My house gets painted!!

July 1 - 12 ~ As anyone whose ever painted their home knows, the hardest part is choosing the color. I knew I wanted something in the aqua - green spectrum.

My sister and I drove through the neighborhoods in search of the right color. (Those little 1 inch square color samples are WORTHLESS.) I left notes on peoples doors and spoke to three home owners personally. Everyone was very helpful.

Here's the winning model house ~ Clary Sage (green) and Muslin (trim):



Then there was removing the plants from places they shouldn't be -- namely the wall-hugging/damaging climbing hydrangea and the overly robust wisteria. This was all done by yours truly.



July 14 - 18 ~ Combs Painting had painted the interior while I was an absentee landlord. They did such a good job that I went back to them without any searching. The crew is all Russian ~ (from left) Ivan, Alex and Vladimir, the foreman.



Day 1 - power washing. Believe me, this was a dirty, messy job. It took about six hours.

Day 2 & 3 - The generation of LP siding on my house is not hardy to the wet climate of the Pacific Northwest. But only the chimney (kept damp by the filbert trees) and a few isolated slabs needed to be replaced. Additional trim was added to the garage and front windows.



Day 4 ~ Painting! First all the windows were taped and the plants draped. (Note the missing hydrangea and the radically trimmed wisteria.)





Nothing like the Russian sense of living on the edge.



My front door was removed and taken to a shop for cut-glass windows to be installed. It was painted in Portland, so plywood was screwed to the opening while the door was gone.



Day 5 ~ Trim gets 2nd coat.



Exterior lamps are installed. This was the only sore point. The crew on hand had never installed lamps before and clearly did not know what they were doing. Between their broken English and a trip to Home Depot we managed to get the the two lamps beside the garage door installed successfully.

My brother arrived later that evening from Ojai, CA and finished the installation. In his capable and experienced hands, it was a "no brainer". We just had to come and go through the garage or back porch until the door came back from Portland.