Day 21 marks the start of week 5, and the start of Phase 2-B: painting and flooring. After a week of watching joint compound dry, now we get to watch paint and stain dry! But, this part will actually be more visually dramatic than last week, though more familiar (we’ve all painted at least once or twice, right?). Choosing colors was tough, especially since we weren’t really prepared to make these choices so soon in the process. Lucky for us, we’d already narrowed down the overall look we wanted to achieve, and were simply choosing the best version of whichever color we liked for a particular space. There are some surprises yet to come, and I don’t want to spoil the effect of the next few days (color will be on the walls tomorrow!), but suffice it to say, our house palette will be beachy, modern, cool-toned and (hopefully) sophisticated. I suppose time will tell whether our paint choices are ones we’ll love – Jeff told me to check with him in two years, and that by then he’ll know whether or not he likes them or not.
In other news, Brian of Bird Drywall (he does painting, too, FYI) is done with our job. Sigh. On the one hand we’re glad (no more drywall dust, moving on with the project) but on the other hand we’re sad (we love him!). Lucky for us his meticulous hard work will live on in the house for many, many years to come. He finished up on Sunday, rounding out about 6 solid days of arm-breaking work, in order to have the walls and ceilings ready for their first coats of paint today. He worked so hard, and we are so grateful. (You’re getting fed, too, Brian! Thank you for all your hard work!)
The core crew of Dave, Eric and Brad worked throughout the day, finishing up painting their first coats just in time to get trapped (perhaps happily delayed?) by a huge passing thunderstorm. Brad was racing to finish wiring some of the outside lights and doorbell while thunder rumbled and lightening struck in the distance. I told him he was crazy – he just carried on working until he was rained out. (I’m telling you: Hire these people! They’re amazing!) It was also a day for planning – our paint order is quite large, and we needed to make a thorough list to make sure we didn’t forget anything. We also had to discuss stain samples for the floor, and the trim pieces we’re going to need to get milled (from the same place that made our gorgeous flooring). It’s going to be a week of satisfying transformations coupled with not-so-satisfying invoices. It’s all part of the process, and we’re in it to win it. No turning back now.
On to the eye candy!
