Look What Happens When You Slap Some Paint On It ....

Since we're out of town for a bit, I thought I'd share some more 'house' with you. See, sometimes the biggest changes are made with a can of paint and an idea …

That’s what Casa Bob y Carlos looked like the day we moved it. I loved all the trees, though I’ve come to hate all the leaves, but I wasn’t keen on the color; a little too battleship blue-gray for me. So, we switched it up, and went showy, with a nice greenish-yellow for the body of the house and a splash of red on the inside of the front porch, and on the outside of the sunroom out back.

We used to tell people we lived in the blue house, now we just say ‘Look for the red porch.’

Take a small tour, after the jump …

Next up was the kitchen. I swear to the Baby Jeebus, I walked in, saw the navy blue sponge-painted walls and did not turn and run. I just picked up a crow bar, ripped down some chair rail, and the ordered some paint for the cabinets and the walls and suddenly the kitchen is a very cheery spot.

In the dining room, I opted to change the Hannibal Lecter Flesh Colored walls, and definitely was not going with red; there are far too many red dining rooms. So, I went blue, and chose a matte and satin finish in the same color and painted stripes on the walls. I also painted the area below the chair rail the same color as the trim to make an impact. I loved it, then we had dinner in it and all I could think was … baby’s room. Seriously, throw in a crib and it was like eating in a nursery. So, I went back to the pain store and chose a deep forest cheese, in  matte and satin finishes and repainted the entire room, though I kept the stripe effect. Much better.

In the living room I took down the chair rail—the previous owner painted the wall above the rail baby blue, and then did some kind of striation technique below the rail that looked like a broom dipped in a darker shade of blue and then dragged down the wall. All the trim was painted white, and the room has three gray wall, and one slate wall. I also painted an ivory stripe just below the crown molding and just above the baseboards to give them some more impact. Plus the change to white trim really makes the French doors to the sunroom standout, and the wet bar—yes, a wet bar because it’s 1971—was stripped of the moldings on the doors and drawers, given a fresh coat of paint and new hardware.

The sunroom was Palm Tree Wallpaper—I know!—and rough wood paneled ceilings; Carlos picked a Butter Yellow for the walls, and I used blue on the ceiling to make it more Sunny Room.

The foyer was red, drab, dull red, and one night, while having dinner at Bill and Michael’s house, I fell in love with their dark dark blue dining room. Since I’d already painted and repainted our dining room, I decided to use that color in our foyer. I love how dark it is, and with a new light fixture it’s a much better entrance. I also took the old desk we had in the flesh and blue dining room, repainted it with the color of the kitchen cabinets, added some touches of gold, and it fits right into the foyer.

The half bath was more than paint; it was ripping out old sink, vanity, toilet, light. It was replacing the floor, putting in new tile, new pedestal sink, and a new toilet. Carlos was given an old horizontal mirror and we repainted it an odd green, hung it perpendicular and it fits nicely. I also striped this room, after painting the alls a deep charcoal gray, with a lighter gay, much like a man’s pinstriped suit. I like it; much less country and much more fabulous.

So, we’ve done a few remodeling projects, but the biggest changes to the house are done with paint. There’s still the Jack-and-Jill bathroom between the office and the guest room, the master bathroom—that will be a project—and the office and master bedroom to paint.

Then, I think like they do when they've finished painting the Golden Gate Bridge, I’ll return to the first project and start over.

It’s never-ending!