January Project

A little painting project

Have you ever had an idea pop into your head and you think, I'm going to do that.  Then, you come to your senses and you realize that's an incredible amount of work and quickly decide your not interested. Well, that is usually how I am, I want to do things but after very little thought I decide against it. For some reason the other day I thought I should paint my living room, adjoining kitchen and hall.  I have done it before, and it wasn't that bad of a job. This lead to one of those talks with myself and decided January could be a long month and I needed to have a project. I didn't want to go into spring and summer and think "why didn't I paint in January when I had nothing else to do".  Not sure what I think I will be doing in spring and summer but clearly more than in January. So, I have now convinced myself that I was doing a project and it was painting the biggest area in my condo.  

Historically, if I had a project like painting, I would start and keep going until I finished.  Thankfully, I reminded myself I am retired and I can take as long as I wanted.  I had a preconceived idea because I was in a mess anyway, I might as well give it two good coats. I was unsure when I would ever get the desire to paint again, I decided I was going to do a great job, not just my usual good job.  And so it began, the spontaneous painting project.  

I made the decision that I was going to take my time, that way I had the time to make sure everything was well done. I filled the nail holes in the walls and cleaned everything I took down.  I did a mental inventory and decided what was going back up and what was on it's way to another home. The plates were removed from the outlets and all stored together in one container with the screwdriver necessary to put them back on.  I was focused and rocking this painting project.  

I think everyone will agree the preparation to paint is the worst part.  I am a person that has to tape everything.  "Cutting in" with only a paint brush is not part of my painting routine.  Even with tape I can manage to get paint where it shouldn't be. I can't figure out how I can be painting away and then I seem to lose control and whoops got the ceiling or the baseboards.  

I have been a loyal supporter of Benjamin Moore paint.  I have tried Behr but I didn't care for it.  Then I bought Sherwin Williams and it was good.  Mom told me that paint was on sale at Home Hardware so I made a stop.  They sell Beautitone, I googled the reviews and it was very credible.  So, I bought 2 gallons for the two coats that I was going to do.  I was sure I needed two gallons, I wanted enough so I didn't have to stop and run back to the store if I ran out.   

I developed a process, I was only going to tape one wall at a time, paint it and then move on.  You know change it up, since I dislike taping so much.  Since I started late in the day on Day #1, I decided to do two walls before it got dark, which I accomplished. With my new painting plan in place I went to bed feeling assured I would get up and complete the rest of the painting in the morning.  The next day I  wasn't really rested because I had painted half the night in my head.  I walked out and looked at my walls even though still dark, I decided I was NOT doing two coats.  Some body stiffness had already set in and the paint had covered like a dream.  In less than 12 hours a change in the plan had happened and two coats would simply be a waste of paint and my time.  

Results from Day #1

Day #2 of painting project began.  It was early and still dark so I did some taping and arranged some furniture for the already painted area.  Then I was ready to start to paint. The night before, I had put my paint brush and roller in a plastic bag and set it outside.  A little trick I had learned years ago, was to wrap the brushes and rollers in plastic and keep cool, so you don't have to clean them. I had planned to bring them in as soon as I got up, but yep, I forgot until the moment I was ready to paint. It does take some time for rollers to thaw, and I got a considerable amount of taping done while they did. It appears nothing is going as planned, but it is still going. 

Results from Day #2

I realized this was going to be a bigger project than I thought.  There are 15 walls, some short but lots of twists and turns when you consider a living room, hallway and kitchen.  There were six doorways and one window to tape.  With two good sized walls done, I felt the remaining 13 walls wouldn't take long.  I stuck true to my plan, before I moved on, I painted a wall, removed the tape cleaned up the floor that managed to get considerable paint on it, even with a drop cloth.  I am pretty amazing in that if there is one spot of paint on the floor, I will have stepped in it and walked all over before noticing.  At the end of Day #2, which was noon by the way, I had not accomplished near what I thought I would.  Not even close!  I have never been so happy to have good friends drop in for coffee in my life. I was not holding up nearly as good as I thought I would and welcomed the break.  I decided although I had never taken 3 days to paint anything, I was going into the third day.  It was a really good decision and on the third day, things rolled along nicely and the project was completed.  I am still pretty impressed with how clean and nice everything looks.  There is nothing like a good paint job to freshen the place up.   

Results from Day #3

Because of the change in plans, I have a gallon of extra paint.  My plan is to go back to the store and get them to change the color and use it to paint my bedroom.  That plan is way, way off in the distant future, could be years away who knows.

Many, many years ago, you could never have painted in January.  The paint probably contained lead, and you needed all of the windows open for days to clear the smell. The paint smell is so different now, you can paint in January. In fact I highly recommend it because January can be long month.  Not to mention everything is on sale and if you need a new look, no guilt about buying new decorative things. 

As I am concluding this post, I am reflecting on what is the point in all of this.  The point is, I need to be more stern with myself and have more chats.  When I do that I am more focused and I feel so accomplished with what I have done.  I don't love painting, but I don't hate it, so why not do it myself.  Have a plan and be sure to free up a couple of extra days in the event the plan gets off track.  Get rid of the old and welcome the new, for me the look is different and feeds into my need for change. People have said to me "well what if I don't like the color?".  I have always said "it's just paint, repaint it".  I now realize, I am never saying that again and even if the color was ugly I was going to make it work.  If a second coat is on and off the table in less than 10 hours, pretty sure changing color would not have been an option. 

In closing, I hope you have the energy to do a project in the winter.  It can be a long time to watch the snow, ice and whatever mother nature wants to throw at us.  Always, remember to empower yourself to accomplish an ugly task, it feels amazing. 

I developed a "Coffee Bar" 
several years ago.  I recommend
it for everyone.