Guest-O-Rama!

The past week has been mostly focused on the guest room. We have a crapload of boxes sitting in the family room that belong in there, so we had to buckle down and bust it out. Like a lot of the rooms, we didn't get a true "before" picture. This is the next best thing:

 

The prep work had obviously be started at this point, but you can see the beautiful shade I not so lovingly refer to as "poop brown". Not only is the color too dark for my taste, the paint job isn't so great and the paint isn't wearing well. Not a good combination.

The first thing we did was rip up the carpet. It was very old and very discolored around the edges. Ripping out carpet is so easy, and we saved $250 doing it ourselves. All you have to do is pull up the edge of the carpet with a pair of pliers.

 

 

Then take a utility knife with fresh blades and slice.

 

And keep on going. 

Then you roll it on up. Seriously. Thats it.

 

Next we filled in the holes from pictures and curtains that were hung. I used to be so intimidated by spackle. There are approximately 1.2 million different spackles to choose from at Home Depot (this miiight be a slight exaggeration). Finally, I found one that super easy to use. Behold, Dap CrackShot.

 

 

 

 



This stuff is awesome and so easy to use. In fact, its so easy, a two year old can do it!

 

 

 

 

This also miiight be a slight exaggeration. In all seriousness, its almost that easy. You get a grape sized glob on your spackle knife, smoosh it into the hole, and pat it down so its flat-ish. Don't scrape it hard in there, but put a little pressure. Once it dries, go back in and sand it down a little with 100 grit sandpaper. Done and done!

Last of all of the prep work, I primed. Since this lovely poop brown hue is so dark, it was necessary. Primer is cheaper than paint (by far), so keep that in mind when you are tempted to cut corners. Cutting corners never works out. I promise. I've tried. I used good old fashioned Kilz Primer.

Finally, it was paint time. I chose Benjamin Moore Regal Matte in Edgecomb Gray. Its an awesome gray-ish taupe-ish beige-ish color depending on the light. Its amazing.

Here's the before, one more time:

And the after:

 

Its hard to get a good picture with this color so it reads right through the lens. Even so, isn't it soo much lighter and brighter? I feel like I can finally breathe in there.