Monday, August 20, 2012

Still painting...


Last week I mentioned that I was painting my kitchen, informal dining area, and family room. We plan on redoing our kitchen in the next few years, but I didn't want to wait until then to give it a little update. By Thursday I had two coats of paint on the ceiling and had finished the kitchen and dining areas with two coats of paint on the walls. I decided to take Friday off so my aching muscles could recover. Today and tomorrow I'll finish by painting the walls in the family room.


It took me the good part of a week to settle in on the color that I wanted to use in the kitchen. I tried various sample colors on the walls, and we finally decided upon "Parachute Silk" by Behr. I am so happy with the results. It's a beautiful neutral light grayish tan, and it goes well with my blue and white plate collection that I have on the soffit above my cabinets.

The ceiling was painted ultra white, which I love! A few weeks ago my son-in-law put up these shelves above a little side table in the informal dining area. I filled it with colorful knick-knacks that I bought at local stores and flea markets, and the bright items added a punch of color to the whole room!


Now for my tip of the day. I've painted a ton over the years and have learned many techniques to make the job easier. I don't ever tape anything, because I have a fairly steady hand and taping has never worked well for me. I've learned that a quality paint brush makes a big difference in detail work when painting. Take the example below...


Because I painted the ceiling white, I needed to have a sure hand as I painted the wall at the ceiling. There is also a small ledge on the underside of the soffit next to the cabinets that was difficult to reach and made painting the kitchen more challenging. {see arrows in the photo above} I generally don't skimp on paint brushes when I paint a difficult space. A higher quality brush makes the job much easier. This time I mistakenly bought a different brush than I normally buy, and I was so happy with the result. Most often I buy Purdy brushes which usually get the job done, but this time I bought a 1.5" Wooster Pro Thin Angle Sash (packaging looks similar to Purdy brushes) and the quality of the brush made the job much easier! The thin angle made getting into tight spots like those above the cabinets a breeze!

In a few minutes I'm going to tackle the family room. Most of the furniture is moved out of the room and it will get a couple of coats of "Baja" by Behr...


I'm looking forward to this project getting done, o I can do a little creating by the end of the week!