Just keep painting, painting, painting...

Work on the house is coming right along! My husband Chris, his buddy Jamey, and my father-in-law John spent an entire week painting the interior. I was dying to see the results. I tried to convince the family that Santa would find us just fine in Ocracoke....they weren't having it.

Finally after several weeks of waiting (with only a few phone pic sneak-peeks to hold me over) I got to see this massive undertaking in person over New Years.

Oh, mama.

It is fantastic!

All the dark wood is now white or whitewashed, and all the off-white walls are now a pale aqua. The yummiest, beachiest, cleanest, crispest, pale aqua.

I was askeered of that color, too. I hate picking paint colors. Too much variation from the paint chips, too much room for error, too much oh-my-god-now-the-whole-room-looks-like-dooky-and-my-husband-is-gonna-flip-if-I-say-it-has-to-be-redone.

I don't have great pictures of it...we've still got holes where receptacles, switches, registers, etc. are getting replaced, but I can't leave you all hanging, so here's a little sneak-peek:

 

 

Whattya think? Do you love it as much as I do?

Those French doors were all brown wood, the wainscoting was all brown wood, the window trim was all brown wood....and it all had the effect of a mountain cabin for me. It also made your eye naturally stop on it. Now your eye skips past and it and sees right out the window. When we're talking fantastic sunsets from the dinner table that's what I want to focus on! 

 

There is still a lot more painting to be done. This past week we tackled the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers, the bedroom doors, and the louvered closet doors.

 

We started out by creating an enclosed paint booth under the house. Or as I came to know it: My cell.

 



 

 

We laid down a heavy blue tarp over the floor and secured it with boards and cinder blocks. We stapled heavy painters plastic to the rafters to create the walls.

 

Chris created a giant "easel" for us to lean all the objects against:

 



 

Here are all the kitchen cabinets laid out ready to spray:

 

 

Even the little spice cabinet and cutting board doors got space on the easel with the addition of a couple extra screws:

 

 

When you're mixing 5 gallons of paint a wimpy paint stick ain't gonna cut it. You need the drill with the paint stirrer attachment (I've been told this is actually called a "bunghole mixer".....I....err........right, then):

 

 

You also need to protect yourself from all the paint over spray (tiny little droplets that hang in the air and will land on your hair and clothes and in your lungs as you breath). A Tyvec suit and a respirator are not only necessary, but highly fashionable:

 

 

As an aside, that sprayer I'm holding (an air sprayer) was abandoned in favor of the big-daddy airless one. It was too cold in our garage and the paint was too cold and thick. We needed the big guns.

 

Here are the doors before:

 

 

That's a can of denatured alcohol on the ground. We prepped all the wood by wiping it scrubbing it with that. It gets rid of all the dirt, grease, and grime that prevents the paint from sticking to the wood.

 

Here are the doors after:

 

 

Bright, glossy white. ::swoon::

 

We did the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers in a semi-gloss white. I have no after pics of those...it was much too late and I wanted out of my cell.

 

Next we'll be painting the rest of the kitchen cabinets (the parts still attached to the kitchen walls), the kitchen ceiling, and lots and lots of furniture.

 

And, if all goes well, we'll be replacing flooring. (Which we picked up yesterday. I can not wait to show y'all the flooring. It's called Driftwood. 'Nuff said? Yes, indeed.)

 

It's starting to feel pretty beachy up in here!

 

Maybe it's just the fumes...

 

~Betsy xoxo