Exactly one week ago I left you on the edge of your seat with a game room update.
We just bought a new couch for the game room, and in a fit of insanity I thought I’d just casually paint the room while I was at it. I’ve just never been able to embrace those poop colored walls.
Not sure what I was thinking with that one. Of course, most of my projects around the house begin with basically zero forethought into time or cost. Oops. Must. Work. On. That.
Well, I’m happy to say that after a full WEEK, the room is painted. It was as painful as it sounds.
But, my gosh, if it doesn’t look a whole heck of a lot better up there! I actually want to venture upstairs now!
Let’s just talk for a bit about how we got from here…
…to here…
(ignore all furniture but the couch. 😉 This is a progress report, not the diploma.)
Hey, if I had to endure a week of torture from this room, you can just suck it up and read about it for less than 2 minutes.
Painting the room pretty much sucked majorly because in addition to the room, we also painted the entire hallway, the landing area, and the stairwell. Oh ya. When I do a project, I do it BIG. Go big or go home. Ya know.
I pretty much think painting is one of the worst pastimes I can think of, so we tried to make it just a little fun to save my sanity.
Ben even got his rock on. =W=
I’m thinking that this spread is a huge reason we were in such a goofy mood…
Ya, those drinks are from a 4 hour session. We are addicted. And proud of it.
Ok, so the dopes that painted this horribly poopy color on the walls were not the most talented at cutting out around the edges. There’s globs of poopy paint on the baseboards and windowsills.
But the worst of all!… the poopy paint was on the ceiling edge around the whole room. When I started cutting out the gray, little bits of poopy paint showed on the ceiling. Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Nothing, NOTHING, is ever easy for me. Geesh. So I had to bust out the ceiling paint and cut out around the entire edge of the ceiling before I could go back a 2nd time and cut out with the gray.
It was loads.of.fun. Lemme tell ya. Loads.
But you know what? When I do a project, I’m going to do it right the first time so I don’t have to go back and fix it later. And the results from this extra DAY of work? Totally worth every curse word.
Here’s my backside hard at work. Just check out those perfect ceiling lines. I am a mean cutter. Without tape! It’s a talent; the ability to cut out a room without busting out the frog tape. Hell-ya.
Our kids just roll with the punches. I’m not sure Travis even noticed we were painting the room or that everything was torn apart.
We decided to go with Martha Stewart’s Bedford Gray. Mainly because we already had a gallon and a half leftover from the family room. We ran out though and had to buy two more gallons.
I’m glad we decided to stick with the same color as the family room because now the paint is cohesive throughout the house.
Gah. I am in lurve with this paint color. And the picture! Hello. Isn’t is fab?!
So, are you just dying to see the killer before and after photos?
Brace yourself. They are just that awesomespice. Just ignore all the piles of toys and crap. It’s a work in progress.
Wowzas! Hua?! It always amazes me what a little paint can do for a room.
I’d love a full blown overhaul in here, but we aren’t quite ready to drop the dough needed to purchase loads of new furniture, so it’s pretty much going to sit like this for awhile now. However, there are a few cheap fixes that I’m going to do asap.
* frame out the windows with moulding.
* paint all trim and moulding with a new coat of white.
* finish painting the stairwell and the foyer with the yellow paint (these walls go into the game room)
* paint sofa table in upstairs foyer area
* hang 3 pictures above sofa table
* paint all frames in the stairwell gallery wall
* hang large Rodney White artwork
Those are my finishing touches goals for the game room for now. As time and money permits we plan on getting a new entertainment center, some built-ins, and a Mrs Pac-Man arcade (not kidding. We really are.)
Now I’m going to crawl in my bed in fetal position for a week and try and recover from the week long paint-a-thon. How come painting by yourself has to be SO MUCH cheaper?! Why can’t painters be free? DIYing sure saves loads of money, but wow, it’s a lot of work. 🙂
Any painting plans in your near future? Do you hate painting as much as I do?
Have a fabulous week! And don’t forget to come back laaaate tonight for my weekly link party. 🙂
Great depoopifying job! I had to laugh at your use of words. I have been painting all day too and will be painting tomorrow and probably the rest of the week. I’m de-eightyfying my old house.
I hate painting just as much as you do and we are tackling the kitchen this fall. Aarghhhh….
It looks great! AND you did all that with a sprained ankle!!! You’ve got titanium balls LOL.
Hey, Allison! When I have to paint alone (most of the time,) I use my IPOD with an audio book on it. Listening to a romance or a mystery sure helps the time go by easier.
OH MY! your room looks gorge. Great job!! It inspires me to paint over my 6 month old poop walls but that means I have to paint *all by myself*! NO! I don’t want to… I’m exhausted enough as it is.
Yay, huge improvement! BTW, I am also an epic cutter-inner, and every time I do it without tape, I always expect some kind of trophy from the world. I still think there should be an award for that.
Everytime I think I need to know that whats-what of painting, you do a post and I have to rethink what I’m doing! So much to learn! haha. Great job on the room…yay for none poopy walls!
Looks so good. I’m loving the paint color. We actually painted my daughter’s room this weekend and it’s never fun.
GREAT JOB! I’ve been itching to cover up this nasty paint job in our office space (gotta love moving into a new house..) but I cant decide on a paint color. Does Martha work well? Did it take you a primer and five gazillion coats to cover up the dark brown?
Thanks for your help?
Terri!
maybe it wasn’t fun, but it improved the room a million percent!
Amazing transformation. Love it!
Okay, so maybe I am weird but I actually like painting! I love the transformation and how it feels like you are accomplishing something. As opposed to many mom things in life…you wash the dishes but the sink always fills back up….you wash the clothes but the pile never seems to end…you pick up and when you turn around it is a mess again. But when you paint…you immediately see your progress and it stays that way!!
Beautiful transformation. You are so right about cutting in being an art. I do NOT possess that talent. Every time I try, I’ll be going along fine and all of a sudden by arm does this twitchy thing and there’s a nice blob of paint where it should not be. Fortunately, my husband isn’t afflicted with this twitch. Great tip about paint around the ceiling with ceiling paint so the old color doesn;t show through.
WOW! It looks amazing! I can’t wait to see it when it’s all done!
Ellie
I love the after. I didn’t think that room could look any bigger! I’d also like to give a shout out to those suh-weet vacuum lines. Well Done Hepworths!!
Wow – what a transformation. It’s so beautiful. Thanks so much for the tip of painting the ceiling paint on the top of the wall before painting the other color — so helpful!
Wow, that made a huge difference, looks great! I have quite a few half finished paint projects around the house. I should really finish them…
~JamieS@ Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom
Great job, I love the color and I am looking for a grey myself, thanks for including the name of the paint. keep up the great work and for keepin’ it “real”
Just painted the laundry room and a closet this past weekend. I did it all by myself and let me say, I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN! I was inspired by you, but man what a job. It was a small area, but the taping off was a hot mess! Question though, when you paint your trim, what type of white do you use? Semi-gloss, flat, etc.? I have still to paint doors and trim in my house. 🙁
It looks awesome! When we moved into our new house a few months ago, very few rooms were painted… with the exception of hubby’s “man cave” which was…. you guessed it… poopy brown! What is it with that color???? Yikes… anyway, now it looks tons better than it did. Previous owners didn’t even bother to remove outlet covers or anything, so those had to be scrubbed clean to remove all the paint on them… aargh! Love the color you used, such a nice, soothing color.
I can’t believe the difference. Your way is sooooo much better!! I love the color choice. It feels so much more awesomer (cuz that’s a word) and fresher. And not as poopy. Congrats!
Wow – that looks SOOOO much better! Much less poopy. 🙂 I admit – I’m the same way with the go-big-or-go-home attitude of tackling projects, especially when it comes to painting. I HATE going back and doing “touchups” so I try to do everything at once!…. and yeah, it usually sucks (as you know). lol 😉
~Chelsea
Just the fact that the room looks so much lighter and brighter makes it worth the effort. I think it is going to be a wonderful place to hang out when you are finished. Great job.
It looks SO much better! I hate painting because I always have to do around the ceiling. I hate cutting, but I always ended up doing it because I’m “OCD and have the best eyesight” haha. I hate using tape, so always freehand it too. Blah, I just remembed I have rooms of my own that I need to paint…
Lookin Gooooood !!
The room looks waaaaaay better now that it’s been de-poopified! I am not a painter-hater like you, but it is a.lot.of.work! Especially with kids around. But it’s soooo worth it in the long run because now your room looks awesome! I love the bright, colorful family photo at the top of the stairs, btw. What a fun picture to look at as you go up the stairs every day 🙂
Fabulous job! Sounds/looks like a lot of work. Question for ya..is the Bedford gray darker in real life on your walls, or do the pictures accurately portray the shade it is? I have loved the color on blogs walls (especially yours when you did the living room, and now game room) however on our walls it’s really dark even though we get loads of natural light. .?? I don’t want to give up on Bedford gray!! ; )
Man, check out those vacuum marks!! Ha, ha! You must “cut in” with that vacuum like nobody’s business! All kidding aside…looks great! I understand all that painting stuff…I actually have learned to enjoy painting – I know, I know I’m crazy. But, I put on my Ipod and listen to my music and just get into “painting mode”. I have a feeling you’re going to be on a Craig’s list hunt for new furniture in that room, huh?
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
HUGE difference! I really like that gray, too. You wouldn’t think that gray would brighten a room so much, but I guess when the original color is POOP, anything is better!
I was SO giddy when I saw you left a comment on my blog! That was so sweet of you! Your blog, as well as a number of others, are a great inspiration for me. Yours is one of the few I check everyday. 🙂 The wall color is great, and I think it looks much more calming and happy now!
Alll that hard work sure paid off though! It looks fantastic! Great job!
Oh my gosh, it looks so much better! I love the new color sooooo very much. And those vaccuum lines? Yeah, I’m obviously not good at vaccuuming because my carpet has never looked like that after I’m finished. So jealous!
Wow! what a huge difference. i love your new wall color. your game room is huge!
That is quite the transformation! It looks so much better! I love your canvas! That is the perfect spot for it! What a huge accomplishment too!! You are quite the cutting pro!
I loved everything about this post! (From someone who hates to paint, cut in, previous homeowners…lol) The transformation is fantastic!
Your game room looks great! How on earth do you do it without the frog tape, especially up at the ceiling?!?
What color is the carpet? I am thinking about painting my master gray as well, the Martha Stewart Bedford Gray is definitely one of the 50 paint chips laying on the floor. But my carpet is a beigey color and I’m afraid it’ll look bad with gray walls.
I painted over my inherited “tuscan” home depot orange (with some poop accents) and my country blue loft 3 years ago. I had the summer olympics to keep me company. I had to do the ceiling line too so I feel your pain. Too bad I don’t like half the colors I picked out (I tend to go a little too dark) and I am DYING to redo the entire house. After reading all about yours I can’t tell if it is making me want to get serious about it or if I can live with my red accent walls one more season………UGH! Yours looks so great, I might….just….have….to……
If there’s one thing worse than painting…it’s painting your house for someone else to live in. We’re going away to school for 2 years and renting out our house, it looks better than it ever has (it’s a short sale we’ve been working on for 3 years) and now it’s going to be enjoyed by someone else! Argh! Oh well, hopefully that means we’ll come back to a house without sharpie on the walls 🙂
My upstairs hallway and gameroom are connected to the downstairs den by the stairway like yours. I’ve always painted all of this the same color because I felt like I had to. Where do you think is a good cut off to change the color upstairs in the hallway or gameroom?