The Painted Room

I think I’ve mentioned once or twice that I recently spent a weekend painting, right? This would be the same weekend that Tim cleaned the garage. It was a productive weekend.

Well, this past weekend was productive too. Tim built a firewood hutch in our backyard that both stores firewood and blocks the view of the neighbors’ ever-expanding pile-o-trash, a pile which has included everything from old rugs and couches to dishwashers and lumber. While I respect the neighbors’ right to do what they will with their garbage — even if it includes making a big pile between their house and our fence and then leaving their dogs outside all day to shred the various items in the pile and scatter the shreds all over their yard — I certainly don’t mind not having to look at the pile anymore.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, right, productive weekends. So, the other thing Tim did this weekend was help me hang stuff back on our walls so that I could finally photograph our lovely painted walls and share them with you lovely people. (Lovely!)

In order for you to fully appreciate how beautiful our walls are, I think you should first take a look at how thoroughly un-beautiful they were before. See, our house was a rental for many years before we bought it, and it was never well taken care of. Word on the street is the neighbors used to call it “Hell House.” (Hopefully they appreciate our efforts and don’t call it that anymore!) I don’t know the history of the walls beyond the fact that at one point they were a hideous teal color that we found behind the smoke detector, but I do know that right before we moved in, someone came in and sprayed high-gloss white paint over everything – walls, trim, and most doors. See for yourselves:

When we bought the house, we resolved to eliminate the shiny white walls as soon as time and budget permitted, and in the meantime we did our best to hang pleasing art and posters to help distract from The Shine.

We started with the bathroom, continued with the downstairs “reading room,” then tackled the kitchen and dining room, and then painted our bedroom. But the bulk of our house was still un-painted. We thought long and hard about what to do with the main living room area. Because of the layout of the main floor of our house, painting the living room would mean painting the giant wall that spans the living and dining rooms, the little nook around the front door and coat closet, up and down both staircases, and the small hallway at the top of the stairs. Not only was it going to be a big project, but we would have to select our colors carefully since they would be dominating the majority of our house.

We hemmed and hawed over colors, consulted some friends, tested some sample colors, and finally made a decision. 3 gallons of paint, 8 hours, and 2 coats later, this is what we ended up with:

In the foreground you can see the green that was already on our dining room walls. Behind that is the blue we used for an accent wall and the light beige that ended up on the rest of the walls. Also: Ben.

Here’s a closer look at the blue and beige. The beige is really subtle — it’s almost an off-white — but the difference is incredible. The room feels so much softer without the glare of the high-gloss white coming at you from every direction.

Here are a couple of shots of the big huge wall that connects the living room and dining room. Also: Smalls. We re-arranged the two paintings and the poster a bit after painting, and I’m really pleased with the result.

And, for the sake of full disclosure, here’s the Chasing Amy wall and the stairways (complete with puppy gate).

Now that this is done, the only shiny white rooms that remain unpainted are the main basement room, the office upstairs, and the downstairs bathroom/laundry room (which really doesn’t count anyway, as we have no plans to paint it that I know of). It feels really good to have nearly the entire house painted. Little by little we are transforming this house from Shiny White Rental into Tim and Audrey’s Home, and I am absolutely loving it.

April 28, 2008 | Filed Under Home Improvement, Photos & Videos 

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13 Responses to “The Painted Room”

  1. Gary on April 28th, 2008

    Smalls looks like an expensive statue. An incredibly cute adorable expensive statue. Where can I get one?

  2. Erin on April 28th, 2008

    I love it! We used a very similar beige in our house. It’s very subtle, but it makes all the difference in the world. Plus, then you can have fun with accent walls…we really like accent walls at my house.

  3. janet on April 28th, 2008

    looks fab! I feel like I’m never going to finish the painting here…ugh! Please tell me it will end some day? (like, when I get off my butt and do it)

  4. SJ on April 28th, 2008

    Looks fab! Now the question is, wanna come over and help me paint MY house?

    Great job you guys!

  5. RA on April 29th, 2008

    I love the blue wall! But my real question is – why would anyone paint their whole house in GLOSSY white? That is just crazy to me.

  6. heidikins on April 29th, 2008

    Down with glossy white! Up with soft beige!

    Looks great, kudos to home improvement!

    xox

  7. Laurel on April 29th, 2008

    I can’t wait to have some place I can paint! Your house does look much homier now.

    I’m coming over!

  8. Lindsey on April 30th, 2008

    It looks beautiful! I love your house!

  9. Aimee on May 1st, 2008

    it looks terrific. You’re inspiring me to use the paint I bought 6 months ago.

  10. Jessie on May 2nd, 2008

    It looks fabulous! I can’t wait until we have a house and I get to paint. However, choosing paint colors will be the challenge, because Aaron and I can never agree on colors.

  11. the real jessie but secretly kat on May 2nd, 2008

    that new paint is SUCH an improvement. i love that blue. if i were going to paint more of my rental i would use that color. i probably won’t paint again until we move into our first house we’ll own because i don’t want to have to paint over stuff.

    i’m so jealous of your walls, they’re pretty! *dies*

    who the hell puts clossy paint anywhere outside a kitchen/bathroom splash area? are they insane!?

  12. Frema on May 5th, 2008

    Can I tell you how excited I was to see your Chasing Amy poster? LOVED that movie in college.

    Your paint is fabulous. :)

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