Nursery: Laying the foundation...with paint

We've officially "broken ground" in the nursery! The paint has gone up! Here's what we started with: 

Lovely times...

And I should clarify, when I say "we," I don't mean "my husband and I." I mean "I did the work and my husband is married to me." In his defense, he was planning to help with the painting when he got home, but I ended up finishing the project on my own way ahead of schedule. 

I started by clearing out the room, including taking down those awful different-length curtains. 

I used Frappe by Valspar which is a delightful light grey color, with green and khaki undertones. When I'm painting by myself, I usually start by cutting in. I have painted many, many rooms, and have done my fair share of cutting in with angled brushes -- and I'm pretty darn good at it too! But, that's not to say I ever enjoyed cutting in. So, last year, I decided to give one of those cutting-in-doo-dads a try, and, well....the rest is history. I LOVE this tool. It makes cutting in SO easy, and FAST. I've had a few folks tell me that these things are a waste of money (after I've told them how much easier it makes cutting in, mind you). I usually just smile. Whatever. Some people just like to do things the hard way.

Oh, by the way, I also removed all of my outlet covers. I like to use a small piece of painter's tape over the screw, to keep it with the cover. This way, I don't have to go chasing screws later.

I finished cutting in in record time! Granted, it's not  huge room to begin with, but still. I was ahead of schedule and I like that.

And then the rest of the paint went up! And for those of you concerned about the baby boy in my belly, Valspar Ultra Premium paint (which I was using) is low VOC. I also had the windows open and a great breeze flowing through the room. If you're not sure if your paint is low VOC, it's usually listed somewhere on the paint can. You can also ask the person mixing your paint before you buy it.

I finished painting early in the evening, and waited until the following morning to do any necessary touch-ups. With our orange-peel textured walls, we usually end up with these weird spots on the wall that look like I just flicked paint onto it. And when I try to add on additional coats with my regular roller brush, the deep groves still remain unpainted. I've found that using a foam roller to do touch-ups, ensures any deep grooves in the wall texture will get thoroughly covered, so you only have to touch up once. Oh yeah.

Voila!!

Cheers!