I caught a bug

My friend Cindy painted her house.  I couldn't help it, I was green (actually gray) with envy.  So on Monday I caved in, or let loose, or what ever it is that happens when you succumb to that part of you that really wants something. (That happens a lot to me, but it usually involves food instead of work :))  Five years ago we moved upstairs, we lived in our basement and rented the upstairs for three and a half years before that.  When we moved up, we painted almost every single square inch of this house.  Everything except the wood stained baseboards, they are oak and it just seemed like a crime to paint over oak.  So they stayed the way they were, until Monday when I finally came to my senses and painted those tired ugly things.  We are both much happier now, those baseboards and I.  The walls, well almost all of the walls have been repainted again, since five years ago.  I have a thing for painting, I love it, and secretly so does Ben.  He doesn't like to actually paint as much as me, but he likes color and personality.  The upstairs of my house has 10 different paint colors,11 if you include the white trim.  I know it sounds like a mess, and maybe it is, but I LOVE it! So here is what my hall and entry looked like before.

Yes that color is masking tape tan on the walls, I made a bad decision five years ago. I have disliked it since it went on, I almost cried when I masked and remembered that it was the exact color of masking tape.
I started putting primer on those bad boys, and soon realized that not one nail hole had ever been filled.  Not o.n.e. So then I spackled, then sanded, then primed again, then caulked along the tops and in the gaps, then I painted, whew.... Then I started getting rid of the tan/cream/i don't really care what color you are I just want you gone.  Now it's a lovely gray, with crisp beautiful trim.  Why did it take me five years to do this?

(oh and I fixed that old chair, sort of, at least my children can't use the spindles as clubs anymore)

The pictures don't even do it justice, I can't get the true color to come through my camera, but trust me, it's amazing.  Stop by and see for yourself if you don't believe me ;) and bring some peanut M&M's with you.

P.S. A huge thank you to Cindy for getting me into this mess, haha.  No really, this color is beyond perfect, I will never question you again, you officially have "vision" my friend. Also thank you for loving me for the random paint fume induced late night texting.

And thank you Benny for helping me roll, the very last step, which took like one hour and required very little, if any, climbing, scooting, stretching, bending, squatting, I will never walk again kind of moves. I also love you, very much, maybe even more than I love Cindy.  However you might be a close second to how much I love our new paint :)