I promise not to post an update about every miniscule detail of the basement makeover. We work slowly and are easily distracted (especially since I now have so many great ideas for the fireplace mantle). If I posted real-time, it would look like a less exciting version of this:
Day 1: Painted stairwell for five hours, got paint in hair
Day 2: Painted second coat in stairwell, got more paint in hair
Day 3: Gave up on painting, can’t get paint out of hair
Days 4-9 Ditto
Day 10: Decided basement won’t paint itself
Day 11: Started painting again
Day 12: More painting
Day 13: I hate painting, I quit
Day 14: Started painting in basement again
Day 18: Attacked by centipede, took well-deserved painting break
Day 19: Ignored basement, but then went to buy drywall supplies
Day 20: Put up drywall
Until the end of time: Put up drywall
Day 25: Put up drywall
Day 26: Drywall
Day 27: Movie day, screw the drywall
Day 30: Emptied laundry room
Day 35: Realized I forgot to do laundry before disconnecting washing machine
Day 36: Painted floors
Day 37: Painted floors
Days 38-100 Kept painting basement because it isn’t done, I had just moved onto another task
Day 101: Crum, floor needs another coat
Day 102: Where is the washing machine? I can’t remember where we put it
Sometime in 2013: Start decorating.
Gosh, I hope I’m being dramatic. But it really did take me two FULL days to paint just the stairwell (and part of a third day to take down everything, putty and prime holes). There was a lot of brushwork and not enough roller-work. Plus, the extendable edger I bought was crummy, so I had to DIY my own extendable paintbrush:
And I really did get lots of paint in my hair. I’m still finding paint streaks buried under the layers (how?!?):
This update, although not very striking (it’s a plain beige-ish canvas now) is hugely exciting to me because it’s the first bit of paint on the walls. It has been started, and that’s the hardest part of any job for me. Even though I love to DIY, finding the time and energy can be a major challenge.
Ta da! (I tried to get photos of the new paint beside the white walls/trim, so you can see the contrast):
Because the basement will never be bright and airy (it has ONE tiny window and we cannot change that), I am going for warm and cozy, like a coffee shop. So, like the all-white upstairs where we painted the ceiling and walls the same colour, the basement ceiling will also be this lovely beige-shade. Yep, we’re painting like this again. Then I’m going to make the space pop with graphic black & white artwork, textiles and pops of colour (like my inspiration space).
It already looks so much better than the tired before. Give me some time to spruce it up, and I’ll be back with a real “before & after”.
P.S. The colour is “glacial till,” by Benjamin Moore and it is Brian Gluckstein approved:
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| Benjamin Moore |
Bahaha. I enjoyed your timeline. Seems very familiar…
Glad I'm not the only one with a sluggish schedule. All this darn work I'm paid to do gets in the way of my hobbies and home improvement goals.
The whole "putting up drywall until the end of time" is giving me deja vu! Love the colour you picked, it's warm & cozy without being too dark and imposing.
OMG, I did the EXACT same thing with the brush and tape. I also tried the edge pads I bought from the paint store and they were awful so I rigged up the same guy as you and it was beautiful. Looking forward to seeing it all gussied up:)
Great minds think alike! Let's design something that works, lol.
Me, too! I'm five feet tall and had a huge vaulted ceilinged room to paint from a not-tall-enough ladder. Nearly broke my neck trying to make those #@!#?!! edge pads work, and finally realized that an angled brush, duct tape, and the roller extender were my friends. Why doesn't somebody just market a threaded-end paintbrush for such occasions?
I agree! I'm surprised there isn't already something like this!
looking good so far 🙂
Exciting renovation! Can't wait to follow along!
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Looks good so far! I think the color is warm and still bright enough for a dark place. Can't wait to see the artwork 🙂
Thank goodness my house was already painted almost that exact color (Kelly Moore Cork Bark) when I moved in. I haven't had to do a major painting job in years. Can't wait to see your finished basement.
You are so lucky, Dana! We had to repaint every inch of the main floor and upper level. Every inch of wall, ceiling, trim . . . every interior door, closet door and some shelves. I even repainted one of the bathroom cabinets. So much paint! We went through at least two five gallon drums, plus many gallons of ceiling paint. It was at hundreds of bucks. Then we painted the garage and the basement is last on our list. Whew.
Haha! Tanya… your timeline is very funny! However, you are doing better than moi….I taped off our basement stairs almost 2 years ago and they are still not done. And the tape is still on them! {How embarassing! I can't believe I just admitted that!} I think you have inspired me to get my butt in gear and get it finished! Hope your have a wonderful week! After your hard work painting, I hope you are enjoying some downtown and watching the Oscars tonight! Angie xo
Hey! I found you via Shannon's blog bungalow960. I am excited I happened upon your blog so I get to see you redo your basement! Fixing up a house takes so much work, I know, we're also documenting all our DIY goodness at our blog too! I love the color you chose "Glacial Till" and you're cool DIY extended paint brush. We've definitely done things similar to that! :)~Lisha
Oh, I want more juicy details hehe :)Don't feel bad, because I'm pretty sure we've gone through something similar more than once during our projects!!!!LOVE your color choice.