project room painting schedule

Borrowed Light paint by Farrow & Ball

Tomorrow, the built in bookcase and bench seat are being installed in the project room (see this post and this post about planning for the custom piece). It has a been long time in the making and I am super excited to see it. It will be a beautiful finished piece in an unfinished room but I think it will really motivate me to keep working. Our carpenter will also be sanding some areas of rough mudding and filling nail holes so that the room is no excuses ready for painting. This room has been next on my painting list for the past couple months and I have pushed it off since there is so much priming, painting and taping to be done! But after about a month off and with our new built in installed, I am going to start the process this weekend. This is what is on the painting schedule.

1. Paint ceiling - we didn't need new drywall so one quick coat of Benjamin Moore Simply White ceiling paint should do the trick.
2. Prime walls - since its brand new drywall I will definitely need to prime before painting. I am hoping it will only take one coat...
3. Paint trim - we used pre-primed wood for the majority of the new molding so one coat of hybrid Simply White paint should do it.
4. Paint shoe molding - the mountain grass needs shoe molding installed to hold down the edges which is, obviously, much easier to paint before it goes in. We already have some painted pieces in the garage so I am crossing my fingers that I won't have to do too much of this.
5. Paint walls - I am about 100% confident that we are going with Farrow & Ball's color Borrowed Light. It is a pretty light blue so one coat should be enough.
6. Paint built in - I will probably push this project off till the spring as we will need to remove the doors in order to properly paint them and it will be easier to do this outside.

There is no way I will accomplish all of this in one weekend so I am prioritizing the ceiling, shoe molding and priming of the drywall. The mountain grass flooring (see this post) is being installed next Friday so getting the ceiling done will be so much easier without having to being super concerned about the new floor. Also our flooring guys are coming back sometime after the mountain grass goes in so I need to make sure I have the shoe molding ready for them. The drywall priming might be wishful thinking but should be an easier job as I won't need to be very precise.

Painting is the last big step after the built in and flooring go in. The existing built in and closet will also be a pain but I am not going to focus on that just yet. Small steps towards the finish....Also on the master to do list is hanging a bead board ceiling in the closet area (opted not to get new drywall so bead board will be an attractive and easier solution), replace the lighting fixture in the room and closet, paint and reconfigure closet (might do this with the first batch of painting...) and get window treatments. I am sure there is more like maybe getting new windows but again small steps....

dark trim verse white trim

Over the weekend, we knocked the den off our painting list. The walls were cream so only one coat of Benjamin Moore Normandy was required. This made the project a relatively easy one as I cut in around the trim, base and ceiling and Jeff did the rolling. I also downloaded and listened to the entirety of David Sedaris' Holiday on Ice which made the time pass much more quickly. I am really excited that we were able to get this room done as I was able to unpack the last few boxes. This means that the house is now box free for Christmas decorating!

With the den complete that brings our painted room tally to three. The house hasn't been painted in who knows how long so all this painting is really just round 1. This generally means we are just tackling the walls and not the trim. A lot of the trim will need to be sanded and stripped and in some cases replaced so round 2 is probably going to be an even bigger project in certain rooms than round 1. This is definitely the case for the den. In round 2, we will have to strip a pair of french doors and potentially two windows before giving all the trim and casings a fresh coat of paint. We also will need to paint the fireplace and figure out what to do with a shoddy built-in (pictures to come I promise!). The big question at this point will be dark trim or white trim. Since I first began thinking about this room, I have envisioned it as this super cozy sort of a jewel box of a room complete with dark trim. At work, we have done several rooms that are top to bottom one color and I just love the monochromatic look. And while the look is rather on trend what I like about it is that reminds me of a traditional English parlor (not sure if this is justified but its what I think of). 

Since presenting this plan to friends and family, I have gotten a good amount of push back with such comments as "I love the contrast between the white and blue" or "trim is so impossible to paint let alone when its dark" or "it will be so difficult to repaint back to white". These are completely valid thoughts and concerns which is why I am taking them under advisement....But there is just something about rooms like those pictured below that I just can't get out of my head.....

home of Aerin Lauder via Mark D. Sikes

room in Oval Room Blue via That Kind of Woman

via A Thoughtful Place

home by Lindsey Coral Harper via House Beautiful