Laura Vegas

i've been doing some painting around the house this past week. every now and then, i just need a change. i live and work in this house, so i stare at the same walls day in and day out. i can't help but want a different color wall to stare at. lol! this time around, it was actually a change that i've been wanting to do for over a year now. just havn't made time to do it.

but here's the thing. my way of painting doesn't require a lot of time. not that taking a day to paint is really that bad. but who really has an extra day to spare, in our busy lives? i don't. there always seems to be something, or many things, going on each day. so i use little bits of time. over a few days, if needed. and it all adds up, to get the job done. and i don't feel like i've wasted an entire day painting. it's also not as exhausting 😉

so, i thought i would share how i paint. this isn't for everyone. in fact, i'm pretty sure my mom just cringes at the way i paint (just kidding mom!). she's a great painter, and does it to perfection. she even paints other people's houses. i AM her daughter. so i do actually know how to paint the correct way and the perfect way, using all the right tools. i have all the right tools out in the garage. but i choose to keep it simple and convienent.

here's my painting supplies. the size of the paint can will vary obviously, depending if i have a quart or a gallon of paint. then i have some gladware disposable storage containers. the ones here, came with the turkey meat for the girls lunches. then i have my roller. btw, please ignore the icky tile and grout that makes up my kitchen counter. lol! i hate it, and would love nothing more to change it one of these days. look at how much darker the grout on the counter is, compared to the grout on the backsplash. gross.

yes, this is my roller. isn't it adorably cute? i do all my painting with a small 4 inch roller. entire rooms, even the entire family room and playroom. i've used the regular, larger rollers many times in the past. but for the past few years, i just use this little one. it's easy to use, less clean up, requires a smaller bucket, can fit in the paint can, and gets in the corners and edges. 

first step, is to pour some paint into my "bucket". meaning the disposable storage container. lol! i've  used the larger containers in the past. but these smaller ones work just fine for me. i just hold this container in my hand, and "roll" the roller gently in there to load it with paint. i don't cover the roller in gobs of paint. just get a decent amount on there. just enough that it's not going to drip off. then i move the roller to the wall, and slowly get it started. once you know the paint is on there, you can start spreading it and rolling out any large amounts of paint. did that even make sense? lol! then i dab it back into the paint, and then on the wall. i'm not the most graceful person. but holding this container in my hand has never been a problem. i've never dropped it, or spilled. btw, this paint color isn't one that i'm using. well, it was going to be one that i used. until i rolled a large section of it on a wall, and decided it wasn't working. lol!

you might think that using a smaller roller takes longer. and maybe it does a little bit. but not a ton more time. i did above our fireplace, in about 10 minutes. a four foot wide archway (on two walls, and up to the ceiling) in about 30 minutes. above the kitchen counters, on two walls, in about 30 minutes. there was of course, some taping off and prep work, priming, and 2 coats of paint. but still not bad on the time.

what i love the most about doing it this way, is the convience of it. i can just do small sections at a time. one wall at a time, half a wall at a time. whatever works at the time. maybe i have half an hour to spare, maybe i have a few hours. the other morning, it was just me and haley here. she wanted to watch dora the explorer, and we had 10 minutes until it came on. so i told her that she could play for 10 minutes (i had played with her all morning, and i'm trying to get her to understand that she can play on her own too), and i would prime for 10 minutes. then we would watch the show. all i needed was 10 minutes, to prime half of the area by the front door that i wanted to paint later.

then, you just put the lid back on your "bucket" of paint. it's sealed up and ready to go for the next time. i don't even stir it, unless it's been sitting for a long time (like a few weeks or more). then the roller goes into a ziploc sandwich bag. the handle is still sticking out, but it's zipped up 98% of the way and folded over to seal it even more. the roller stays wet and is ready to use the next time. i keep it like this for days or more. the green roller you see a few photos up, is one that i've been using for an entire week now. not every day. but it's there and totally ready to go. i have one in a baggie for the paint and one for the primer.

and just a peek at one of the areas that i've been painting. that's the primer up there. i'm painting over the red walls. ignore the absurd amount of oak in my kitchen. and the wood colored blinds. and the tile counters. can you tell i don't like my kitchen? lol! but i'm working on some changes that i think will take the focus off the things that i can't change right now. and they all involve paint 😉