Operation Wacky Tobacky - Phase 1

Okay, it's time to let you in on our house's dirty secret.  The previous owners of our house were hard core smokers, and our house shows the signs, be it the kajillion (slight exaggeration) cigarette butts found in our flower beds (eeew!), the cigarette pack foils found in our fireplace ash trap, and of course the stale smoke smell that used to hang in our house even after steam cleaning the carpets and washing the curtains... While all those items have already been addressed, the biggest consequence of the previous owners bad habits was staring us in the face, every.single.day and it was disgusterous...... the walls.  Enter exhibit A, the original wall colour we found lurking behind our switch and plug plates, our walls had come a long way (in the wrong direction) from the original off white colour- yeah, eeew right?!

Before we moved into the house we had managed to tackle the bedroom walls and give them a good lick of paint, but the rest of the upper floor never was dealt with.  However, after a year and a half of staring at the grimy, glossy walls (and ceilings!) we decided enough was enough it was time to tackle the beast of a job, and get 'er done already.

Bleh, just looking at those old dirty, banged up, shiny, yellow walls gives me the heebie geebies! 

due to the heights and awkward navigation that would be required, I got quotes for having the painting dome by pro's but when they came in ~2k, we decided to tackle it ourselves.

So, over the weekend H and I kicked off what I've dubbed Operation Wacky Tobacky. Because of our open plan concept of our living space, we decided that to make this big job manageable, and not to live in total chaos (again), that we would break it up into three chunks.  Although this will mean that we have to switch between primer and paint several time, it would allow us to "rest" between stages as needed in a house that was not a total gong show!

Walls: BM "Winds Breath" a light warm grey

Hall/Entry Ceiling + Living/Dining  Beams : BM "Chantilly Lace" our go to white 

Hmm, clear as mud?  Let's take a look at where we are going to start, shall we?

Phase 1

The Hallway and Split Level Entry:

Currently, oil based gloss paint on walls and ceiling, which means we will need to be primed (to block tobacco stains etc as well as to give a good base for the new latex paint to adhere to) and then painted.

So, we dragged everything away from the living room wall that ties into the hallway and started prepping the walls.  Seeing our living room look like this again was enough to light the fire under our butts, and mutually commit to getting the Phase 1 walls done by the end of the weekend (yes, note our fat screen and stunning TV stand- tres chic no?!).

Our awesome-sauce 21ft Cosco ladder that we picked up at Costco a few months ago was perfect for giving us easy and stable access to the top of the cathedral ceiling in the living room, as well as the ceiling and walls in the entry. 

 

Over the weekend, the two of us powered through and managed to finish two top coats in the hallway and living wall, and 1 top coat in the entry (plus took advantage of the daylight to put up our outdoor Christmas lights, do errands, and hang out with friend and family!). 

Now, here is where I would show you the awesome afters, with the light and bright new colour, but the dark evenings mean that I have yet to see them in daylight myself!  And... phase 1 is not over yet,  we still need to paint the ceilings, and most likely have to do a second coat in the entry... wump wump wuuuummp, so, while we prepare to work ourselves up for the ladder acrobatics that are involved with the painting of our entry, I'll have to leave off with these progress shots.

Coat #2 of the walls in progress: early evenings + no over head lights = painting by work lamp!  already a vast improvement, I can't wait to see how the finished ceiling will further help brighten up things.  

 

 

Coat #2 on the living wall completed, and the frog tape kept all the ceiling wood clean.  Yay, for avoiding ceiling scraping!  Look at the colour difference between the grey and the old paint on the bulkhead just in view of the "after"!