I can see the light!

Hi friends! I hope your week is starting off great :) It's still way above average temps for February in MN so this mama cannot complain...I'm LOVIN' the warm weather! I have spring fever so bad...I just can't wait to get outside and plant flowers and go for a run and soak up the sun! Only two more months to go!!!
Speaking of spring fever, I have been craving the look of lighter, brighter paint in our home...we moved a little over four years ago and haven't really done much of anything for paint; the walls were all painted a a light tan color and the kitchen was a light yellow...as you know, we have major plans for the kitchen but we actually have major plans for the entire house! I have to keep reminding myself to slow down because I am getting decorator's ADD...no lie! I'm just feeling so excited about transforming the look of our entire house...finally making it home sweet home...and a stylish, much, MUCH brighter home sweet home might I add :) I'm tired of the dark walls and dark woodwork...I know some people think it as an omen to paint over original wood work and although I understand and respect those opinions, I've finally had enough of it! Our house was built in the early 50's and everything is original woodwork so I struggled with it a bit myself just growing up knowing how beautiful and sacred those original pieces are but the more and more I thought about it (4 plus years to be exact) the more I came to this conclusion: this is our home...a place that we are raising our babies...a place where we are making memories each and every day and I want it to be light and bright and our own style...I want to come home and feel home...I want to feel happy when I look around at the walls and the trim and well, you get my drift...this is our home so we are going to do with it what we want and not worry about what anyone else thinks or worry about how it may or may not affect resale some day...we're living for today and today...we want our dark oak trim to be a lovely shade of white!!!!!! I started in the bathroom...figured it was a safe place to start as I can't start in the living room because we have plans to take a wall out...more on that to come! Anyways, after lots and lots of research, this is what we went with:

I really, really, REALLY did NOT want to have to sand down all the wood work so we investigated other options and we also sought out professionals advice; they told us for the best results, clean all wood work with TSP solution (just mix cleaner with warm water and scrub it down...allow ample drying time!) Then came the question...primer? or no primer? Our woodwork is a darker oak...more reddish/orange then yellow so with that being said, they told us that we could skip the priming part and just use 2-3 coats of the paint pictured above. Now, I wasn't thrilled (to say the least) about this paint because it's oil-based which = more VOC's and it is very expensive...but we tried to weigh the pros and cons and after doing all this research and seeking out professional advice, we decided that it was our best option...especially if this mama is going to spend hours, days, probably WEEKS and maybe even months painting all the trim in the house! I would be devastated if I put that much time into a painting project (that I've been dreaming about for years mind you) just to have the stain of the wood bleed through...because that's what we were warned about over and over! With deciding not to prime, the oil-based paint is an even better option as well because it really sticks to the wood and that's what you risk in not sanding the trim. To support small, local businesses, we picked this can of paint up at our local Struve's paint store; the finish is BEAUTIFUL and I knew that because my cousin is currently flipping her first home and she just got done spraying all of her trim with this very same paint...because it's oil-based, it's MUCH less upkeep and can stand some wear and tear (aka. big, black dog named Bella and pretty little lady bug running into everything as she takes her baby for a walk in the stroller!!!) The downfall, like I mentioned was first of all, the VOC's which if it was just Chris and I, I probably wouldn't have even given it a second thought but with buggy, I really worry about what those fumes could do...I painted on Sunday and had all the windows open with fans running and you couldn't even smell the paint. The paint guy at Struve's, who said he's worked there pretty much all of his life, told us that as long as we had good ventilation, there would be no worries...so we just went with it! We had the bathroom fan running all day/all night and I had to finish with one more coat yesterday morning while buggy was at day-care...I kept the bathroom fan running again all day and all night again. It took 3 full coats which was a little depressing but I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in the end!

 The view from the hallway, side by side buggy's room with the original (ugly) oak trim!

 The view with the door open! SO MUCH brighter...I LOVE!

Hi Friends :) haha! See that sunburst mirror in the back?! I made that little lovey for about $5 total...I plan on doing a step by step post soon...it was so fun and it looks so stylish...and expensive!

And one last view from inside the bathroom...isn't is lovely?!

I'm not going to lie though...it was a tedious, looooonnnnnng process and it's one of those projects where you're silently crying to yourself thinking, "self, what the HELL did you get yourself into?!" followed with a couple mini-panic attacks but after it's all done...there is nothin' but smiles and happy dances!!! For the rest of the house, we are taking off all the existing quarter-round trim first of all because it will make painting the original trim (baseboards) waaaaaay easier and will keep the paint off of our beautiful, original hardwood floors. 

Also, quarter-round is very inexpensive and you can buy it pre-primed which then it will only take one coat of the expensive paint! We can paint it outside this spring and when it's dry, we can just nail it down! We are also replacing all the bedroom doors (because they are cheap and hollow!) We will just spray all the new doors and hang once dry...they will look a lot like the bathroom door with the panels which I LOVE...it gives it kind of a cottage-like feel :) So there ya have it...now you know what I've been up to all weekend...hope you love it as much as I do! Happy Tuesday guys!

xoxo,

Amanda

P.S. What did you guys think of the Superbowl commercials...kinda lame if you ask me!!! That's usually what I get the most excited for...well that and the half-time show. Although, I did the love the Bud Light, "here we-go" dog commercial...HILARIOUS!