Now that the sheetrock was done I was motivated again. Back to Home Depot I go. I bought painting sundries such as brushes, rollers, pans and sponge applicators while trying to decide on colors. Finally I decided on a colored off white primer and a light brown “adobe” color for the base. I would then sponge paint with different colors over the brown to give more texture and a warm feel to the rooms. The other colors I chose where an off white, a grey white, light purple, and plain white. All of the colors where flat except the purple which was a semi gloss.

I rented another airless paint sprayer from AAA Rental for the base coat. First I taped up all of the trim, windows, doors, and anything else I didn’t want brown and went to work. I sprayed about 10 gallons of primer covering all the walls and ceilings (except the bathroom) with two thick coats. I followed up with a coat of the adobe brown on all the walls. I figured that was a pretty good start and let it sit for the rest of the week with the windows open.

The next paint phase was the ceilings. With the skip trowel/knock down technique that the sheet rock people used I ended up using three coats of paint to make it look right. I really liked the effect but it took three gallons more paint than I had anticipated. At $22/gallon it pretty much blew my paint budget.

I started the sponge paint in the living/dining area. The first layer was the grey white color. Then the purple followed by the off white. It gave the room a very cozy, warm feel that I think was well worth the effort. If you have ever sponge painted you understand what I mean by effort.

In the first bedroom I just used the purple for the sponge painting. It kept the room a bit dark but since that room had two windows I thought it was a good balance.

The second bedroom I used the gray white and the off white. Since this one only had one window I wanted to make it a little brighter. I also used this room as the main bedroom so thought it would better suit a grown up while the other would be for the child.

The kitchen had a large window and the back door on the sun facing wall. I was tempted to use darker colors but in the end I chose just the off white for the sponge color there. My wife suggested that it would make the room feel larger and since she is a decorating guru, I followed her advice. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have waited to paint. But as they say hind site is always 20-20.