a few steps behind, but leaping forward

When we set out to repaint the master suite, I kind of thought of the project as painting a box. A really big box, sure, but a box. But it seemed like a simple project, with some extra work on the trim. The bath and shower rooms would add to the complication, but I figured we'd be done with the painting portion of updates.

Ha.

As of Saturday morning, we had 3 walls second coated, one wall one coated with some spots needing cutting in, baseboards painted, and the shower room caulked and de-wallpapered. My ambitious timeline? Blown. Out. of. the. Water.

There are several reasons for that:

1) Work & sleep

2) Family & friends

3) Keeping our sanity

4) Our own mistakes/inefficiencies

None of these are bad reasons for skipping out on project time, and I need to remind myself of that (while still keeping us on task). Mike has been, ah, diligent about making sure I don't burn us out. This isn't an HGTV weekend makeover. We don't have a full crew of contractors overhauling a room (and those rooms are often not completed for the big reveal). This is our home, and we'll be here for awhile. What's the rush? We've only worked in the house a couple of work nights and cut ourselves off by 7:30 to give us time to clean up and drive back to the apartment.

So, to help us make some progress, Mike's dad came over on Saturday morning to prime the wallpaper-free shower room. By the end of the day, we had all the bedroom walls painted, the baseboards caulked, and half of the touch-up work done.

Two walls of the upper trim still need a fresh coat of paint, the trim on the doors and windows need refreshers, and I plan to recaulk and touch up the trim on the fourth wall (where the lamps are in the before shot). But I think I'll just touch up and caulk and visit with the other trim later.

Meanwhile, Mike's dad knocked out the shower/toilet room with two coats of primer, and it's totally transformed the space. It's too tight of a space for a good shot, and we have a step stool in the shower, so I didn't try to squeeze in there for the progress shot.

Before. How about that green/gray and beige wallpaper?

Primed

We went ahead and primed the trim, since we know we'll be painting those whites, but we held off on the cabinet over the toilet and the window until we decide if we want to paint those or not. They are more involved, project wise, and we figured the window would be a summer project. We forgot to tape off both woodwork and it didn't matter - Mike's dad cuts a clean line!

Buckling down, Mike and I decided ton Valspar's Gravity for the bathroom paint. We sucked it up and bought the kitchen and bath paint for its moisture resistance, and while it's significantly more than regular paint, we figure it's a small enough space that we're hoping one bucket outta do it. The Olympic kitchen and bath did not register the VOC content on its bucket, so we went with the Valspar zero VOC. Online, Olympic does list their kitchen and bath as zero VOC. Oh well. Shoulda put it on the label, folks. But this will also give us a better idea of the two paint brands, and we figure the shower room is where we should get the "better" stuff.

Meanwhile, we've got the rest of the bathroom taped off, the old swatches primed, and we're ready to rock out the bathroom! Well, at least Phase 1.