A color we can both look good in

When we picked out a color for the garage walls, we basically had one decision to make….what do we both look AMAZING in?

It’s true.  We said that out loud.  We need our background to flatter, slim and basically turn back the hands of time.  Paint can be like the Botox of your house.  Pick the right hue and you can be paparazzi worthy.  You lose ten pounds instantly, wrinkles disappear and your hair becomes better than Selena Gomez’s Pantene commercial.  Suddenly you are a millennial and popular amongst people that know how to use Snapchat….paint can do that.  It’s a fact.

So for all you non-believers, you have to just read any article about finding your color.  It is the theory that different skin tones and different hair colors/eye colors/undertones look BETTER in some colors than others.  Usually people say “Oh she’s a winter – she should wear red” (that’s me by the way!) and then you radiate beams of lightening every time you wear a little red dress.  Been there done that 🙂

But I am not saying that you should paint your whole house crimson.  I’m saying that by picking the RIGHT paint colors, you can actually look amazing in your house and WHY THE FREAK NOT.  This pick-the-flattering-color theory works the same way as fashion – the plan was to paint the walls a blue that flatters us both and turn this drabby garage into a space that makes us both look good.  We take a lot of photos in here and by gosh darn it, I want all the help I can get.  Sure I could try MAKEUP but that would just be too easy 🙂

Before we got to painting, there were a few repairs to be made in the drywall.  The holes needed patching and this one was especially troublesome.  We tried just patching with joint compound but in the end, it didn’t last.

If you have a small hole like we did then the solution are these inexpensive repair patches.  They are adhesive on one side and you stick it directly over the hole and press it firmly into place.  I think do a few thin coats of the joint compound to build it up and blend it in with the surrounding wall.  I like this color-changing spackling because it doesn’t waste my time 🙂  It goes on pink and when it is dry it turns white to let me know it’s time for the next step.

Then just sand till smooth and you are ready to go.

As demonstrated by LJ….

Note the terrible haircut that I attempted to fix.  I was so upset.  Next time I am just gonna do it myself.  I don’t need to pay someone to give him a terrible hairdo….I can do that myself 🙂  I just can’t believe that I said “I’d like it to stay long and still cover his ears” and this is what I got.  Thank goodness it grows fast because Jeremy and I constantly say “He doesn’t look like HIM without his long hair!”  and then I shake my fist in the air.  And then Max laughs at me and I calm down.

Back to the subject at hand.  We covered our newly stripped floors to protect them from any paint….

as well as draping the garage doors.  Jeremy and I were SO tired after the prep, we barely made it to the actual spraying.

I say “we” because I peaced out while he continued but I was completely there in spirit.

This is when he started – he broke out the sprayer for the ceiling and since this is not really MEANT to be a ceiling sprayer, he had to do a lot of shaking, clearing of the nozzle, refilling and such…..talk about frustrating.  It also didn’t help that we had to get this all done in time for the weekend when we were gonna do the floor….we plan for bigger projects at certain times of the week because we know weekdays are filled with baseball and work and LIFE.  And so in order to do the cutting in and walls later, we needed this done on a friday night.

He stayed up till four am to get it all done but it was such the right decision because the ceiling needed painting.  His work pants are seriously the best thing in my life.

When I woke up the next morning, this is what it looked like.  He had finished the ceiling (a few spots needed touchups but for the most part, it was completely white) and sprayed all the trim, doors and beadboard.

That next morning my mom and dad were coming over to help with the kiddos while we finished up.

Not all the trim was painted yet because of the drapes and so forth so my mom and I worked on that.  See how I am clutching the ladder?  White knuckles McGee.

Oh and I have the best most flattering photo on the internet to show you….

not that one….this one….

Maxi Knight was our paint manager 🙂

So the color – the most flattering color we could find for both of us (and one that we still felt was good enough to actually go on a wall) was this Soothing Blue by Valspar.  It was vibrant and saturated enough for me and Jeremy said that he looked good in all blues 🙂

At first we were a little nervous watching it go onto the walls.  It’s not exactly what I would call ‘soothing’ blue….more like ‘baby went crazy’ blue.

But it dried just a smidge darker and that helped us realize that it was gonna be just FINE.  Especially once the floor was dark and there were more dark pieces in here with warm undertones to balance the color and make it look even more dark and saturated.

After it was all painted, I then walked in and said ‘this looks terrible’ and Jeremy gave me some serious side eye and threw shade my way.  With the paper floor all removed, I realized that the beadboard really needed another coat.  And spraying it just wasn’t an option.

I basically locked myself into the garage on Sunday and did four hours of hand brushing to get all those little beads fully covered and now I have carpal tunnel.  Seriously.  I knew I should have taken it in smaller chunks but yeah….DIY hurts.

On the up side – it looks SO MUCH BETTER.  There are still some small touchups but in general, the walls and the trim and ceiling are so light and bright and feel clean and happy.   And that is exactly the kinda room I want to spend the majority of my time in!

I do have to admit that a second coat was needed on the walls and yes, it could have been my eyes seeing things but I really feel like most paint needs two coats – not because of the quality of paint but because the roller just simply can’t cover everything and still maintain a wet edge.  Do you guys find that to be true?  I have done rooms in one coat before and then come back later and see little areas I missed so I think two coats is always been my go-to.  I think they call that user-error.  Also we are obsessed with this paint roller.  It extends and it is really fun to use.  I’ll try to link to it later 🙂

So here she is….in all her bright blue and white glory….

She has come a long way, huh?!

Now to do the FLOORS!  And just so you know, I may be biased but they are gorgeous.  Like I feel like I am walking into a swimming pool of deep dark magna – because that is a thing that I know about.  I swear.