I spent the past week painting. It started out simple enough. All I planned to do was repainting the ceiling in my upstairs bathroom which had been stained during a roof leak. First, the roof was repaired and then I repainted the ceiling. I was surpassed by how nice the bathroom looked after the second coat. Repainting just the ceiling really brightened and refreshed the entire room.
That got me thinking that maybe I should tackle repainting my bathroom walls. None of the colors in my 3 bathrooms were particularly appealing to me. One was light sky blue, another pale 1950’s green/gray, and the third some kind of muted kaopectate mauve/pink/gray. The colors weren’t hideous – just nondescript and kind of “meh”. They were fine for 4 years and would have been fine for many more.
Except…you know me. Once I start thinking about project, action soon follows. I narrowed my choices down to two colors – burgundy or navy blue. After looking at pictures I decided to go with navy blue.
I haven’t painted a room in my house in more than 10 years. I prefer to hire professionals because they do a much better job than me. I’m a sloppy painter – the rooms I’ve painted in the past show it. But, now, I have more time than money and I figured I’d give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?
After spending a solid two days cleaning up the messes I made while painting the first bathroom, the 2nd bathroom was much better.
Today, I touched up the 2nd bathroom and put the first coat on the 3rd, and final, bathroom.
I’m pleased as punch and quite proud of myself.
Here’s what I learned:
- Remove everything from the room and from the walls.
- Completely cover the floor with drop cloths.
- Tape Baseboards, Ceilings, and any objects you don’t want to get paint on.
- Use a good brush, a good roller and extension poles for the rollers.
- No matter what the paint says, it’s going to require at least 2 coats.
- When I get tired or frustrated, I rush. When I rush, I make a mess.
- I am going to hit the ceiling with the roller by mistake and leave a mark.
- There are going to be drips, no matter how careful I am.
- I will bump the brush into things accidently. I may spill some paint. Some drips will go under or over the tape.
- I will need to do touchups.
- Don’t underestimate the time required. Instead, just take the next step. Work until I start getting frustrated and then stop until the next day. Eventually, it will be finished.
When it came to the final touchups, I needed to paint very clean, straight, thin lines. I have never been able to do this.
This time, I thought, “I can do this. I’ve been painting artwork for 4 years. I know how to paint within the Iines. I’ll just get really close, watch what I’m doing carefully, go slow and use a small brush.”
And to my surprise – it worked!
My bathrooms don’t look as nice as they would if I had hired a pro. The walls have dings and nail pops. My paint job is decent, but not “perfect” that way a pro would have done it.
But my house is imperfect anyway. I like it that way.
Here are a few before/after photos. I love how the navy walls make the white trim “pop”.
Once I finish the 3rd bathroom, I’m going to paint my front door the same color. After that, my house painting project will be complete.
