Part of yesterday’s errands involved stopping at the paint store so we could paint the interior of the cabin. We are making a good push to get the cabin wrapped up this summer. It’s only taken 3 summers to get it done.
Last month we got the drywall done so we could install the solar powered electrical system. Last week was the first time we had been able to spend working in the cabin with power. It was great but we need to finished the trim around the windows and doors. My thinking is that it’s a lot easier to paint without the trim installed. Let’s paint the room this weekend.
I did some research on paint and by research in mean I went to the Wirecutter. They like Benjamin Moore’s top line product for enough reasons to satisfy my needs.
One thing about Benjamin Moore paint is that you have to goto one of their distribution stores to get it. While this adds another store to visit it ensures that I get to talk with someone who knows about paint. In our case the owner of the store, Jude, was there to help us out.
We knew we wanted some type of color and that it would be blue or green. Jude helped us understand that there is no wrong color. There is only the color that you like. He did point out some paint collections that work well with any other colors in a room: floor, rugs, upholstery, etc.
Choosing a color was pretty fast. We pulled a number of options out and looked at them on the light table. We settled on Prescott Green which is cool cause Prescott is in Arizona where we used to live.
From there Jude helped us figure out how much paint we needed and gave us some tips on how to paint. He had been a painter for 20 years and knew a few things. He was also really nice and patient.
Today we painted, but painting is only half the work when painting a room. First we had to move everything out of the room. Then we removed the electrical covers and taped over them. We also remove the ceiling fan blades and wrapped the rest of the fan in painters plastic. Finally we put a drop cloth down and prepared ourselves for the painting.
Jude had made a recommendation that we roller the ceiling and walls before brush painting the corners. Typically you do it the other way but since we went with a high quality paint he thought we could get away with it.
Starting with a roller is great because you get so much painted quickly. We did 2 coats of paint in less than 3 hours. Then we came back and painted 2 coats in the corners in about 1.5 hours.
We bought 5 gallons of paint and knew we would have about 1 gallon left over for touch ups. I think we ended with a little over a gallon but I didn’t feel like we had gone too light on the paint usage. The ceiling and walls all look really smooth and consistent.
Painting with a color can be a nerve wracking and most people just choose a safe shade of white. I highly recommend choosing one room in your home and painting it with a color. Do some research about colors and moods and figure out what fits best for that room. Then go get a good quality paint. It goes on easier and looks and last so much better. Since paint is the main thing you look at it’s worth spending some money on and making it personal to you.
I’ll have photos to share once the trim in installed later this week. We are thinking pine.
