Painting 101

Today I painted a room- all by myself. Now, this may not be a big deal to most of you, but me and manual labor- we don't really work well together. So this was kind of a big deal for me. :) I've painted rooms before, but I've always worked alongside someone. Today I was all alone. Scott was in the garage most of the day, preparing the moldings that will go up in the room tomorrow. We are both VERY tired, but I wanted to show you some pictures of my progress today.

First, though, let me share some lessons about painting. You might even learn something you didn't know before!

1. If you think the paint is too dark when you first put it on, it IS. It will only get darker with time. Take it back and get the color you really want.

2. If you're lucky, your husband will do this for you and you'll use the too dark color on the bottom instead of the top of the walls. Perfect!

3. Pay attention to what step of the ladder you are on when painting. Otherwise you're likely to take one step down when you really should take two steps down, and you might fall. Not that this has happened to ME, mind you, but it's a good lesson. :)

4. It might be a pain to do, but install crown molding when you paint a room. That way you don't have to be careful when doing the top edging!

5. When using brown paint over yellow, it will look purple. Don't panic. It really will look like brown when you're done.

6. Don't shy away from a color just because of its name. I HATE mushrooms, but this mushroom color is pretty nice.

7. Don't plan on doing too much typing after you paint. Your fingers will be so tired and sore. You'll make a LOT of mistakes if you try to blog right after painting!

8. And lastly, although you'll miss her like crazy, it's MUCH easier to paint a room in a day when you do not have your 3 year old in the house with you. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Check back tomorrow (if home decorating is interesting to you) to see the finished room, complete with a couple pieces of furniture and bedding for our new little boy!




Scott measures where the chair rail will go



Prepped and ready to paint!



Hmmm, that color looks too dark for our top color. Scott runs back to Lowe's



I begin to paint the too dark color on the bottom instead. It works!



It's getting there....



I LOVE taking the tape off! I like how this is turning out!



LAST WALL!! Goodbye yellow playroom, hello Aaron's bedroom!



It was wonderful to not worry about mistakes by the ceiling. I can't wait to have crown molding tomorrow!



My job here is done! The paint is still wet, but I was excited to take an "all done" picture. I can't remember the last time I did physical labor from sun up to sundown. I really don't enjoy painting, but I sure do enjoy the end result, and when you're doing it for someone you love and cannot wait to meet, it really isn't so bad! :) Tomorrow Scott will work with his friend on the moldings while I work on setting up my scrapbook area- I'll post some before and after pictures of that too! Goodnight!