How We Saved Thousands Painting Our House

I was writing a post about boosting our curb appeal today, when all of a sudden I realized I never shared the full post on painting our house! I mentioned it in our quarterly update, but I owe you guys the full story about how we ended up saving over $6,000 on painting our house.

So, let's jump right in!

I'll never forget my brother coming to visit us right before we closed on this home. We took him over to see the house, and he looked at it and said, "Wait -- why are you buying an ugly house?" 😆😆

Nothing like the brutal honesty of siblings, #amiright?

I know that most of our friends and family who saw this house were like "wait, huh?" I get it. It was veryyyyy 1980s. The maroon trim and shutters were not doing it any favors. Even though we hated almost everything about this house, it felt like home. We knew it had potential and we were the ones to take it on. But, one of the first things we started saving for was to change the color scheme of the exterior. Thankfully, the siding was in really good shape, so I knew a good, professional paint job would really improve the aesthetics.

My photoshop skills borderline on criminal, but here's a rendition I did when we were thinking about making an offer to see what it might look like with different colors.

Being an advocate for getting multiple bids, I put my money where my mouth is and sourced 5 different estimates to paint the house -- before we even bought it! Knowing this house was going to be a fixer upper, I wanted to be sure that we had an idea of what we might spend going in. I wasn't about to get surprised with what things cost after we'd closed. We had a range of bids to paint going from $12,000-$8000.  These prices did not include replacing our gutters, which also needed to be done (previous owners had removed them at some point and didn't reattach on the original holes, so open screw holes leaked streams of water when it rained...). Obviously we initially went with the least expensive vendor, and asked him to bid adding on gutters. 

Once the price for new gutters was added in,  the total estimate for this exterior reno was closer to $9500. Yeesh. We definitely had sticker shock, and we knew going in we wouldn't be able to do everything at once. We set a goal to save and plan to re-paint by the end of 2020. 

A client of mine had recently found their own vendor for installing new gutters on their house, and the estimate they got was so reasonable I decided see if they could beat the $1500.00 estimate my painter had given me. When the guy came out, he quoted me at almost half the price of the other big (right around $800) to remove and reinstall new, extra wide gutters (an upgrade from the other bid!). Score! At the very least, I was happy to be saving $700 on new gutters, but when I mentioned we were having the house painted, he asked if he could provide an estimate on that too. I remember telling him, "sure, but I have had several quotes and I'm pretty sure I've got the best one." 

Lo and behold, a day or so later he came in with a total price for : new paint, siding repair, AND new gutters for under $6000.00 I couldn't believe it. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again.... s-h-o-p a-r-o-u-n-d. NEVER go with your first bid! It literally pays to get as many bids as possible. We saved over $6000.00 from the original bid I got (which was from my beloved and most used general contractor), and $3500.00 from the "lowest bid" we almost took. Mind blown! 

Since we also had some leftover money from an insurance claim for the leak that sprung in our living room, we had enough to do the painting right away. So, we did! And 2 months later when the weather warmed up they started work! OH yeah... it was also December when we were getting these bids, and I *reaaaaally* wonder if booking them in the winter helped me save some money even though they didn't do the work until spring.

This was how the house looked the morning the painters arrived. SO dark and drab. I was really over the maroon shutters, especially, and how they matched the brown/maroon roof.

We knew we wanted to do a blue/grey tone on the house -- we've always talked about having a blue house some day! We quickly decided on the color (Slate Tile by Sherwin Williams) was the one. It had the moody blue/grey tone we wanted, and seemed to go well with the maroon, which helped us decide if it would look okay next to our roof. Why they chose a red/brown/maroon roof over grey or black shingles I'll never understand. It's only 2 years old though, so we are making it work. 

Watching them start painting was exhilarating, terrifying, and gratifying all at once. I was so excited to see our home have new life, a new look, and really feel like ours, but I was sooo nervous that we had made the wrong choice. Seeing the blue paint against the dark trim color made me so anxious. At first I panicked, because I really didn't like it! I was terrified we'd picked the wrong color and it was too late to change it. 

See that dark yellow siding above? The painter's estimate included removing any pieces of siding that were rotted and needed to be replaced. Such a good deal! 

Seeing the garage doors go white really started to bring it to life. I love seeing this side by side of what it looked like with one door painted white and the other still beige. Such a difference!



Seeing the dark blue against the dark trim and our dark roof though had me SO anxious. I really wasn't liking it at this point and was wondering how we were going to fix it. I was even googling "can you paint a roof?" because I felt like it was bringing out the red tone so strongly.

But, thankfully, once they started doing the trim, everything just clicked. It really came to life and the redness of the roof toned down a TON. Even some of our neighbors asked us if we had done anything to the roof. Somehow the white trim just made it pop so much and really changed the tone of it. I think seeing the windows and dentil molding painted white was when I realized I had done a good job. I had picked well and it was really going to be a beautiful home! 

The last steps of the process were for them to re-hang the shutters (which they had painted Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black), and to paint the front door (Sherwin Williams Pineapple Cream). 

We really debated on what color to paint the door. We had gone back and forth about doing yellow, black, white, or red, but we decided that we would take the bold step and paint it yellow. Earlier in the week I happened to show a house with the same color scheme and seeing it all pulled together sealed the deal that it was spunky, friendly, welcoming, and us! 

And now for the finished photos... here she is in all her glory! 

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I think the best part of this huge home makeover project has been the reaction from our neighbors. Several of our neighbors stopped us in the yard to tell us how much they loved what we'd done, and thank us for making the improvement. I think that's just about the best compliment I could ever receive! Renovations are loud, noisy, and messy, and I often worry that we're disrupting the people we live by. To hear that they appreciate the work we've been doing means so much to me and is so gratifying. 

So, that's the story of how we saved a ton of money sourcing multiple bids for our house painting job. If you are local to Raleigh/Durham, we used a contractor called Hilliard Builders out of Cary. Todd Hilliard was the man, and I highly recommend him! 

My Friend, Grief.

Over the last few months, I have made a new friend called Grief. She first showed up when the midwife told me, "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat." She quickly barged into my life, inviting herself into every moment of every day. She was an overwhelming, overbearing, suffocating presence. But in time, we learned to set some boundaries. Together, we created space for Grief in my life without feeling all-consumed.

But, Grief is pushy. I have learned that when she knocks on the door, it's best to just let her in. She has things to say and she's going to make you listen. Sometimes, we'll sit together for a while before one of us will say "My, look at the time. I've got things to do." Other times, it's a quick visit, and I can move on with my day.

I've learned a good bit about Grief through the experience of having a miscarriage, and I've come to know her well. I hope this helps you get to know her better, too.


1. Grief can become a friend. 
Over time, Grief has morphed from feeling like an invader, an attacker, and a bully to feeling more like a friend with a hand resting on my shoulder. She is gently present, palpable, and -- unexpectedly-- comforting. Grief reminds me of the love I felt; that I have something to miss; that my baby Lennon was here.  Grief comes to visit much less often, now. Somedays, she still barges in unexpectedly. Somedays, I go calling for her to come over.

2. Grief will teach you. 
Grief has taught me that you never really know what others are going through. She has taught me to try to listen better, to be a better friend, to be more empathetic. Grief has emboldened me and demanded space for my feelings when I felt I couldn't. She's forced me to learn how to ask for help, how to advocate for myself, and not apologize when I have needs. She has made my worldview richer, my love deeper, and my appreciation for life stronger.

3. Grief will make you brave. 
I never knew my own strength before I met Grief. Through her, I witnessed myself suffer and persevere with a strength I didn't know I had. I have felt her fully, and I am less scared of her now. I have walked through fire with her, and she's shown me that I could do it again, if I had to. We both hope I never do.

4. Grief will bring you together, apart. 
Grief has introduced me to some of her many friends, and through her, we have become friends too. Our relationships with Grief are all different, but she unites us in a way that people who don't know Grief could not understand. In my marriage, Grief has made it clear she has a relationship with both of us, differently. She has shown us that we can visit her together, but more often than not, she wants to spend time with us alone. She visits us on different days, different times, and in different ways. Learning to know Grief together, and apart, was challenging.

5. Grief knows when you need her, before you do.
Grief knows me in a way that a friend knows me. She remembers the milestones and helps me remember too. She has the hard dates etched in her calendar and I'm sure she won't forget them. She's quietly with me, her hand on my shoulder, when we see a stroller, a butterfly, a new pregnancy announcement. Sometimes she is there waiting for me, before I even realize why.

"Welcome to your third trimester!" my email greeted me this morning. I thought I had unsubscribed from them all, but this one snuck through. An unpleasant reminder of what I already knew: Today should have been a milestone. I took a moment to let it sink in when I felt her hand on my shoulder. Once you get to know her, Grief can be a really good friend.

Powder Room Reno Pt. 4: Painting Tile Floors!

Y'ALL. I'm just going to cut right to chase here. This worked SO well. So, so, so well. It's holding up great, and I'm thrilled with how it looks. The end. If you want to know more, you can read on about how we did it, but if you're just here to know "yeah, but did it work?" Yes it did, and I'm obsessed!!

When we moved in, we had the same salmon-y colored tile floor throughout the entire kitchen and all the bathrooms in the house. They look yellow-y in the lighting of this room, but believe-you-me. They were the color of cooked salmon... a light, milky pink. No gracias.

The previous seller renovated the kitchen and baths and must have bought it all in bulk. Lovely. When we re-did the kitchen floors to hardwood, I knew I'd eventually want to get to the bathroom, but figured it would come in time. Well, the time has come and gone! We heavily debated replacing them -- even bought some sample tiles to see if we liked them better. We did love the idea of replacing the tile altogether, but the thought of adding another project onto our already long to do list was overwhelming, and it would have pushed us over budget, even with a small space.

I've already shared how we scored our $250.00 slab of granite (it's true!), and went over budget on the wallpaper because (#icantmath) so any budget we had for flooring went out the window. I had read tons of articles on painting tile floors and I figured, "what's the worst that can happen." Painting the countertops didn't work out well for me, but I wasn't ready to give up on paint just yet.

After reading over a dozen posts about painting tile floors, I decided to go with chalk paint and a heavy duty sealer. I'll link all the products we used below.

It's been about 6 weeks since we did this. We use this bathroom every day, vacuum it every week, and wear shoes in it all the time and there's not one little scratch. It's holding up super well and I am SO thrilled!

Here's how we did it:
- Clean everything with a heavy duty de-greaser. I used this product.
It doesn't say to do this, but I wiped everything down again with water, and dried it with a microfiber towel, twice. Just to be sure!

- I used a heavy grit sanding block to rough up the surface of the tile. I spent a solid 20 minutes doing this, and I think it really helped.

- Tape off all the surfaces and edges

  

- Wipe everything down with water and microfiber tile again. No hair or dust particles please!
Because the surface of my tile is glossy and polished, I used an extra adhesive bonding primer. I highly recommend this if your surface is really smooth. Even after sanding, it still felt really glossy to me. I think this primer is a big part of why it's holding up so well!

  

- Let primer fully dry -- then do a second coat. Just to be sure :)

- Then, I used a small foam roller to apply the chalk paint. I found this awesome chalk paint at my local Ace Hardware by Magnolia. You know I love me some Joanna Gaines so I was excited to use it! I bought a few different white options, but settled on the color ShipLap. Let first coat fully dry. I did 3 coats to make sure I got extra smooth coverage.

- Then, I used a chalk paint sealer. I did 3 coats with a regular paint brush (letting each one fully dry in between applications). The first picture is of me beginning to apply the chalk paint so you can see how it differs from the streaky primer. The second photo is after 3 coats.

  

- Remove tape at a 45* angle.... and voila! Painted floors. Before...

And AFTER!

- Once you are finished, I recommend waiting 24+ hours before walking on them. There's a tiny dark streak in the paint in the first tile (right above my right foot) that you can see in this pic... It's actually an indent in the paint from me walking on it too soon. I thought it was dry about 12 hours later, but because I had done so many coats, it wasn't. I realized it right away and stepped off, but that little indent will always bother me. Spenser says I have to leave it as a reminder to be patient with my projects. #lessonlearned

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Like I said, it's been 6 weeks since we've done this and we walk on it multiple times a day every day. There hasn't been any wear or tear on it at all. I will definitely be back with an update after 6 months & a year to see how it's holding up! I cannot *wait* to tackle the upstairs bathrooms and finally rid myself of the salmon tile once and for all. And guuuuys! This is my last bathroom reno update! We tackled so much in this project... and a ton of firsts for us.

- Painting existing cabinet
- Installing wallpaper for the first time
- Our first big reno fail & replacing the counter top
- And our first time painting tile flooring 

We definitely took a risk taking on some of these DIY's, but thankfully all but one turned out better than I expected (and let's be honest, the new granite is the biggest consolation prize ever. Way better than painted counters, for sure!). We've decided we're going to cool it for a bit on home projects and focus on saving up some moolah and dreaming about some bigger projects we may want to do later this year (like more landscaping and possibly a bigger bathroom remodel upstairs). I'm working on our latest quarterly update (I'm a month behind) to show our progress again, so I'll pop in now and again for stuff like that! Thanks for tagging along. 

Powder Room Reno Pt. 3: Installing Removable Wallpaper

I know I'm dragging out these powder room posts, but there really is so much to cover! In this post, I'll be going in depth about the wallpaper we chose for our bathroom, how we installed it, and my honest opinions on the product and process! It's juicy. Er, as juicy as wallpaper can be.

When I walked in the door after 10 days away in Nova Scotia, the first thing I saw when I walked in the back door was my wallpapered bathroom. In that moment, I honestly wanted to kiss my house right on the mouth. Being away for 10 days really made me appreciate how far we have come with this home, AND with this particular project. I'm just so excited with how it turned out and can't wait to walk you through it.

I have been seeing all over the internet that wallpaper is reaaaally having a comeback. It's no longer just for Grandma's house. It's chic, it's punchy, and it can add so much visual interest to an otherwise boring room.

I knew I wanted to do a wallpaper pattern on this powder room ever since we moved here. Something about the angled wall under the stairs just screamed "accent wall" to me and I knew it had to be more than paint. I was super, super inspired by this beautiful laundry room wall by Jenna Sue Design.

I absolutely loved the soft pattern of the wallpaper and the visual interest it added to a typically uninteresting room. I figured if she could do it in laundry, why couldn't I do it in my powder room?  We have an air vent in this bathroom that helps cool our entire first floor, so we are typically leaving the bathroom door wide open. Since it's going to be open most of the time, I might as well make it beautiful, right?

Since we've never installed wallpaper before, I was nervous to commit to full on glue. I have a theory now that glue wallpaper is actually EASIER to work with than the removable kind, but I'll get to that in a bit. I started hunting for a pattern similar to the Jenna Sue room and found one I really liked on WallsNeedLove.com. Our pattern is called Ida, if you're wanting to shop it!

When it came to measuring the wall to order the wallpaper rolls, I genuinely thought I did it right. I measured the height, the width, added 15% for overage in case we needed to make weird cuts (we did). And yet, somehow, we still ran short. I am notoriously bad at math, but I do think something was a little funky with how much this covered. It was a repeating pattern, and because of our angles we had to line them up in weird ways. Maybe I didn't account for that? Either way, I was several square feet short. My best advice here is to order more than you think you need, measure 3x, and don't ask me to do math, ever.

Thankfully, WallsNeedLove had awesome customer service and my extra panel arrived in 2 days! I was able to cut parts of the print to fit in the spaces we needed and fill in our gaps. You can hardly tell there are even seams unless you look really closely.

I will say, installing removable wallpaper can be a little tricky. There were some moments we got really, really frustrated because it kept sticking to itself, or the wall, or us, and it made the process take a lot longer than I think it should have. You know when you're trying to wrap something in Saran Wrap and it sticks to itself as you're stretching it out and then you have to throw the whole thing away? This kept happening to us. It was just always sticking to itself or to the wall and we kept having to stop and fix it. It slowed us down for sure and caused us to have to pause and re-set, re-position, and constantly smooth out air bubbles.

 

If we were to add wallpaper again, I am pretty confident in saying I would choose regular glue wall paper. I had a great experience using the Walls Need Love product, but I think you have a bit more flexibility with installation since it doesn't stick to itself and can be adjusted once it's laid on the wall. Lining up the pattern was also frustrating, and required a reaaaally steady hand since our pattern had so many lines. We would spent several minutes making sure one area was perfectly in line, only to step back and realize it was off in another. It just required a lot of stopping, re-starting, removing, re-applying, and so on until we got it exactly right. At one point we asked ourselves if it was worth continuing and should we just scrap the whole project, but thankfully we didn't give up! Now that it's finished, you really can't see the seams and I'm glad we spent the time making sure it looked perfect.

My best before of this angle was from before I started blogging and was just documenting on Instagram, so apologies for the caption. But wow, what a change!

This bathroom is legitimately my favorite room in our house. It feels like the most "me" project I've ever undertaken and I am so glad I decided to do the wallpaper, even if it was a P.I.T.A.!  Now that I see how great it can look, you better believe I'll be doing it again in another project! 10/10 would wallpaper again!