Painting Sneak-Peeks

There has been a whole lot of brush-weilding going on in our house recently.  A couple of projects were completed by yours truly and the hubs, but our biggest project (painting all of our crown molding, baseboards, interior doors and frames, and window trim) was hired out.  This was an amazing, generous birthday gift from my parents that we so appreciate.  I may have gone completely crazy trying to paint the windows.  I know you can just scrape the glass later, but that kind of minute, detail work makes me want to jump out said window.  I guess I probably wouldn't accomplish my goal of getting out of the rest of the work though since we live in a one story ranch. Hmmmm...I need to think through these things better.

The first painting project that we tackled was our living room built-ins.  Remember what they looked like when we moved in?

You probably remember that we have since painted the living room a light blue (Benjamin Moore's Woodlawn Blue) and unsuccessfully primed the built-ins (I had purchased a special primer to go over oil paint and Seth used the wrong thing).

We were all about painting the inside of them to highlight our books and tchotchkes (Seth hates this word by the way) but we just weren't in love with the blue color that the previous homeowner had chosen (especially with the light blue that we chose for the walls).  So, when my mom came for a visit during her Spring break, I put her to work (don't worry - she was more than happy to help).  Seth first gave the built-ins a nice sanding with our palm sander since, as previously mentioned, they were painted with oil-based paint (yuck!).  Then my mother and I used this primer to ensure that our latex topcoats would adhere.  After letting it dry for the recommended time (4 hours I think), we brushed some off-the-shelf Olympic white paint onto the front, sides, and shelves.  We finished with Valspar's Rugged Suede on the back panels.

Much better right?  (Sorry about the first picture - it must have gotten oversaturated because the bottom pic is more of a true representation of the gray color.)  Hopefully I will soon find time to style them, and when I do, I'll share more pics.

Did you notice another change in the pictures above?  Yes - we now have WHITE TRIM in the living room, kitchen, office, and dining room!  You wouldn't believe how much brighter and fresher everything seems.

It makes a world of difference I think.  This week, the painters will be working on the rest of the house.  I am so excited to finally have white trim.

Lastly, Seth and I painted our master bathroom vanity.  Here's a little glimpse for you.

The color is Sherwin Williams Peppercorn and we used their Emerald paint.  It's pricey, but thankfully, we snatched it up during a 40% off sale.  We are being extra cautious about letting the paint fully cure for 4-5 days before we attach new hinges and hardware.  More pics to come.

This week and into the weekend, we hope to get some landscaping done outside.  I'll be sure to let you know what we get done.