Taming the Monster

No, I'm not talking about my hair this morning.  And I'm not talking about cleaning Alli's eternally messy room despite her vast organization and storage options.  And I'm definitely not talking about teaching my little Panda to sit-stay either.  That'll be the day.

I'm talking about repainting the kitchen.  Cue horrified scream.

I think this is from the movie Psycho?  Let me know if you know.  Picture from here.

Why does this task conjure such horror?  Let's dive in.

1. The kitchen is presently dark, dark purple.  I love purple.  Painting over purple is almost like painting over teal, while not quite as bad as painting over pink.  It's just great color.  We've had some good meals, great gatherings, and lots of fun in the purple kitchen.  I hate to see it go.
2. The kitchen is presently dark, dark purple.  Purple is a hard color to paint over.  This paint job originally took one coat of primer and three coats of paint.  That's four total coats of paint for you non-mathematicians.  It's now going to be the same Lotus Leaf by Behr Ultra as the living room (a few samples of that paint color here).  That's a medium bluish-green grey.  Not sure how many coats it's going to take to cover a plum purple.
3. It took 4 coats last time - and it wasn't easy.  With all of the cabinets, windows, doorways, and the fridge to paint behind, no kitchen painting undertaking is ever pleasant.  We chronic painters love a good bedroom or a hallway.  But bathrooms and kitchens strike fear in our hearts.  All of that cutting in. Shudder.
4. I'm going it alone.  Ryan's gone today to an ultimate frisbee tournament.  I know.  But anyway, he's gone to that.  Even if he were here, he wouldn't be a huge help.  While an excellent roller, Ryan is no ace at cutting.  There's only really two or three half-walls to roll - the rest is cutting.  All me.

I got the bottom half cut last night, but that was the easy part.  Now comes the part where I balance on the counter, reach over the cabinets, and yank the fridge out and crawl behind it.  So say your prayers to patron saint of paint, and maybe I'll have some super pics for you later.  Until then - think of me often.