It started with this:

but somehow…

it turned into more…

I’m sure someone has stopped in Home Depot, glanced at those $19.00 six panel doors and said, “Wow, who would buy that crap?”

The answer: us. We bought that crap, but it looks great.

Our old doors were splintering. That’s an understatement. Huge chunks were peeling off the bottom of at least three of them. One door (downstairs bathroom) looks like a dog was trying to chew his way through the uneven gap on the bottom. Maybe it was the same dog whose thick black fur I found all over the house when we moved in. Hmm. I digress… When you have chewed up, splintering, 30-something hollow slab doors with brass knobs and rusted hinges, it’s time to replace them.

My Dad was here to help us with the first door before heading back home. Micah bought an electric planer, and I finally used the jigsaw (side note: I hate it). In the end, we had replaced 5 doors in about a week. We are so happy with the way they look (good for our de-70s efforts). We have to replace the doors for the lower level bathroom and the laundry room, and then we’ll be done. In the meantime, we are going to take a breather, which will be a lot easier now that the baby doesn’t wake up every time I try to open or close her door!

We painted the upstairs hallway and living room a nutmeg color in 2006. We had just enough paint to finish it. I learned from that mistake later on, as it eventually needed a lot of touch-ups. I also discovered that my love of semi-gloss does not necessarily pertain to walls in a nearly 40-year-old house. I bought two gallons of a taupe color. I painted the hallway and living room, then continued on with the upper half of the dining room to stay consistent. It turned into a bigger task than expected, but then again, everything does when I’m involved!

The entryway and downstairs hall were also a warmer neutral color, so it seemed like we needed to divide the space. I chose a shade of green for the walls near the top of the stairs to accomplish that. It brings in color from my grandfather’s painting, the rug and coffee table. I think it worked very well. I will update the photos of the rooms soon. Here are the Behr colors:

Everything is nice and bright. I also touched up baseboards and trim in a few spots throughout the house.

We just never quit, do we?

I finished painting the back of the house a few days ago.

We also decided to paint the hallway last night. It was sort of impromptu, but I’m really glad we did it! The cranberry color was already there when we bought the house, and I don’t think it was something I would have chosen myself. I wanted to lighten things up, but use a color that would still contrast with the white/cream colors throughout the rest of the house. I found a nice shade of nutmeg. Here are some before and after pictures!

Before:

After:

When I showed the paint to Micah, he insisted that it looked like a Frosty from Wendys. He also insisted on proving this today, and he was right!

I couldn’t resist having him take a picture. I’m so weird!

Apparently, I should consider painting to be one of my hobbies now. I absolutely love it!

We’re going to be busy over the next couple of weekends, so I hoped to start painting the right side of the house today. It’s raining already, so it won’t be happening any time soon!