Painting Begins

Painting outside sucks, sucks, sucks. Give me interior anytime. But when you're broke, you don't get to hire anyone. You get to deal with all the cobwebs, chipped paint, mud dauber nests, repairs, caulking, heat, etc. yourself. Standing on a ladder painting (with a brush, mind you, because we really love that extra punishment) is exhausting. I had trouble walking for two days, and my arms felt like they should just fall off and get it over with. Michael had his own sets of physical issues. And all we got done that first day was the gable on one side of the house.

The paints I chose are a low-VOC Benjamin Moore product. It is expensive paint, which goes against painting on a budget. But I feel much better about using a paint that's less bad for the environment.

BUT...

The house looks tremendously better with even that one area of paint. I've managed to paint the front door, too. It will be fantastic to finally get the repairs done and the new trim colors up and the garage door painted. The house is going to look goooood. When it's all done, I'll post before and after pictures. Wow, you can really see my gray hair in this picture. Will I survive the process of growing it out?

My friend Diane was getting rid of an old full-sized headboard. I painted it to match the front door and plan to use it in the garden like a fence -- it looks really good with green plants all around it. Thanks, Diane! It's upside down in this picture, by the way.

Hopefully this painting project will be done in less time than our pond project took. But it will still take us weeks. Sigh.