Painting our walls - what we've learnt so far

Last winter we were sitting in our lounge with freezing feet discussing how the next investment after the wedding will be carpet - with a seriously good thermal underlay. It also didn't help that our laminate flooring was closer to a trampoline it puckers that much.Fast forward a year and here we are, winter 2018 and charging full speed ahead on getting things done ready for carpet. We have to be honest, we underestimated the work that it would require to be ready for carpet at our place but we've gained some knowledge along the way which has made things super easy for us now.

Where we're at

Our lounge was very separated from our kitchen and the whole house felt very disjointed because it's an old villa the floor plan wasn't created to appeal to entertaining. So we ripped out a doorway to the rest of the house, extended it to create a better flow and then had the whole lounge skim coated (see what it looked like before here). We don't have the scope with what we want to do to our house to fully insulate the walls, we already have full ceiling and partial underfloor so decided it would be fine because it's not an icebox. Once the skim coating was done we took on the role of painting (for the first time) and quite honestly, did an amazing job. We've been covering the full renovation on our Youtube and Instagram.Choosing Resene was a no-brainer because of their vast colour range and they are an NZ company so there's something comforting in that too. Painting the walls, you soon get to know your house, getting close and personal with every nook and cranny. We had new lights installed by our brother in law that we picked up for a bargain from mitre 10 to match our large Chelsea light from lighting plus. We also decided while we're at it we will change out the light switches and plugs to the iconic range by PDL Schneider.

Architraves and skirtings

We hadn't realised until we started painting that the skirting boards were different in every room! Some were period style and some were small, then the architraves were the same, they had all been replaced with smaller rimu architraves so didn't suit the skirting boards. We've priced up the remainder of the house at Bunnings and it's a snip at $50 for 5.4 metres so will pick it all up this weekend.  We get MDF for the house because it looks the same and I'm not a seasoned pro so if I do muck it up we don't need to remortgage the house haha. We paint our architraves and skirtings in alabaster by Resene prior to installing them, it's much easier than having to paint them on the wall and saves the knees and arguments when one of us gets more on the walls than the skirtings!!

What we've learnt

Planning saves time

Planning saves you a world of disappointment and heartache, we recently posted a video that included how we plan before we buy the paint for our rooms. Looking through magazines of houses similar to ours and what works with their spaces certainly helps but we also have boards on Pinterest and spend hours at Resene collecting swatches to try at home. You also need to factor in the cost of rollers, drops cloths and brushes - they can build up costs fast!https://www.instagram.com/p/BkWIRWyBdXI/?hl=en&taken-by=moochstyle

Teamwork makes the dream work

Cliché yes but it's very true. We start by sorting who is doing what, I'm usually on the ladder and Georgias usually on the roller. We plan the day if its the weekend so we can factor in shooting out for supplies (coffee) and dry time between coats. There's a fair bit of me trying to convince mooch with brunch the next day to help me finish a coat (at 11pm) but in the end, it's that teamwork that gets it done and we can stand back and appreciate our efforts.

Good music goes a long way

Before you begin a large painting project like us, there are two things you need: A good playlist and a portable speaker. Wehave two UE Booms that we alternate and they are on as soon as the paint hits those trays. It often turns into a dance battle until Frankie gets too excited and tips a paint tin over.