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The interior of our house was painted last week!

It felt a bit crazy last weekend as we were taking down blinds, pushing furniture into the middle of rooms and emptying cabinets while managing a toddler and a baby. And then this weekend as we tried to put the mayhem back together (which is why I don't have "after" photos yet). Basically the house was a toddler danger zone with tools, dishes, artwork and curtain rods everywhere. It wasn't stressful at all! 

But I'm thrilled we had this done. We had the main living areas (front room and great room/kitchen) plus the hallway and master bathroom painted light gray, which feels fresh and modern. The lower kitchen cabinets and back of our front door (inspiration from Erica!) are painted dark gray. The upper kitchen cabinets and the cabinets in both bathrooms are painted white. It's such a transformation and I feel as though I'm seeing our house with new perspective.

I've been working on appreciating our house just as it is, which includes the things I'm not crazy about, like previous the paint colors (even though we painted them!). Six years ago, when we moved into our house, I had yet to discover DIY blogs (how did I live without them?) and hired an interior designer to help us choose furniture layout and paint colors for the main living spaces. I liked the blue-grey color that she chose but never loved the rest. And especially for the past two years I've been itching for a change, something more more modern and clean.

Truthfully I could go on living with the paint colors I don't love, it's just color on walls. But then when we were in Austin recently Chris was browsing at his favorite music store and found a guitar he really wanted. He proposed to me that if he bought a guitar we could paint the interior of our house. I didn't need to be asked a second time - yes!

Our savings is healthy and with the semester being so crazy the guitar and painting would be big rewards for both of us. We are usually of the save, save, save mentality and so this is a bit different for us. But since we are able to afford these things I'm glad we're spending some money on purchases that will bring so much satisfaction. 

To find a painter I asked friends on Facebook for recommendations plus received contact information of three locally companies through Home Advisor, which I love using for home projects. We got three quotes ranging from about $2,700 to over $3,000. We ended up negotiating a total price of $2,500 for the whole project. The cost includes repairing cracks and minor holes, like from where our television was mounted on the wall because we've decided to ditch our TV! Which is something else I need to write about.

When we painted the house the first time Chris and I did all of the work - from the very tall walls to sanding and painting our kitchen cabinets. Two of the painters even commented on how well the cabinets were painted and how they have held up. We were pretty proud I must admit. I actually enjoy painting but right now doing the work ourselves feels like a higher "cost" since we would need childcare or would have to switch off doing the work. We are happy to be able to pay someone this time to get the job done.

More to share later this week of how it turned out (spoiler: I LOVE IT)...