So we got in cleaners to help us out. I’ve never hired cleaners before, but I would definitely hire them again. We hired cleaners to clean the kitchen cabinets, wash the walls downstairs, clean the light fixtures, clean the carpets and tile and wash the windows. Basically, the whole house got a spring cleaning. And it needed it. There was no way I would have had time to clean this new house, finish packing and still watch the kids. Not to mention, the painters were still painting right up until we moved our first box and piece of furniture in on Saturday, May 25th.
We hired painters to paint the main floor including the bedrooms and the bonus room above the garage. The house had oak trim and beige walls and a dark ceiling. The previous paint colors were General Paint’s Tequila (8672W) for the walls, Muddy River (8674M) for the ceiling border and fan blades and Wooden Oar (8675D) for the textured ceiling.
Our new house was built in the year 2000 and needed to be repainted badly. The walls were full of nail holes and scuffs. I didn’t mind the colors they originally chose but I wanted to brighten the place up. So together, my husband and I chose a white and gray color scheme. The ceilings were painted white and the walls were painted Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore.
We originally used Gray Owl in our old house in the upstairs bathroom. For our new house, I wanted a paint color that would be good in all rooms on the main level including the bedrooms and baths. I also wanted a color that would go well with our stainless steel appliances in the kitchen and also with the oak kitchen cabinets. We may decide to paint the kitchen cabinets white in the future. Before we moved in, we just didn’t have enough time to paint the cabinets and it would be fairly expensive to complete. Right now, I feel I can live with the original oak cabinets being unpainted because all the oak trim was painted white instead.
Yep, I said it… ‘all the trim was painted white’. I know many people will be mad/sad that we decided to paint the oak trim. I felt the oak trim was overwhelming and distracting. I wanted to freshen up our new house and make it look more modern. The oak trim was painted Oxford White by Benjamin Moore.
I’m very happy with our decision to paint the trim, ceiling and the walls. The fresh coat of paint makes the new house feel more like ours now.
We did paint the garage on our own. Originally, I believe the walls and ceiling in the garage were the same color as the walls in the rest of the house. We used 2 coats of Benjamin Moore’s semi-gloss in white (straight from the can white, no tinting) to repaint the walls and ceiling. We didn’t worry about patching any nail holes, since it is only a garage. But we did take the time to clean the walls with a TSP solution, thanks to my paint store expert.
Personally I’ve never heard of TSP, but I’m also not a professional painter. I just asked Wikipedia and here is a little info: ‘Trisodium phosphate (TSP) is a cleaning agent, lubricant, food additive, stain remover and degreaser. It is a white, granular or crystalline solid, highly soluble in water producing an alkaline solution. TSP is still in common use for the cleaning, degreasing and deglossing of walls prior to painting. TSP breaks the gloss of oil based paints and opens the pores of latex based paint providing a surface better suited for the adhesion of the subsequent layer.’ Who knew, not me. It definitely works because we only used it on the walls and not on the ceiling and I noticed a difference on how the paint adheres.
Our garage is so much better and brighter! Now we can actually see in there! In the pic below I just cut in with the paint around the door. BIG difference…
We haven't painted anything in the basement. Likely, that will wait for at least 6 months. We have plenty of other things to complete around here. Like… unpacking the minefield of boxes littering our basement.
As Always,
Sandra
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