And Still I Paint

It's been four months since I wrote about a close relationship with my paintbrush. (Click here to read Me and My Paintbrush.) Back then, I was thrilled to have finished the kitchen ceiling at the farmhouse, and that was a great accomplishment. But it's been four months. One would think I would have that entire painting project finished by now. One would be wrong.

It's not because I haven't been working at it. I've been painting most every weekend since Labor Day, sometimes on Sunday too. It has become quite obvious that I am a slow painter. Or rather, a slow surface preparer. It's not usually the painting that takes so long, but rather getting ready to paint: filling holes, sanding, cleaning, taping. Once all that is done, the actual painting goes along fairly quickly. Sometimes. Bead board would be an exception to that rule. I haven't found a way to speed up painting bead board.

For ever so long, I was in the stage of invisible progress. I've found in house construction there are some things you don't normally notice when they are all done, things like window and door trim, baseboards, and such. However, when they are not finished, or not even there, you notice right away. You wouldn't think painting would fit into that category, but for the better part of a month, it did. In the bath and laundry, sanding the bead board, the doors, and trim work, and then applying the final coat of white paint took all of the paint time I could muster in November.



Bath & Laundry: Paint is finally finished!

In the pantry, priming the drywall above the bead board was visible progress at last, but the two coats of white paint weren't near as obvious. Putting multiple coats of bright white on the original door and the trim around it and the window took forever without showing much. Priming the bead board made a big difference, but sanding it didn't show at all. What fun it was to put on the first coat of green! But the second coat didn't make much difference unless you looked closely.

Pantry: bare bead board.

Pantry: bead board with primer.

Pantry: The only thing left is to sand, stain, and finish the floor.

At last I'm working in the dining room, and getting all that drywall primed was a big, showy step forward. "Laying down the color," as they say on those TV commercials, will be even better. Putting three or four coats of white on five door frames, a window frame, baseboards, and the mantle, however, will slow me down considerably.


Dining Room: Before drywall, trim, and a new door.

Same corner of the dining room today.

Kitchen (above & below): Before anything except the new window.

Kitchen (above & below):  with painted walls and cabinets (our old ones).

And don't forget the ceiling, complete with light/fan!

I've spent a good portion of my Christmas vacation painting, and the carpenter has been at work too. We've made some great and visible progress in the past week. There is still a lot to do, though. In addition to all the painting in the dining room, we have to move the stove and refrigerator from our old kitchen (they've been waiting on our screen porch for over a year now), get the water hooked up and install kitchen and bath fixtures. And then, there will be all the cleaning to do. But for now...I still paint. But I'm gaining on it, and one sweet day it will all be done. That is, until we start on another room.