What a difference paint makes!

While I was feeling overwhelmed with fixing up the house because my arm was broken, we decided to hire CertaPro painters to take on our major painting projects.  So, no, we're not John & Sherry Petersik from Young House Love.  We are not DIY masters, nor is this our full time job.  I feel slightly guilty about this, but the professional results are so beautiful that my guilt is short lived. Like, I'm already over it.

The Family Room is almost done - just one more coat of white on the brick.  I am so happy we decided to paint the trim white (and not just any white, Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace).  It looks so clean!

We painted our Master bedroom the same color (Benjamin Moore's Stratton Blue) as the Family room - because they're directly above each other and get the same light.   I love how airy it feels.

The 3rd bedroom, which we are optimistically referring to as the "nursery" (no baby on the way, but some day?) is also so much happier.  We used Benjamin Moore's Antiguan Sky, and figured it could be paired with greens and deeper blues for a boy or pinks and purples for a girl.  I'm also amazed at house the blues on the walls make the wood floors look more orange.

The most dramatic difference is in the office.  I do not regret for one second painting the wood paneling.  It's a completely new space (one that doesn't remind me of child molesters).  The walls are Benjamin Moore's Classic Grey.  We figured using a neutral in this room would allow us to hang lots of Lucy's colorful art on the walls without being competing.  

 

I am so excited about the transformations underway in our house!  It is really beginning to feel more like ours. 
 

The painting crew from CertaPro is mostly Latino - Mexican and Honduran.  I've brushed off my rusty Spanish in an effort to communicate with them.  Other than the occasional miscommunication (i.e. the word for 'hammer' in Spanish is not 'maleta'), my Spanish has gotten me some definite brownie points.  Yesterday I was at the house attempting to peel the wallpaper off in the laundry room while the crew was painting the gardening room.  Juan, the crew's leader, came in and very patiently told me I was doing it wrong.  In minutes he had peeled twice as much wallpaper as I had in an hour.  Thanks to Juan's free wallpaper peeling lessons, I've made some serious progress in the laundry room.

The coming week holds more painting and wallpaper peeling, but we're also going to try to finish up the porch once and for all.  We need to add the stripping to the outside of the screen, to cover up the ugly staples, and we need to stain the beautiful wood that was hidden underneath the many layers of carpet.  Hopefully, we'll also have time to slap on another coat of Dri-Loc in the basement.