One Wall Down...Two More To Go

So we moved into our home in June, the beginning of June to be exact.  It's almost February.  That is 7 months.  I have gone 7 months with out hanging one darn this in this house.  It has been killing me! Well I can officially say that I hung something, and once that first nail was in the wall I couldn't stop!

It all started because when we bought this house we knew right away we wanted to paint.  Not because we didn't like the color choice, I didn't mind it but I really didn't care for it, but more important than that is the previous owners did such a crappy job.  The paint on the walls is just the start, but we don't have time for that today. So, not only did we want a different color, it needed a fresh coat. 

Why didn't I get to it sooner you ask.  Well here's the low down.  In case you forgot, I have 3 kids, small kids. We had just moved to a new home, a more expensive home than what we were living in before.  School was starting for Payden, Greg was out of town a lot for work. I had no idea what color/shade I wanted. The list goes on really...but it mostly came down to not knowing what color.  I knew thought I wanted grey but that is a really hard color to pick.  I had samples taped to the walls all over this room, and this is no small room.  It's huge.  It's a living, dining, office, and kitchen all put together in one.  It has vaulted ceilings and connects to the entry way with out any good cut off points.  This big room also included red walls in the kitchen and a big red wall at the other end.  I knew for sure that those walls would need 2 coats of paint.  Along with the rest I assumed.

I had bought 3 different $3.00 samples and finally picked one.  And on New Years Eve I did what every other human being does, go to Home Depot, take the plunge and buy 5 gallons of paint.  Come home, feed the family, trick your kids by yelling Happy New Year at 8 pm and put them to bed.  Distract the husband with the play station remote and get to painting at 8:30 at night.  I just had to get that red wall done.  Two coats later the hubby and I were off to bed (before midnight, sad I know).  When we woke in the morning I had butterfly's in my tummy.  I couldn't wait to see what was waiting for me out in the giant room.  I jumped out of bed and it felt like it was Christmas morning...only to have my smile come to a screeching to a halt.  It     looked      purple.

Greg agreed as well, with the agreement came some rumblings, something along the lines of "Don't think your going to spend another $150 on more paint!"

So I continued to paint the rest of the room hoping once it was all done it would look more grey and less purple.  It didn't, not in my eyes at least.  I had friends come take a look and they didn't mind it but I just couldn't do it.  So I called Home Depot, was worth a shot right?  And boy did I luck out.  The manager said to bring the paint back in and get something else!  So that's what I did.  About 2 weeks later I was painting this whole stinkin room again.  It took me about a 3-4 days to get the main part of the room done, including fresh white paint on all the trim.  Then about 2 more days on the entry way and another 2 days on the kitchen.  I work when I can so that's why it takes so long. 

Okay, so that's my painting story. 

Here is a pic (the best I could come up with since I'm horrible at remembering to get a before shot).

You can see the tan color and the red.

This is "The Big Wall" once we were done.  Nice and big and blank.

(Night pictures, not the best...sorry!)

I pulled out all of my boxes of frames and other do thingies and my big guy frames as well.  I rarely ever pay full price for a frame at a store.  A lot of our frames are from our wedding, gotten as gifts, $3.00 cheepies from Walmart/Target.  But the ones I love the most are from thrift stores.  I've been collecting them for a few years now.  I look past what is in the frame and check out the frame itself and the price tag!  Especially the bigger ones!  I dont' think I've payed more than $6.00 for any of them. 

Now that they are up I'll be changing out the art/pictures for other things, I have a few blank canvas's that are waiting to get painted but a few special artists that live here and lots of the frames will be getting a fresh coat of paint once summer rolls around!  I can't wait!

So here it is....

Excuse the mess, real life here people.

What was my trick?  Nothing, I just started placing, marking and hammering.  Probably not the best idea but it worked!  Lucky I guess?

Thanks for reading my short story ;)  Come again!

Megan