Painting

There have been a few painting projects I have wanted to tackle since moving in. Although the Girl's bathroom wasn't necessarily the top of my list, it was small and a fun exercise. My bedroom, the guest room and Megan & Zoë's room and the front door were the biggest ones. 

While Nana was here, we tried paint chips, bought some samples, and decided on paint for my room and the front door.

We got my room finished (after an extra trip in the middle of painting because the store mixed the wrong color!!) 

Before:

See the stripes on the wall? And everything in a shade of (slightly lilac) gray? Ugh! 

After:

It is still a little more green than I wanted, but I love it! No more stripes, a much brighter and relaxing room. Ahhhh.

So, we thought we might tackle the front door next. But my husband got a bee in his bonnet about the deck. It was lookin a little shabby, the wood showing brought the paint (not stain, just brown paint). We had a friend tell us about deck paint fromSherwin Williams, and the store was having a 40%-off sale. So we bought five gallons and waitied for he weather to turn. And it turned the day that we had planned our camping trip to Chenango Valley to do some family history! So Travis made a go of it by himself!

Before:

During (after Travis got the floor coated with one covering):

Yes, that is rain and hail, which is what visited us for the next two weeks. There was never enough dry time to get the second coat on! (Dry off, paint, dry 24-48 hrs). It was very frustrating! You can also see that the railing wasn't painted.

So, finally this week, we had a forecast of three sunny (dry!) days, and after the morning dew burned off, I started painting the railings. And painted for SIX HOURS! I didn't even stop for lunch. Travis got home after 4.5 hrs of me painting and we finished the rest as the sun was setting. 

After:

We were both ready to reinstall the lighting. Travis bought some glue to tack up the flexible LED lights for under the railing. I think it took us about an hour to get it fixed, but it looks the best it ever has! The last thing we did was hang the little lantern lights. I have missed the use of our deck, and I am glad we will be able to use it tonight! We are hoping the paint will last the advertised five years. But are nervous it will bubble and peel. I will be most exasperated if it does! 

Oh, but we weren't done painting! I called a local guy to see what it would cost to have our asphalt driveway resurfaced. He gave us a quote, indicating it would take extra sealer because it hadn't been done in a loooong while. I passed the info on to Travis, planning to get a second quote, and then consider what we wanted to do. Travis was talking to a friend about it, who offered him the use of his squeegee and said we could easily do it ourselves for cheaper.

I am wondering if we did it right, or if it was really much worse than we thought. It took us ten buckets and cost us 1.5-times the quoted price, plus the labor, time, and mess. I lost skin on my hands! Travis had to go buy extra buckets, and we still ran out before putting two coats on the driveway. But, it is sealed, and it does look better.

Before:

After:

Now, for the front door! If the weather will cooperate... And the other bedrooms, and the deck furniture, and... And... And...