This past week my husband and I hired a painter to repair and paint the ceiling in a couple rooms of our home. The original estimate, (roughly $800), included just a couple of rooms. If you’ve ever had a house painted before you know that the minute you paint one room all of the other rooms begin to look quite shabby.
We painted some, but not all of the rooms in our house, when we first moved in over ten years ago. Over the years the paint has really started to fade and cracks have started to sprout where the walls and ceiling have settled.
As soon as the paint was applied I knew that this little splurge was about to turn into a big one. The previous owners painted our house in shades of beige and as soon as the yellow paint went on and the white trim started to shine I knew I was in trouble. The house immediately looked beautiful.
When my husband came home from work he couldn’t believe the difference a few coats of paint made in the overall look and feel of the house. I was not a big fan of this house when we moved in, but something about perfectly smooth walls and bright new paint now makes me smile when I walk in the door.
So… we bit the bullet and asked the painters how much it would cost to paint the remainder of our home. Moments later my husband and I held colors in one hand and a check in the other.
Over five days the crew cleaned, sanded, repaired and painted all but two rooms in our home. We excluded the nursery, which my husband painted a few weeks ago, and a tiny room we use primarily as a closet. The closet contained too much stuff to lug in and out and there was very little damage to the walls since the last time we painted, so we decided to leave it off the list.
The house looks incredible!
Could we have painted the house ourselves? Yes. Could we save a ton of money doing so? Yes. Could we do a job nearly as good as the crew of seven who took over my house this week? Definitely not.
The painters complete this work day in and day out. They are masters of their craft. They know how to smooth the cracks in our plaster walls, how to lay tape so the line between the green wall and white ceiling is absolutely flawless.
If my husband and I painted the house ourselves we would have saved a lot of money, but we would have spent a lot of time and the end result would not have been nearly as beautiful. This is one time where I can honestly say I’m glad we spent the money on a professional.
In the back of my mind I wonder if this was a nesting impulse, (the little one is less than 10 weeks away from arriving), but either way I’m unbelievably happy with our decision.
We really need to paint our house. We will be doing it ourselves to save money (and because my bf's family used to have a painting business, so he's good at it). We just haven't gotten up and actually done it yet.
I made a new blog post the other day about splurging!
A wonderful fresh canvas for a new phase in your lives together.
@Michelle Parker – A family in the painting business would save you a ton! That's a nice family perk š I've had family members offer to help us paint, but the finished product could never compare to the work of professionals.
@Jolie – That's exactly what it feels like š
In normal circumstances, I'll paint myself. But if the walls require sanding or other resurfacing, I'd probably hire someone to do that too.