Victorian Folk Fixer-upper

Well, I finally broke down and started painting some of the trim white. I started with the door to the basement, because the finish wasn't in the best shape and all of the rest of the original trim was missing from the kitchen when we bought it anyway. We replaced it with white, and now that the kitchen is black and white with maple flooring, the dark wood trim of the door stuck out like a sore thumb!

So I sucked it up and went to Sherwin-Williams, which, by the way, is now my favorite place ever. Their employees actually know about their products- unlike at Lowe's, where I've had people try to sell me things that I KNEW were not the right products for my needs. They also had a color wheel that I could buy for $10, so now I have EVERY PAINT COLOR SAMPLE in one place. They used to be all over the house! And as if that wasn't enough, their high adhesion primer and trim paint are both the best paints I've ever used!

I think people of our generation have the wrong impression of Sherwin-Williams. We think it's for our parents' generation- for people who don't know how to research things on the internet. We don't need customer service, because we already know everything! Well, if you've ever looked up stuff about paint on the internet, you'll know that pretty much everyone has a different opinion about how things should be done. Anyhow, I remembered Sherwin-Williams as "that wallpaper place." When I was about 10, my parents redid our bathroom and let ME choose the wallpaper. I remember sitting in a pile of sample books from SW, feeling SO empowered. And I think this is where my love for wallpaper truly began. Of course, over the years, I realized how "old fashioned" it was and grew to hate it, especially when scraping 110 years worth/6 layers off off the walls of every room of a 5 bedroom house. Then I discovered DAMASK. And Amy Butler. And now I LOVE wallpaper again. And I have my own house, so it's even more empowering. Hopefully this time I won't choose anything as hideous as what I chose for the family bathroom, though... it was a shimmery white/silver background with maroon and black brushstrokes every 6 inches or so. It was so futuristic for the early 90s!

(As I side note, sometimes I totally wish I had gone into interior design. I would now, but I CAN'T DRAW at all. This saddens me. I wonder if there's any software out there that could compensate for this. Dusin had me attempt to draw our porch how I imagined it with the glider and rocking chairs and pillows, and he said I ended up doing a pretty decent job... but I don't know if he was just humoring me or not. He's far too nice for me to ever know for sure!)

Anyway, SW still carries wallpaper. I look at the samples in their books, then order what I want from a website for HALF the price. Awesome. And their paint is pretty pricy (I think the trim paint was $50 for a gallon,) but it's definitely worth it to not be cursing during the whole job... like the time I painted the trim in the attic with DUTCH BOY. *shudder*

We started to prime the dining room trim, but I don't want to spoil the surprise by posting crappy photos of the primer. I'm going to wait until the wallpaper (black and silver damask! Be still, my heart!) is up before posting photos of that room. For now, here is the basement door after one coat of high adhesion primer and one coat of self-leveling latex trim paint. I need to find a "before" photo somewhere...



Thanks to those of you who take the time to read this! Feel free to comment if you have any suggestions!