I Painted Something!

While I am working on that List of Favorites in my Repertoire, I wanted to give you a peep at the home improvements I've been working on... Namely, the Painting Weekend That Was!

Let me lay a little background. I've been in my current apartment for about two years. I moved in a snowstorm, which leaves no doubt as to the mettle of my fine friends who helped me move. I had a lot more stuff than I thought I did, as per the rule of the universe that dictates that things multiply when you don't mean them to. And when I settled here, 2 blocks away from the last place, I really liked the situation: 4th floor, high ceilings, open kitchen to living room, big bedroom, heat that works- I was very pleased and content.

But.

As anyone who has lived in rental units for a long time knows, white (correction: cheapest possible off-white available) paint can get old, even with lots of prints, cards, and decorations. I had picked up a couple paint samples while helping 2 friends move (turnabout is fair play!) about a year ago, but the little 2x2 squares had stayed taped to the walls, with little to show for their persuasive power.

Until.

Until the week of November 8, when not only was I itching to rearrange my furniture again (normal), I was also staring at those walls, thinking, 

'how hard could it be?'

I called on the same friends again (Kim and Juan recently became homeowners, so I know they'd been through just about every paint procedure on a wall; plus, Juan is a painter. And he'd already painted my wall once, with red wine, so he sort of owed me on this one.) Kim was stuck out of the country for work, but Juan was free on Saturday. And thus, once I had involved someone else's schedule, my half-baked idea suddenly became a lot more concrete.

We started at about 10, we waited way too long to break for lunch, so that by the time we found a place nearby, their 30 minute wait time nearly made us pass out. (Don't go there) Finally revived and very full, we started up again and finished at about 7. It was a long day, and Juan was a huge help. Besides the making-me-commit-to-the-idea part, he also did most of the tricky detail painting around the corners. I concentrated on the wide, open expanses, and redid them when Juan pointed the drips (only twice).
So it was a long day, but as I woke up the whole next week faced with my California Poppy, and reading next to my Deep Blue Sea, I was positively glowing. When it comes to repainting when I move, I know it will be a pain with timing the drying period with the packing madness, but for only $170 and a couple sandwiches, it was sure worth it.