my best friend that we had finally started painting, her comment was "oh, you decided to do something with that?" I came back with a sarcastic reply ("what, did you expect us to live with bare walls for forever?!!") but you can't really blame the woman, seeing as how we lived with holes in our bedroom ceilings (after we removed sunlights) for three years. In the interest of full disclosure, we finally got them patched last summer, but the patches still remain unpainted...