House Project #1 - Painting the Trim

The first major project on our to-do list was to paint our trim white.  We have always wanted white trim and since we plan to stay in this house for quite some time we knew we were going to take the plunge and paint all of our trim white.  And we have a lot of trim!  Initially we got quotes to have it done professionally, but we knew we wanted to spend money on other items like flooring and new kitchen counter tops and a backsplash so my ever frugal husband decided we should save the money and paint it ourselves.  Oh boy!!  Thankfully, Brandon's parents offered to come help us which ended up being a huge blessing because like I said, we have a lot of trim!

Brandon and I started priming earlier in the week and got the front part of the house and the mantle ready.

Once his parents arrived, we finished priming and began painting.  I think we worked until midnight on Friday night.  Needless to say, we were all a little weary by that point.

{Brandon's dad working on the trim}

{Please ignore the kitchen!}

{Pam was like the energizer bunny...she just kept painting and painting and painting}

Yes, even Koby was exhausted.  I know he was looking at us thinking "You people are crazy staying up this late."

Things got a little sketchy by Saturday morning as I was plagued with the stomach flu.  I was pretty much in bed or in the bathroom so I wasn't much help the rest of the weekend, but the troops kept marching on without me.

Brandon's dad laid the new tile around both of our fireplaces and I am so thrilled with the way they turned out.  Here are a few pictures of the transformation of the upstairs fireplace:

{Before - with the original tile removed}

{During}

{After - with a couple of coats of paint on the mantle and bookcases}

{Up close - missing the grout on the vertical section}

We can't believe the difference the paint and tile have made in the looks of the room!  We still have to put a couple of coats of paint on the trim in the kitchen, laundry room, and half bath but it is looking so good and we couldn't have done it all without Pam and Craig's help.

Next up on the agenda is picking out wall colors because we can't live with white on white for too long and then we will install our new flooring.  Lots to do!!