Sunday, May 26, 2013

Learning How to Paint


Last week my parents came to visit and we put them right to work (at their request)!  We decided to dive into the guest bedrooms and get them painted. 

We’ll need these rooms ready for when we have guests stay with us this summer.  These rooms will also double as our office spaces.

Here is a blow by blow of how we learned to paint.

Step 1:  Pick out your paint colors. 

We jumped right in and picked out colors based upon our own visions for our office spaces.  We weren’t trying to match them to anything. 

I choose a cheery yellow Valspar paint called Carolina Inn Lobby Yellow.  Hubs went with an Olympic paint in a blue green color called Acapulco Cliffs.

We picked up paint samples the night before my parents were due to arrive and painted a few spots on the wall to see what we thought. 

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the way my sample looked on the wall.  It looked kind of pastel yellow, which was not what I wanted.  I stuck with it because I didn’t paint any other sample colors and I didn’t like any of the other yellows on the paint chip cards.  I had a feeling that it might work when it was all said and done.  It did – I love it!

Hubs went with a bolder blue green color.  It intimidated me at first because it was so bold.   Once all the walls were painted I fell in love with it.  It draws you right in! 


 Step 2:  Tape, Tape, Tape

My parents don’t usually tape when they paint but we decided we would.  I’m not very good with straight lines.  I can’t even cut a piece of paper straight.

Here’s my advice on this:  Tape your rooms the day before you intend to paint.  We didn’t realize how long taping could take.  Taping around the baseboards, door frames, windows, and ceiling is quite the process.  Hubs is a champ for taping the ceilings from the ladder.  His arms hurt real bad after that.

Step 3:  Get painting lessons from your dad (or someone else with experience).

Thank you dad!  Dad spent a few minutes showing Hubs and I the ropes of cutting in and rolling paint. 

I am the roller in our relationship and Hubs is the cutter.  After rushing each other a little bit we found a good pace and got to work.

Step 4: Stand back and go “whoa

It’s kind of unreal how much color can change a room.  I’ve lived in so many apartments with white walls.  Choosing a paint color was difficult but so worth it.  Now that the color is on the walls I’m just itching to get them set up and decorated.  I’ve probably been on Pinterest too much…but I’ve got lots of ideas of how I want them to turn out!





Sunday, May 12, 2013

We bought a HOUSE!

On April 29th Hubs and I became homeowners!!







Moving was a whirlwind!  We moved all of our things right after the closing. With the help of Hubs parents it took 3 trips total to get everything from point A to point B.


We moved  quickly because we wanted to be out of our apartment by May 1st to avoid having another rent payment.

We took a few days off from work to clean and get settled.  We made more trips to Lowe's and Home Depot during those days than I would like to remember!  The kinds of things you suddenly need (and want to buy) after you own a house are many!

We still aren't completely unpacked or settled.  I think this will take some time!

We have a nice yard with a deck on the back of the house.  We also have a pool with another deck in the back yard.  The summer weather has been such a tease.  We've been outside quite a bit mowing the lawn, planting flowers, getting a raised bed ready for veggies, assembling a grill, and picking out a patio set.  We are beyond ready for the summer season in our new place!

The inside of our house is like a blank canvas.  All of the walls are white.  No joke.  All of them.  This vanilla-like atmosphere has got us sticking paint chips up on the wall and thinking about our color schemes.  I can't wait to get some paint on these walls!!