Minor Makeover: Home Edition

I've wanted to paint our hallway since we moved into this house six years ago. Six. Friggin'. Years. Can you believe it? Me either.

At first I didn't know what color I wanted to paint. Green? Too splashy. White? Too boring. Then I decided on gray--a nice, neutral gray. But I wanted a dark gray, not a light gray. And we all know we shouldn't paint small spaces with dark colors. It's a home decorating no-no. So I didn't paint.

Then we remodeled our living room. Then I went to school. Then I went to work. Things like painting the hallway got put on the back burner. The wayback burner. But going into this summer, one of the projects at the top of my list was painting the hallway.

But still there was the shade problem. I had talked to my friend Amanda about it, and she said something to the effect of, "Do you WANT to paint the hallway a light gray?"

"No," I replied.

"Then don't."

Oh. Okay.

So I painted it a dark gray.

Before:

The view from the dining room toward the bathroom door. My bedroom door is on the right. You really can't tell in this picture, but the wall is ugly, old, and dirty.

Moving left. This is Noah's door (with stickers).

Still moving left. The view from the bathroom toward the living room. The stairs to the girls' room is on the right.

The thing about the hallway going unpainted for so long was that I had begun to overlook several blemishes, like the one below. I'd just gotten used to them over time.

But no more!

The picture above probably shows the color the best.

This part of the hallway was the part I was most worried about. This strip of wall is about one inch wide. How the heck was I going to paint that? The answer: patience and a good paintbrush. I have an aversion to taping, so I've just gotten really good at cutting in. This--and the brown accent wall in the living room--are my Sistine Chapels of cutting in.

The only downside to painting the hallway is that I now must paint the trim. As you can see, it's a mix of colors ranging from really old yellowing trim to 6-year-old primer. At some point, it will all be the color of the trim in the living room. But it's going to have to wait. Painting trim is a weekend job. The next summer project is...

...the kitchen.