Paint

When we first looked at our new house, we knew that the first order of business would involve lots of paint. The whole exterior needs to be painted, which in itself is a monumental task. 

The other monumental effort is that required to paint the inside of the house - first to remove and then to replace. 

The painted floors that we inherited are a thing of the past thankfully. All that's left to complete the floor restoration is seal them with surface finish (ram board is protecting them for now). 

We also have paint removal for the doors behind us. They were all stripped via steam bath and are ready for primer and fresh coats of paint. 

Left on the list for paint removal were the door surrounds. The surrounds see a lot of friction from doors opening and closing, and are of course prone to nicks and chips. So we wanted to not only clean them up to look nice when we paint them, but also not have to constantly be worrying about chipping lead paint. 

The job isn't easy but Mike is finding the best luck with the Silent Paint Remover. It takes him about two hours to do each doorway. 

Here's the basement door, with both the door and surround stripped. 

It's a beautiful look but we will be re-painting everything that has been stripped. 

Here's the mudroom door with the surround stripped. 

Not the most exciting images I know, but it means something very important to us - that painting the interior of the house is near.  

The west parlor is the first room we've started on. It has been completely primed and some of the walls and trim have been painted with a color we're considering: Cyprus Springs by ECOS paints. 

Our choice was bolstered by a local historian who specializes in historic home colors. After I presented her with a half dozen color swatches, she was immediately drawn to this one. She was drawn to it as it felt to her to have both cool and warm properties. 

We'll paint the entire room to get a better feel for whether this is indeed the one. 

Mr. Painter.