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Twosday XXII: Kitchen (and more!) Painting Edition

Published on February 17, 2015 By Emily. Updated on February 17, 2015

You may have noticed that it’s been a little quiet around here.  However, if you follow me on Instagram, you know my lack of posts hasn’t been because I’ve been doing nothing.  Brian and I spent the better part of the past weekend painting most of our first floor, after almost 2 years of owning our home.  It was definitely a big project, but I’m loving the way our home looks now.  As it’s Twosday, it seemed only appropriate to share about our experience:

Reasons this project was sort of crazytown:
1.  We, as a couple, have very little painting experience.  Brian had some (he helped with my sister’s house, for instance), but I basically had none.
2.  We decided to do our most of our first floor walls all at once: the kitchen, pantry, dining room, office, living room and entry.  Followed by the staircase, if we had enough paint

Before, and after:
1. Before, as you may remember from this post:


2. Now, with the new paint:kitchen paint job 2

kitchen paint job

It’s a little difficult to tell the different between the wall color before and after in photos, but trust me, it’s obvious in person. 

Colors we used
1. Behr Ultra Honeysuckle White, for the bulk of the space.  Our first floor is fairly open, with the kitchen flowing into the dining room, living room and entry area.  We decided to keep everything one color to keep the look of a single space and keep the rooms as bright as they previously were.  Prior to painting, the walls were already an off-white color, though the paint was uneven (and non-existent in some places) and looked worn and dirty.  Now it looks like the house is actually painted, as well as looking a little warmer.  For the curious, it took us about 4 gallons of paint (2 coats) to cover all our walls, including the stairwell.
2.  Behr Ultra Violet Eclipse, for the kitchen cabinet uppers.  The evolution of that decision was sort of random.  It occurred to me at some point and then when we were at Home Depot we picked up swatches and a sample container and decided just to go with it.  I was open to other colors (especially because I sometimes feel like I’m drowning Brian in purple things), but we liked the way it looked.  The color, coincidentally, is shockingly close to the color of my plum Fiesta dishes.

Roles we quickly took on, despite beginning this project without a really clear plan:
1.  Me: completing the edge work with a brush and taking care of the area between the kitchen cabinets and counter.
2.  Brian: using the roller to cover large areas and reaching areas that my arms weren’t long enough for.  We ended up being a really great team.

painting in progress

Tools we bought for this project that I loved:
1.  Paint tray liners.  I’ve read plenty of “life hack” tips that suggest using aluminum foil to line paint trays to make life easier, but the pre-made plastic liners were so easy to use and clean up.  Now we still have spotless paint trays and we didn’t waste any more time cleaning than necessary (brush washing is bad enough).
2.  Mini-paint rollers.  I don’t remember if this was on our initial shopping list, but Brian and I ended up getting a couple packaged sets of painting supplies that included mini-rollers.  The rollers were great for the small spaces in the kitchen and some edge work.  I also found them a lot easier to control and use than a full size roller.

Parts of painting I apparently hate
1.  Taping.  Oh my goodness, the taping.  I do not have the confidence to paint without taping the surfaces I don’t want paint on, but it takes so long to prep areas for painting as a result.  I think Brian and I spent almost 2 hours taping on Saturday morning before we even opened a can of paint.
2.  The amount of climbing up and down ladders that is required.  I don’t mind being on a ladder (despite my feelings about height in general), but I can only reach a limited area, so I felt like I was immediately climbing off the ladder, moving it and climbing back on.  As a result of the ladder moving and squatting to paint/tape areas near the floor, I have been super sore since Saturday night.  Who knew painting was full body work out?

Hashtags I used on my Instagram pictures that bear repeating because they are very true.
1.  #thisisvacation
2.  #myhusbandisawesome

IMG_4211

Aspects of the final project I’m in awe of:
1.  We have a newly purple door, as shown in the “after” photos above.  You may recall that one of my favorite projects in the house is the back of the bathroom door that we painted blue-green.  It seemed only fitting, since we had enough paint, to make the other side of that door purple.  I’m kind of obsessed with the transformation.
2.  The built-in bench looks better than ever.  As we cleared out the room and moved the potted plants off their spot on the bench, I noticed that it looked really dirty and worn.  The bench has many layers of paint on it and some of the older layers were showing through.  Even though we’ve had various discussions about adding color to the bench, we decided just to paint it Honeysuckle White for now.  The resulting effect is such an improvement, I won’t allow the plants to go back on it and cover it up.

slow cooker chicken tikka masala

Foods we ate during the painting marathon:
1.  Healthy Slow Cooked Chicken Tikka Masala from The Wanderlust Kitchen.  Saturday was Valentine’s Day and I wanted to do something special, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to be motivated to cook after a full day of painting.  This meal was super easy to prepare and made our evening much easier.  We served it over rice and omitted the plain yogurt because I forgot to buy any.  The dish wasn’t the most exciting thing I’ve ever eaten, but it was definitely good and the perfect hearty, ready to eat meal for the occasion.
2. Lots of cheese and crackers, because I still haven’t bought groceries for the week and we needed to eat meals that were quick and didn’t make a lot of dishes.

Unforeseen consequences of painting:
1.  Now all the trim looks like it needs work too.  I ended up repainting the bathroom and pantry window trim already, but I can’t stop seeing areas that could use more work.
2.  I want to paint every other room.  I already have ideas for the downstairs bathroom and our bedroom.  It’s a disease, I tell you.

Related Posts

Twosday XXVII: Back to School
Twosday XII: Back to the Routine
Guest Post: Choosing and Using Knives
Twosday: Waiting On Baby Edition
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Filed Under: home Tagged With: home improvement, kitchen, twosday

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Comments

  1. Duane says

    February 17, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    Very nicely done. Splashes of the accent color work great!

  2. Tammy says

    February 18, 2015 at 7:05 am

    Emily – I LOVE the color. Makes your kitchen POP – especially the door. I never thought of painting an inside door a dark color. GREAT JOB. Now I see you have an unfinished window seat. If you want a cushion – let me know – I’m pretty good a sewing projects! ;)

    • Emily says

      February 19, 2015 at 6:14 pm

      Thanks Tammy! I feel like before long we’ll have all the doors inside the house painted; I love the way it looks. I may take you up on that cushion idea. My sewing skills are seriously lacking.

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Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
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It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
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9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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