I am worn out from packing, work and whatnot, but here's a quick update on the one room where I've made substantial progress -- my bedroom. Painting was a lot more work than I expected. Here's the run-down.
Before
Don't you love that scalloped trim on the closet? It was one of the things that first made me fall in love with the house.
During
The ceiling paint wasn't in terrible shape, but I wanted to freshen it up, so
we did that first in a basic ceiling white from Hirshfield's. While painting, it was sort of hard to tell where we had painted and where we didn't. I've since heard of magical paint that goes on pink and dries white. I might have to try that next time around!
Next up, I started to get the Devine Color's Berries & Beans on the walls. The paint is lovely, but I ran into a couple of issues.
- In the before shot the walls look like they are primed white (by the
previous owner). What you don't really see, and what I didn't realize until I started painting, is that the primer is really thin in many places and there's a lot of blue/green paint showing through.
- The kind folks at the paint store estimated I'd need a gallon for this room. Maybe I'm a sloppy paint waster, but I ran out of paint before the room was completely done.
Luckily, these issues were solved by throwing a bit more money at the problem and buying more paint. I ended up using two coats on most of the room and I think I have most of the problem blue/green spots hidden. It looks great to me, and that's all that really matters.

After-ish
These two photos were taken after the first coat of paint. With the lights on (and a camera flash) you see the "true color" of the paint, or at least the color that most resembles the paint swatch. I really like how the color contrasts with the woodwork. The photos don't really show the lovely sheen this paint has on my plaster walls. After using it in my bedroom, I'm really sold on Devine Colors in the Delicate Finish and, if the Mango Tango Beans isn't too bright, may just end up using it in my kitchen.


This isn't officially an after post because this room isn't done until there's some furniture in it. Right now, I'm just planning on putting my bed (duh) and a chest of drawers in there. I know I also want a nice chair and side table.
After I live in it for awhile, I'll figure out what else I want. It would be great to add a wardrobe or two, but I'm not sure they'll work with the windows and heating vent layout. The vintage light (I know, I know) needs to be swapped out for something a little less twee, but that can wait until I find the perfect fixture. Oh, and I need window treatments. Ugh. Methinks a trip to Ikea is needed pronto.