Step 2... part 1

As you may recall in Step 1, the biggest two problems in my house were dirt (I really, really believe these people didn't own soap!) and the overwhelming smell of stale cigarette smoke from 27 years of heavy smokers living in the place. Step 1 was to remove the carpet (and subsequently refinish the hardwood floors to a beautiful reddish color that makes my heart jump each time I look at it!)

Step 2 proved to be just as difficult... we had to paint every single paint-able surface in the entire house. You might think that might not be so bad, but you would be wrong. I thought refinishing the floors would be the hard part, but painting 6 rooms with dirty, nasty walls is just as hard!

The first step of step 2: removing the dirt.

Just in case you forgot how disgusting the place really was...
The dining room, which was easily the most disgusting room in the house due to the smoke and tar EVERYWHERE. It was gross. Even the curtain was gray!


One of the light switches. How do you get LIGHT SWITCHES dirty? Every single one has to be replaced because they are impossible to clean...


The office... formerly the kids room...


The walls in the bathroom. GROSS. Luckily, this came right off with bleach!


The ceilings... can you see all the dust and dirt? The ceiling under the light is BROWN.


We began in the living room, washing down the walls first with vinegar and water and then in some areas with beach, just to try to get some of the stains out. I tried to remove from of the dust and dirt from the ceilings as well, without much luck. The water was dirty, and so were the walls...

Then we began to primer. Almost every room needed 2 coats of Kilz primer, and the ceilings got a coat as well. That was the worst! 9 foot high popcorn ceilings are hell to paint when you are only 5 feet tall! Even with a long pole, I was still standing on the tips of my toes and barely reaching. We had paint EVERYWHERE- in our hair, on our hands, on our clothes, on our faces... I really think I could have done without that experience. When my dad finally made his way down to help, he managed to paint the ceilings in 4/6 rooms in less than an hour. I wanted to kill him.

However, just a coat or two of primer made SUCH a difference in the house! I was amazed, and disgusted at the same time!

The corner of the bedroom, after 1 coat of primer... it desperately needed 2...


My poor mother, attempting to put a coat of primer on the ceiling in the bedroom...


The living room, with 1 coat of primer... it was probably the cleanest room in the house.


The front door... I am absolutely disgusted by how white the walls are and how dirty yellow the door and trim are...


The rest of the living room, including the front window. The ONLY reason the windows are white is because the appraiser required the previous occupants to repaint around the windows due to the chipping paint. I wish he wouldn't have...


The dining room got gray primer, as the walls were going to be a dark color. If I hadn't already bought the paint, they may have stayed gray cause I LOVED the gray walls!






As of the writing of this post, 4/6 rooms are completely painted and finished. 1 room is 95% done, and 1 room doesn't even have a coat of primer... which I am hoping I can change this weekend, but am not looking forward to...

Since this post is so long, I'm going to break it into 2 posts... so stay tuned for step 2, part 2: adding color!!! :-) It was definitely my favorite part of painting!