When we went under contract for this house, we knew there were cosmetic things that would have to be addressed immediately, if we wanted it to feel and look like ours. I wouldn't say we were sticker shocked to learn that the things we wanted to do would cost $$$, but we definitely had to get creative in order to make it all happen.
It all begins with paint.
Paint:
We had cussed and discussed all of the various ways we could go about this. We have been known to paint a whole wall, or several, throughout our years of renting with children. Let's just say I know all about the 'play with doodoo' age, the crayon age, the graduated permanent marker age, and even the tween sticker and doodle ages.
Painting is something we see as an easier task, than say DIY replacing floors. We've painted before, and before that.
But the new challenge we faced were TALL, vaulted, 18 foot ceilings. I was not willing to break my neck attempting to stand on ladders or scaffolding, nor watch my husband do so.
So we contacted a high rated local company in the area. It's part of a national company, but has a local franchise. Despite the professionalism of the guy who quoted us, and the way the company presents the package with samples, copies of licensure, ratings and a whole booklet about the process -which we got to keep- we were somewhat shocked once the number came in. I estimated around $3,000 for our particular job based on recent averages and blogs I had read. The final estimate was $4,600!!!
I called a second company. The guy came out, was not as put together as the first, but I liked his style. A no bullshit approach. He even recommended we not bother with ceilings because of the great shape they are in, whereas the first guy tried talking us into more than we wanted, though we didn't budge.
The second quote was well below our $3,000 educated guess, and with a five star reviewed company at $2,300.
My husband was still sold on saving money and doing it ourselves. But when a friend came to visit the day of our second quote, he kinda-sorta helped talk my husband us into paying for a job done right, and done once. He also reminded us of how old tired we are, and that even if we took the 18 foot pole route from the ground, it'd be hell on the back and shoulders. We knew he was right.
I called the second company up and committed to hiring them. Gave them my choice of colors, and the next day -bright and early- they got started!
To save money, we decided in the beginning that we only wanted painters to do what we could not safely reach; the tall walls in the great room, tall walls in the foyer and the adjoining stair area. As well as the front exterior gable siding. The previous owner had recently professionally repaired a patch of the gable siding that did not at all match the original.
The repair was the FIRST thing we noticed when pulling up to the house for a viewing. It is the first thing anyone notices. Even our painting crew, who recently did work across the street, said that they made fun of our ugly mismatched gables when they saw it weeks ago. All in good fun...but I don't think they were joking! I also do not take offense. It was almost embarrassing how much of a contrast there was. It turned out perfect, though!
The nice part about finishing the interior off ourselves is we already purchased the paint through the company, so we had about 4 more gallons of matching paint to use up. All we had to do was figure out a new trim color (a shade of white) and buy a gallon of that separately.
My husband and I started on the remainder of the interior two days after the paint crew had came through. From 8am to 10pm on a Saturday, we were at it non-stop. By the end of the night, both of us were in pain. My hands looks crippled, as if I had severe arthritis. I could hardly take a shower and wash my hair properly. We were broken.
Aside from the 18 foot walls (that we didn't do ourselves), we have areas with 12 foot walls, and others with 10 foot walls. No short walls in this house. But I did not anticipate the required extended reach and bent neck lady (I love Haunting of Hill House) issues we'd face. Because of this, we waited a week or so to get started on the extensive trim job. And lemme tell ya...trim is worse!
I tried a few different tools to do trim. I have a pretty steady hand and was able to tackle the top area of the baseboards, but the first time I swiped our hardwood floors at the bottom of the baseboard, I busted out the paint guide. That proved to not be helpful, so I had no choice but to tape. I also went ahead and spent the better half of an afternoon taping the top crown molding, door frames and the fireplace because I knew I'd end up having to do so anyway. I did finish some areas, like the fireplace and great room baseboards, but then I got super sick and everything came to an abrupt halt.
For a week, something had knocked me on my ass so hard that I was sleeping abnormally long hours and unable to even sit up right without wanting to vomit. Maybe Covid? Maybe not? I never did get tested because I honestly stayed home and away from everyone in the house. I had to stare at unfinished jobs around the house as I sulked through hallways in misery. I was the only person that got whatever it was, and after eight days, I was back at painting and hand crippling agony.
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| Looking rough AF |
I am super happy with the results. We went from a sad and sandy tan with buttercream trim/molding to a light and bright gray with snow white trim/molding. It s crazy how much 'cleaner' it looks in here just with a change of color! Will edit and post final pics later. We still don't have this house together.
Interior:
If you must know, our color is Behr: Cotton Gray; trim/molding Behr Night Blooming Jasmine.
Exterior gable siding in Behr Muted Sage
It took awhile for use to agree and disagree on a few paint colors. We did get samples and paint them in different areas, just to see differences in natural light, shadowed light, and under different lightbulb types (soft white and daylight). I am SO glad we invested in samples. The color I thought I would like the most out of our top three was the one I hated the most!!!
When it came time for my paint crew to appear, we had learned they use Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Enamel paints. All they needed was my Behr color code and they were able to mix it at SW (color codes are just that: codes. You can literally get a swatch from any brand and as long as it has a code, you can use it for any brand of paint).
My trim paint was Behr Marquee, which one of our samples came in. Not Behr's newest and best, but a pretty thick paint that hardens nicely and dried without brushstrokes.
My SW 5-gallon paint was included in my painting company's quote (they receive contractor discounts), but at a SW store, expect to pay around $489 for a five gallon bucket -retail. They also brought two gallons of exterior paint by SW, each retail at $95 per gallon.
Realistically, when looking at retail costs of SW paint, nearly $700 of my $2,300 quote/cost of hiring a crew was paint alone! Kinda crazy.
My Behr Marquee, which I did purchase at Home Depot, was $49 for one gallon.
Paint supplies: $150 (brushes, tape, rollers, trays, etc,.)
So overall, it cost us about $2,500 to paint every common area in our home (no beds, baths, laundry or garage). We do still have some paint leftover (for touchups) and supplies left for beds and baths at a later time. We have an extra gallon of our exterior paint left, and I might plan on using it in the laundry soon. Why not?
Although I actually find Sherwin Williams paint to be pretty darn fabulous, I will probably buy a cheaper paint for the bedrooms because they see less traffic, and less visitors, if any!
What I learned:
Hiring pros to paint goes beyond thinking in terms of financials. Our painters were efficient, quick and left a beautiful job behind. My husband and I...not so much.
There are areas that could use a second roll around because they appear uneven at certain angles of light. My husband left a nice blotch on the ceiling from slipping with a roller, so we'll have to color match that later (with a sample, I am not doing the entire ceiling. No way. Our bodies and hands were on fire for dayssssss).
We do plan to paint our kitchen cabinets in the near future, and now we both agree that we'd rather hire someone to do it quick and right than bother trying ourselves. I am ALL for DIY and saving money, but if I am realistic with myself, I know some things are better left to the professionals!
I'll stick to dressers and small pieces of furniture. The pros can have the rest.
What's next?
I think we are going to take a paint break and hit the beds and baths later.
I do have a special project for our powder room that's going to be in motion next week (waiting on one thing to ship), and I am super excited to get started, but first I need help removing the builders grade mirror...
Also, new light fixtures for the formal dining, eat-in area and two-story foyer are on the way!!! I am so excited to write about that and tell you how I got exactly what I wanted for WAY less than retail. I saved over $600 with a simple little trick and some perseverance.
**UPDATE
I never did use the leftover exterior paint to do my interior laundry room. Why? With a little research, I learned exterior paint is designated for the exterior for a reason! Exterior paints contain super harmful chemicals designed to prevent outdoor forces, like mold, mildew, rust marks, etc, as well as high VOCs in most brands that nobody should breathe in. Because of this, I didn't take any chances to save money and used leftover interior paint from my powder room project instead.
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