Friday, April 22, 2005

Painting 1

I spent a few hours this afternoon painting the living room and dining room. The rooms look fine, but could use another coat of paint. I was actually looking forward to doing this myself - partly from the satisfaction of taking care of this type of work around the house, and partly from saving money.

Prepping took about an hour. First I removed everything from the walls and stored smaller items. Then I carefully placed painters tape around the various faceplates in the wall. Finally I poured the paint and started away, using the roller for the walls and a smaller brush for corners and the ceiling edge. My biggest tip is: wear latex gloves so your hands don't get drowned in paint. I did and it was really nice to peel them off and throw them out afterwards.

Total time: 3 hours. And, this might sound strange, but it was almost... fun!

I still have about half or a third of the gallon left, which should be enough to do the part of my study that I want to do. I also need to paint the hallway, which will be trickier due to odd angles and stairs. I decided to hire a company to clean the carpets and wash the windows, since those are very time consuming, yet cheap to have someone else do.

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