Heart of Gold

So...everyone keeps asking us when we're moving in the house.  We literally only have a few beds, a TV, clothes and boxes upon boxes to move over, so you'd think we'd move over with a quickness given this small set of stuff, right?

But I don't want to have to move the bed three times to paint, or cover up furniture, or worry about trying to cook while letting the kitchen paint dry (as well as myriad other good reasons), so I'm trying to knock out the trouble spots before we move in.  So I've decided I'm tackling the master bedroom and the kitchen before we start the move.

After all the work we did on Saturday, you'd think I'd be pooped (given I'm completely and utterly OUT OF SHAPE and have been relegated to my desk or bed for the majority of the last six months.  Okay, let's be honest.  9 months).  But I was actually jazzed about getting back out to the house on Sunday to continue the work.  Given it was Mother's Day, though, this meant that concessions had to be made...and I'd be doing the work alone.  I was bummed about this realization initially, but once the work was done, I realized how empowered I felt.

Why, you ask?  Because I painted the entire master bedroom.  By myself. 

Y'all?  This room is huge.  It's no slouch in the size department.  And there are so many little nooks and crannies once you hit the opening where the door to the hall and the door to the master bath meet up.  It took me over four hours. 

Would you like to see the fruits of my labor?

First, let's take a walk down memory lane to see the before shots, eh?

Looking from the door

Looking toward the doors

And now....

Behr - Gold Torch

Holy blurry picture, Batman!!  I do apologize for that.  I'd been painting for four hours and my arms were jelly, so holding a camera straight was not the easiest thing for me.  :)

I tested like four different colors, and they all read extremely dark given that the bedroom's one window is shaded.  There's virtually no direct sunlight into the room, so the only true source of light you get is the overhead lighting, which...isn't that great.  Plus, it was like 9pm when this pic was taken, so it again reads darker (and golder) than it really is. 

Here's an in-progress pic that shows the color in a true light.

In person, it's a warm, inviting, blonde color.  But I'm actually in no way disappointed with the color, because A) It's heads and tails above Hooker Red, and B) It was almost exactly what color I wanted it to turn out.

For your reference, this was my inspiration pic for the bedroom color:

Please let me know if this is your picture.  I saved it before I ever intended to blog and I can't find the owner.  :(

I wanted a cozy, inviting space where you felt cocooned in warmth.  I want to curl up in that bed with my Kindle and/or my husband and just sleep forever. 

So, that's only the first coat of paint.  I'm headed over to the house tonight to put the second coat on, and possibly paint the mid-vault of the ceiling if I'm feeling like it (and I can reach it).  If you look at the above-inspiration pic, you'll see they painted the whole ceiling.  I don't think I'm going to do that, I think I'm going to just go to the angled part and leave the true ceiling white.  (Plus I don't want to paint over the stalactites.)  But that's a conversation for later, because I haven't decided yet.  The white on the whole ceiling (vault included) is a little pervasive, particularly in person.  I think I need to warm it up a bit, but it may be better to paint it a lighter tone than the darker wall-tone.  Thoughts?

Oh, and while I'm on the painting conversation, can I just say WOW and put my hat in favor of Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint?  It's a paint-and-primer in one and OMG.  Guys, that coat above?  Was one coat.  And it covered all that red.  Like, true coverage.  If I wasn't so perfectionistic, I would probably just leave it alone because the red doesn't show through at all.  ONE COAT!!  So, definite thumbs up to that paint.  I have heard mixed reviews about Behr, but I don't think people are reviewing the Premium Plus ULTRA (or they're just married to the notion that Sherwin Williams or Glidden or whoever has the best paint).  I did a lot of research on paints and asked a lot of people what they used, and most of the people who are on the same budget as I am (and some over my budget) have said great things about the Behr Ultra.  Plus, I couldn't open the windows when I was painting (it was waaay humid outside), so I pretty much just had to paint and breathe the fumes in, and it was like I wasn't even painting.  The Low-VOC schtick is definitely true and the paint odor was virtually nil.

I tried the 2-dollar Glidden samples and they were totally handy for getting a generalized color (I used Glidden Homemade Butterscotch to decide what color to paint this room, then found the same color in Behr when I actually made the purchase), but the coverage itself was not that great in the sample version.  One coat seemed to soak into the wall rather than cover it.  I tried a Martha Stewart color as well and....let's just say, No.  Don't do it.

So yay for the bedroom starting to resemble a haven!  I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all done and we've got furniture and everything in there.  :)