Master Bedroom Painting Project

DH was a dear last weekend and took the girls down to Houston so I could have some serious Project Time all to myself. I decided to paint our bedroom. It has been waiting SO long. You can see the original color here and the vestiges of the popcorn ceiling removal project.

I armed myself with books on cd: Pride and Prejudice, Each Little Bird That Sings, and Heidi--you know, so'd I'd be all pumped up.

First I sanded and scraped off old paint drips from the trim. I used a utility knife to scrape off some kind of caulk that was in there and I used a nail set to hammer back in some protruding nails. I love this picture because you can actually see the color the wall is, the color the trim is, the color the wall used to be, and the color the trim used to be. Yikes.

Probably you people are much smarter than me, but I used to be very daunted about painting baseboard trim when the floor is carpeted. I thought it couldn't be done without getting paint on the carpet. But I learned a little trick using some kind of rubber scraper thingy. I don't even know what the tool is supposed to be for, but it's perfect for this project because you can hammer the tape way down into the seam without ripping the tape. When you get the tape that far down, even if it does leak through, you'll never see it. Plus, when you pull the tape up, all kinds of dust and old bits of things comes along with it and you'll feel very tidy afterwards.

After I painted the trim I had to tape it off so I could paint the walls. And now let me get a show of hands: has anyone out there ever, EVER gotten through a painting project without some paint leaking through their blue painter's tape and some highly visible place? That always happens to me, so I love, love, love this trick I learned about the last time I painted a room. It's totally fool-proof. Here's what you do: after you tape off what you're trying to not get paint on (in my case the trim), you paint a line on top of the tape in the same color as what you're trying to protect (in my case white, the same paint I used on the trim). This completely seals off the area and if any paint from that small line seeps through, hey it matches and you'll never see it. I've never gotten such a crisp finish as I have by doing this. And I noticed during this project that the glossier the paint, the better it can seal out the other paint.

And then I primed and painted the walls. And ran out of paint--like always. I think a gallon will be what I need, no matter the size of the room. Its always a gallon. So I mixed some water into the bottom of the can and sort of glazed on the final bits.

And here it is. Somehow, with all my planning and looking at swatches, I managed to paint my room THE SAME COLOR. What?

I mean, I know, I KNOW, I'm supposed to get a sample and paint a small test area. Are you kidding me? Have I ever done that? Have I ever not regretted it? But hello, am I really going to increase the cost of the project 25% just to be sure I'll like the color when its done? Guess not. But seriously, the color's fine, and now at least I can't also see the past three colors the room has been.