Crimson - My Kind of Red

Today was day two of painting here in the Wessel home.  

I was a little more efficient and did the taping of the dining room last night which meant painting began a little after 8 a.m. The early start was possible because Dave took the kids to school like he usually does on Fridays.

Painting started right away mainly because the way my body was feeling from painting the day before, if I sat down I would not have gotten back up.

I started painting in the far corner of the dining room. We decided to keep the original color heading up the stair well. It flows with the "Crimson" paint color I also got at Lowes. It is part of their Eddie Bauer Craftsman Bungalow series.

Once again, the cutting in was not a favorite chore but thankfully there was much less to do today than yesterday.

Here is the  finished dining room with a view of the new yellow color in the kitchen. I took this picture around 2 or 3. 

This is a view of the dining room looking into the kitchen. Of course, the walls look a little bare but oh do I have plans for that wall. Another plan is to remove the "glass" in the cabinets and replace it with some metallic tile, like you would see on a kitchen ceiling or backsplash. Also, the hardware on the cabinets would be changed to black wrought iron. 

I took this picture this evening around  6 when  the sun was setting in the front window. What I love about the color is that it is not too dark. This was also before I put up some white linen sheers on the windows.  

Well, my paint brush has been put to "rest". Two straight days of painting takes its toll on a body but I'm not done. Matt's room is the last one on "official" docket. I say it that way because all this color change has me wanting to change the color in my craft room.  

Truly a little paint can make a big difference!  

Yummy Yellow

The last two days I've been busy changing the color in two rooms of our home. 

First up was the kitchen and hallway. On the walls currently is a "Apple Spice Cake" color. For several months, I've been eyeing up the Lowes Valspar color "Grand Hotel Awning Yellow" which is from their National Trust for historic Preservation series. 

I really wanted to make the color change this spring so Wednesday after I worked on the bulletin board at church I took the plunge and purchased the painted needed to transform the rooms.

UGH!! The worst part of painting is cutting in and there is so much to be done in a hallway and kitchen. This is where I started my effort.

It took me from 9 to 3 along with another hour once I got the kids home from school to tape and do two coats of this color. The picture doesn't really do the color justice.

Here is a view from the dining room into the kitchen. The wall to the left in the picture is the most painted wall space in the room. You can see how the color varies from the picture above.

This is another angle from the kitchen. You can see again with the change of angle and the light from outdoors the color transforms to a brighter yellow. 

Also from this picture, you can see that the current color in the dining room (Acorn Squash) doesn't flow with this new color. Even Dave noticed its lack of flow. Oh and he does like the new color which is a major win!! No worries about the dining room color its next on the docket to change. 

One room down, one to go.

4 Years, 2 Months and 5 days!!

4 years, 2 months and 5 days is how long it took for us to get our oil tank removal completed. On the 16th, we finally got our letter from the State of New Jersey saying that no further action needed to be taken in regard to the removal.

We had the tank removed on December 11, 2008. At that time, they found a leak the size of an eraser head in the the tank. It required soil remediation. Then, they had to put in a well, which meant taking samples for a certain period of time and submitting those to the state. The engineer's report was submitted after the state changed the "acceptable residual levels" so we had to have it dug up and remediated again. At the end of that dig, the levels were zero so then it was just paperwork with the State.

Imagine the excitement I had the other day when I opened this letter. Our "ordeal" has ended ....well not yet. The company still has to come out fill the well and level the land. At least, if we needed to do anything with the house we have the paperwork that shows we have done our part. Never, did I think it would take this long......so happy it is finally over!!!

A Little Paint Makes a Big Change

I love how a little paint can make a big change for me. We had quite a bit of this brown paint left over from painting the walls that flank our fireplace and I just didn't want it to be wasted, so my brain went into overdrive.

The walls of the stairs heading down to the basement did not get painted when we did the remodel and remained the dingy white color they have been for years. Let me tell you I was tired of cleaning those walls from grubby hands touching them. Lightbulb moment!!! A darker paint would hide the mess and I could use the the extra paint.

Normally I would do the painting but seeing Dave is home.....I put it on his "honey do" list. He did an excellent job and the outcome is superb.