what a little paint can do.

When we bought our house there were a number of glaring areas in desperate need of some fresh paint! And I immediately got to work on most of them (foyer, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom) - but I have to admit my biggest endeavor was the office. This room came with lovely green paneling and deep red velvet curtains (which we still have if anyone wants to recreate Scarlette O'Hara's dress in red..). The green paneling was not something I was willing to live with for very long. 

So I got to work. 

As I began prepping my surface for paint, it occurred to me- I have NO connection to this carpet, after all, it looks dumb since it doesn't match the rest of the living room. So why worry about it? I'll just tear it up! I bet there are wood floors underneath. 

Well, I had to call Lane first. He knew my plan for the day, so when he answered the phone he was preparing himself for the worst. He answered with hesitation, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

After a little persuading and compromise.. he agreed to me ripping up the carpet. YES!

On to the painting.. painting paneling was deceivingly difficult. I suppose I could have primed the walls, but my paint-and-primer had worked beautifully in the other rooms so I forged ahead. This room needed 3 coats of paint with detailing to fill in the paneling creases and required me to paint the windows (WORST JOB EVER). This room is currently being used as a main floor basement- with all of our tools/speech materials/paperwork/half completed projects that have not yet found a permanent home in our home.. It will be one heck of an office once I have a chance to move into my actual work offices in the Fall, and once our toolbox is no longer needed at the drop of a hat.. (will that day ever come?). 

 I think the most satisfying paint job (besides covering the red dining room - and the green paneling - and the wallpaper... ;) ) has been cleaning up the "blue" room. My parents had never complained of the obnoxious color of their guest room and I often forgot about its atrocious appearance because we kept the door shut to avoid Gussie hair invasion, but nonetheless it existed. The walls were covered in tape from posters, and the homemade curtains matched a little too perfectly.

This spring, Kathy and I tackled the job of painting over the blue with a nice neutral tone. Surprisingly, the paint covered easily, and only needed two coats. And then came the day that I decided to tear up the carpet...  

The floors are in decent shape, definitely something that we can live with for a couple of years. With the neutral paint and the CLEAN floors (Goodbye copious amounts of cat hair/dirt/DUST), I feel much better with the guest room that my parents stay in.