RiverBender Blog: I Mastered the Art of Painting Walls

Okay, I did not master painting. But I did paint this weekend, and I have to say, my skills improved considerably as the days went by.

To clarify, I was painting walls, not pictures. So I didn’t do much in the way of artistry. I was recently put in charge of painting an entire house, which is a big task. My house, in fact, because I just bought it, which is still a bizarre sentence. The house needs a little love, a little refresh, hence the paint. But I’m in love with it. And I will keep you updated.

I think some of the rooms don’t necessarily need to be repainted, which is a big relief, because it turns out painting is actually a lot of hard work. I knocked out two full rooms this weekend, and I have the paint under my fingernails to prove it.

The painting started on Friday night. Buzzing with excitement, I drove over to the home improvement store and marched up to the paint counter. I had been preparing for this, so I already knew which color I wanted. I slapped down my paint sample and announced, “I want two gallons.”

It turns out it’s not that easy. What kind of paint? What finish? I stared at the person behind the counter and stupidly asked, “What do you recommend?” To their immense credit, they didn’t try to upsell me. We chatted for a minute about my project, they answered my questions, and we settled on answers.

Back to the house I went. It was about 6 p.m., a little later in the day than I had anticipated, but no matter! I was determined to knock out some painting. I plastered painter’s tape along the trim, a bit haphazardly, but with as much precision as I could muster. I taped down plastic tarps. I broke open the paint can and poured out my paint and sorted my paintbrushes and then, suddenly, it was time to start.

Overexcited and already a little bad at details, I dipped my paintbrush into the paint, laid down on the floor, and started painting along the trim before immediately getting paint on the baseboard. But that’s okay! It would be fine. More than fine, actually, because I decided then and there to repaint the baseboards as well. A little refresh, not at all related to the fact that I could not for the life of me stay within the lines.

And so I began. Smearing paint everywhere, watching it drip down the walls like a Salvador Dalí painting or a bad acid trip, hoping for the best. That’s my philosophy in most things — hope for the best.

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As the night wore on, my painting got more and more sloppy. Paint splattered in my eyebrows, smeared across my lip, streaked on the ceiling. It was 9 p.m. before I declared myself done for the night. I had completed two walls. I was immensely satisfied.

The next day, I returned to the house to realize that I needed a second coat and that I had missed several spots. No biggie! I once again got to work and knocked out the rest of the bedroom walls.

That evening, as I taped off the baseboards in the second room — the dining room, which was arguably higher pressure as a main room in the house — I looked at my painting partner and asked, “Should we do an accent wall?”

And so back to the store we went! An impulsive accent wall. We stared at the paint samples and debated for all of three minutes before deciding on a color. It felt very much like I shouldn’t be allowed to make such a major decision, but no one was stopping me. I cracked open the new color and began slathering it on the wall. No going back now.

This whole weekend has been a lesson in adulting. I am an adult, I repeated to myself as I chose a paint color. I am allowed to do this, I said as I began painting. No one is coming behind me to clean up my mistakes, I reminded myself as I made mistakes.

Armed with a Coke Zero, pop music, a paintbrush and a dream, I commenced painting. And I’m happy to announce that I actually did a pretty good job! Or, at least, I covered the walls. They are decidedly a different color than they were when I started. No going back now.

I completed one other major improvement this weekend — I hung a paper towel holder. Are you proud of me?? Two repainted rooms and a paper towel holder. Slowly but surely making this place my own.

There are several more home improvement projects in my future, and I’ll update you as I go along. I can’t wait to move in!

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