Thoughts about painting

In no particular order.

• One of the difficulties of reducing a wardrobe to only the clothes I like is that I had to choose an outfit to paint in that I didn't like so much after all.  I sacrificed some thrice-repaired but very comfy jeans.  And some white shirts that were starting to get a tad worn.  And an old pair of winter boots that has less traction than its newer cousins.  
• A 5-gallon bucket of paint seemed like a good idea at the time, but man, it's SO heavy, and it's hard to stir if you let it sit.  
• Newspaper bags make great roller covers.   Bag up a roller that you've just finished painting with, and it's still good-to-go a week later when you start painting again.
• Damp newspaper works better than painter's tape in a lot of places.  And cheaper.  And less plastic in the world. 



Just remember to pull the paper away from the paint before the paint dries!

• Prep time is so much more consuming than paint time, and so much easier to get wrong.   I've found it helps to think of preparation work as a meditation, focusing really deeply on exactly what I'm doing at that moment.  The mindfulness is good for me, and the prep comes out much better.
• Edges, man.  Tiny paint brushes and that edging pad. Intense focus.
• I'd rather be painting like crazy with the roller than prepping to paint, anyway. 
• I'm glad I have a few months before we sell the house to do this painting, because when I start to get tired of prep, I can just STOP and leave it to a day I have more energy, instead of feeling rushed to do it wrong.  Patience is a lot easier when you can walk away from the thing that's stressing you.
• Painting the walls is so much fun that, once I get to that, I wish there were more hours in the day so that I could keep going. But, sleep.  And: but, math.



Even with the plastic and newspaper all the heck over the place,
this room looks SO much better than it did a few weeks ago.
Yeah, man.

• Painting the walls (and in the attic, the floors) makes a HUGE difference.  Like, HUGE!  The kids had really done a job on a bunch of rooms and hallways.  But for a few hundred bucks and a festivity of labor, the places are starting to look nice again.  I sort of knew it in the back of my mind, but seeing it is kind of stunning.