The entire house is pretty smoky & dingy so we have to paint 100% of it, including the ceilings, inside closets, all trim, etc. We have to do at leats one coat of heavy-duty primer and at least one top coat of the actual color. My forearms hurt just thinking about the rolling, the brushing for days. I love painting, the fun you can have with color, and the instant satisfaction, but the number of walls & surfaces to cover here is a little daunting.

Thankfully, we have awesome friends who like to paint and have been willing to share their time & energy to help us with this project. Over the weekend, Laura rustled up some vittles for a real chuck-wagon style food line up on the patio. Since we had pulled out the kitchen, this was a true Iron Chef challenge. Laura pulled this off with only a weber grill, a couple of coolers, and a washroom sink downstairs. Somehow she managed to keep everything food safe and not poison the work crew (which would have been pretty counter productive!)

The previous owners had carefully painted one of the bedrooms a pale pink with periwinkle trim (top pic). I can appreciate the work they put into it, but both the Mrs. and I have a serious aversion to pastels on walls.

Our color plan is to paint the entire house (including formerly unfinished wood window & doorway trim) a light gray/neutral color that we loved in our old house. It’s Ace Hardware “Travertine” and it really does have the earthy gray/brown of travertine stone. Then, after we get everything covered with that neutral color that we can live with indefinitely, we’ll probably have some fun with color down the line.