The summer we painted (1)

We've done a solid slog of painting here over the last two weeks.  With only a couple of days here and there to stop and take a break, we've been pretty consistent trying to get this job done as quickly, but thoroughly as possible.

I should share some of the reason why we had to start this job in the first place.  A leak in the main water supply meant that we had water seeping under the house, toward the hot water system that's outside Mariposa's bedroom.   We didn't know about this leak for quite some time as no irregularity had shown up in the last water bill, and they only come quarterly.  All we knew is that we were getting damp in her room and lifting the carpet revealed a mold problem.  We thought it may have just been the extremely wet winter we'd had.

Then .. we had been away for a week.  Upon returning home, we noticed that the front yard was like a swamp, but the birdbath was empty.  No rain .. so where's this water coming from?   THAT's when we found the leak, a kink that had developed in the pipe.  With us being away, there was no relief in the water pressure, which resulted in us finally finding out the problem. 

So, we investigated further and found that mold had started in our bedroom also.  There was nothing for it but to do a proper job fixing everything up.

We started in Mariposa's room.  It was the smaller room and she was ultra keen to put up a different colour on one wall.  Pictures just don't show you exactly how it looks to the naked eye, but it's a light version of a marine blue, which is very calming.  Her horse theme has been enhanced a little with her jigsaw puzzle completed in a picture frame.

 Sorry for the flash reflection!

She also has a small decal added to a corner of her mirror.

New curtains are in order (a matching soft blue gingham, most likely), but I haven't anywhere to put a sewing project into motion yet.  That'll come when the paint is all packed away!




From there we moved to our room, making a feature wall also in a 'Suede Effect' Mediterranean blue. I'll be painting our bargain $10 headrest to match the rest of the room too (we're going French Provincial/Shabby Chic, so lots of light colours: a soft cream on the walls and white trims).

 Our bedhead, on its side, waiting in our 'holding area' as we do each room.

Maestro's room was the easiest after all the mold treatment that had to go on in the other two rooms.

Most of the trims are in mission brown, with an occasional

window in timber.  Everything's going to be made a uniform white. 

 Timber doors remain, along with brass fittings.

Pulling up his carpet revealed some lovely hardwood boards that had already been polished, but unfortunately spattered with paint.

This was a lovely find.  The other bedrooms all have raw pine.

Now we're in the kitchen and dining area.  These rooms haven't been touched by us at all since we moved here, and they boast some lovely pine paneling on most of the walls. This makes the room quite dark and we wanted to brighten it all up.  So, again, we're going with the theme of a soft cream and white trim.

Applying a special undercoat to help the paint stick to the varnish

... smelly work!

I wonder who painted this wall?

It's the 4th day working here and we've only just managed to get one coat on by the end of the day.  We're not far from finishing it, but Papa's return to work means we've had to slow the pace down considerably.  I'm really hoping I'll have my kitchen back in the next couple of days. 

Thank you for dropping by!