Living Room Painted!

Well, I’m 90% done painting the living room and it looks amazing. It might be hard to justify painting white walls white, but the walls really weren’t in good shape and the previous “white” paint (renter’s white, which is really the color of mayonnaise mixed with nicotine stains) was a shiny semi-gloss that was painted on the walls, ceiling, and trim, washing out any sense of nice architectural details. If you don’t believe me, check the pictures:

Before
And after

Whoever said prep was the most important part of painting knew what they were talking about. I’m a pretty experienced painter, but I’ve never had to do quite so much work– ripping out all those cords left tons of holes to patch, and I did end up priming most of the walls so that I only had to paint two coats. But it’s done!

It might be hard to tell, but I painted the transom “windows” (which have been replaced with wood) the same as the wall color rather than the trim color, and it looks nice. The walls are Benjamin Moore “Moonlight White” in matte, the ceiling is BM “Simply White” in eggshell, and the trim is “Simply White” in semi-gloss. The semi-gloss trim next to the matte walls is beautiful. Evidence:

This picture makes the walls look more beige than they are, but there is a nice contrast in real life, too. I need to scrub the floors like crazy– I was pretty careful with drop cloths, but it looks like the last several painters weren’t. That should be fun.

And yes, the doors are off the frames. That’s the next project! And getting some furniture, that might be nice. And painting my room. And all the other things. My to-do list is roughly fifty items long, and counting.

About Daniel Kanter

Hi, I'm Daniel, and I love houses! I'm a serial renovator, DIY-er, and dog-cuddler based in Kingston, New York. Follow along as I bring my 1865 Greek Revival back to life and tackle my 30s to varying degrees of success. Welcome!

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