Painting, what a fun family affair!

My family and I are in a weird position at the moment, we are not tenants anymore, we are now home owners and yet we are homeless but at the same time we are not…..sorry guys my train of thoughts have been going loopy lately as  there is so much to think about!

As already mentioned in my previous post, we are currently staying at my mother-in-law’s place until the the downstairs living areas of the house have been sorted and the kitchen installed. And so without any hesitation my boys and I rolled up our sleeves this bank holiday weekend to paint and prep the kitchen and living/dining area (we have not included the hallway yet). But alas, I have learned that there is so much more to it than just painting the rooms and it involves A LOT of other little things too which are pretty time consuming!

All those DIY enthusiast out there might already know this, but….

Did you know that a freshly plastered wall needs to be sanded down to smooth out rough surfaces (which is my least favourite – what a dusty business!), it needs to be washed down by a damp cloth to remove excess dirt, also it needs be covered with a minimum of 2 “mist paint coats” (water down paint) and a normal coat before you can actually apply the top paint of your choice! It is crazy loads of work especially when you need to do a big area and did I mention that it is MESSY too!

This is Chris and I doing the sanding and washing down and applying the first mist coat:

 

If you are a girlie girl, concious about your perfectly styled outfit, coiffure and manicured nails and planning to do extreme DIY painting and decorating, then be prepared that all of that will go down the drains! There will be splashes of paint all over you, you will be covered in dirt and your hands will crack and blister as if they are out of this world (it will still happen even if you wear gloves…)! So yeah just heads up on that because I am currently experiencing all those things. But hey on the positive note it’s an amazing overall workout as you will definitely stretch, squat and use a lot of arm muscles! I was aching after two days of work!

However, whose to say we did not have fun!? My little boy absolutely loved painting with me and Chris which would last about 20 minutes and then he would either say: “I am tired” or “I am hungry”. Bless him, he was so good despite the fact that he had to stay in an unfinished house while his mummy and daddy are busy doing work on it.

 

We worked the whole day Saturday and yesterday we didn’t get home until past midnight. Luckily we managed to finish the kitchen and the dining area and we need to finish off the living area today to ensure the rooms are ready for floor laying and kitchen install this week.

Yup with house remodels I have observed that things rarely go as planned, unfortunately! But it’s ok  we work hard, we give our best and we will get there somehow. I keep on telling myself, “Just focus on the end goal, it will be worth it!” Chris got his own motivation mantra as well which is: “Let’s do this!” And he tries to say it in a very manly way which kind of makes me chuckle!

Before and after the paint work, and my superman burning the midnight oil:

 

The new door and windows got installed by Chris’ dad last week and our IKEA kitchen got delivered spot on time last Tuesday! And I am sooooo in love with our brand new sage green door!

Freshly delivered IKEA flat packed kitchen and electrical appliances:

Window frames before and after the install:

 

So this week, it’s the flooring and kitchen install we need to worry about. On that note: “We can do this!”