Big project: painting and cleaning the front room

How I tackled a big paint job, in a nutshell!

Nowadays, no matter the size of the room, I break it up into stages.

Day one is always prep - pull things off the walls and shelves, patch any extra nail holes, remove outlet and switch covers, vacuum walls and floors, move furniture, gather supplies and set them up in one spot.

 

Day two, I started from the corner of the couch nook and worked my way around. I painted around this long shelf and around the outlets using a pad painter.  You can see where I patched nail holes.  I had taken down the curtains to wash them, and I very carefully painted near the blinds!

It was drying pretty splotchy and for a hot minute, I was worried. But as it dried completely it looked perfect.  Once I got around to the column by the front door, I called painting done for the day, and mopped the floor.

I took the cushion covers off the couch to wash, re-hung the curtains, replaced the outlet and switch covers, and moved the living room furniture and shelf decor back.  Then I took the dining room curtains and wall decor down, pushed the table out of the way, and vacuumed.  I was very tired!

Day three I got up on the ladder high enough to edge out the dining room - then kind of panicked on the ladder.  Switching gears, I did the rollering first.  Gotta keep making progress.  Again, the paint looked blotchy, but I already know I will love it.

I took a break to let the walls dry before I tackled the edging again, and replaced the cushions on the couch.  Years ago when I sewed these, I had just enough fabric, so I had done a simple slip stitch on each one.

I got the edging done, self-talking myself through!, so I cleaned that window, including the shades, re-hung the curtains, set a fan on it for awhile, then hung the decor back on the wall.

I did a quick clean on the light fixture and floor, then pushed all the furniture back.

I went ahead and prepped for the next day - removing switch and outlet covers from the front door around to the hall entry, patching some nail holes, and removing everything from the china cabinet.

Day four I pushed the china cabinet out of the way and vacuumed these walls - loads of webs!

This was the trickiest part - painting not only near the ceiling, but around windows and door.  I spent a lot of time on that ladder, as I cleaned the transom window and light fixture, too.

Once all the edging was done, it was pretty easy to roller out the walls.  Then the outlet covers went back on and the thoroughly cleaned china cabinet was moved back into it's space. This paint dried very quickly, but I had a fan on all the completed sections as I went.

By mid afternoon on Wednesday, I had it all put back together - floors cleaned, all decor back out, supplies put away, dining table and chairs moved back. I absolutely love this wall color, which is called "Ashen" by Glidden.  Its the same color I painted in the master bedroom and I used almost three gallons in total for all areas. 

It was overcast skies much of the time which is why it seems dark in here, but I am so pleased that everything got a thorough clean and refresh.  I took the leaf out of the dining table, polished the top, wiped down the seat cushions, too.  This space may seem impossibly big for one person, but it is neat and deep cleaned now.  First big project of the year is DONE.

Gina