After sixteen years, I decided it was time to paint my
house. Way past time. Paint isn’t really supposed to last that long. The house
didn’t actually look that bad—until you actually looked at it!
But I was sort of dreading the job. Typically, painting
requires much more than simply painting. First, everything needs to be cleared
away from the house. In my case, this meant cutting the twenty-two rose bushes,
getting rid of the weeds, and cleaning all the junk stored in partially hidden
areas. Then, all the dirt has to be cleaned, loose paint scraped off, any minor
repairs taken care of, and all the cracks caulked.
Once primer has been applied to the bare wood areas, it
should be time to paint. But what color, or colors? Should it be left the same?
Modified slightly? Or, should the color scheme be changed entirely? If it’s
changed what color should it be? What color for the trim? There are literally
thousands of ready-made color sets, as a trip to any paint store will attest.
And, if the colors they have aren’t enough, they’ll gladly mix any color you
want.
Decisions. Decisions.
Ah, but in my case, this was the easy part, I let my wife
decide; with only a couple of conditions—no pink and no green. (I didn’t really
have to worry that much, I doubt she would want a pink house and she doesn’t
like most greens either). I figured my strategy would give me plenty of time to
prep the house and allow me to put off painting for a month or so. But no.
Within a week, she had decided. The house would be Commuter Grey, which is
actually a dark blue with a slight hint of purple, and the trim would be Fluffy
Biscuit, a yellowish creamy color that looks just like the light golden color
on the top of a biscuit. Makes me hungry just looking at it.
So, last week, on my stay-at-home vacation, I spent most of
my time outside painting. Never realized how big of a house we have. It doesn’t
really seem that big from the inside. Of course, that could be due to all of my
stuff—or, junk as my wife calls it.
It was a great vacation project. I needed something to do
anyway! And the weather was awesome; plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the
hundreds, and no rain! Yes, it was a little hot but it is August!
Besides, painting in the summer can be cool—if you find the right shade.
I’m happy with the way the it turned out, it looks like a
new house. And although painting is a lot of work, I had fun doing it. And now
I should be good for another sixteen years, right? Maybe not. But for the
moment, the job is finished. Which is good because I have other things to
do—like go have a biscuit, a fluffy one. ~
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