A FRESH COAT OF PAINT

Now that the majority of the exterior house work is finished (new siding, foundations, drainage!), we can turn our attention to the interior. Given the state of the exterior, it should come as no surprise that the inside of the house presented a challenge in its purchased state. However, with the exception of the kitchen, which required a lot of work, the first phase of interior work will be confined to easier, lower-budget solutions, such as new paint. Enter my parents. These hard-working painting veterans happened to plan their Connecticut visit this fall at just the time that we needed some painting expertise and free labor. As mentioned previously, the walls in the house were a combination of imposing and clashing paint colors (e.g. mustard and fushia) and layer upon layer of wallpaper over crumbling plaster. In their short stay, my parents were able to paint two of the guest rooms in the newer portion of the house. We also hired a professional painter last spring to repair plaster walls, sand existing trim, and paint the living room, dining room, front hall and a guest bedroom. A flooring company removed and then sanded the mint green, lead-paint painted pine floors. To date, all the walls have been painted with Benjamin Moore 'White Heron', which provides a nice contrast to the wood beams and trim and emphasizes the views to the outside. Even with all of our paid and unpaid labor there is still a lot to be done in this department (read: all house guests welcome!). There are more than a few rooms in which the outdated peeling strawberry, flowered, or dotted wallpaper remains. See below for a few before and after photographs of the on-going painting project.