Over the last week we have received somewhere in the range of a dozen inches of snow. If you don’t live in a climate where you get snow, there is something to be said for how incredibly bright and fresh it makes things. The days are growing gradually shorter but now even the slightest bit of day light illuminates everything as it bounces off the snow. So as the white stuff was building up outside we moved forward with adding a little white stuff inside ourselves ??? in the form of paint.

This sounds strange but white is one of the toughest colors to pick. Choose something to warm and in certain light the whole room looks a bit pink. Choose something with too much of a blue in it and the place feels like the inside of an igloo ??? a bit cold. So after a good twenty minutes or so of studying colors under various light I maid my choice ??? Pure White from Sherwin Williams. I had intended to do the painting portion of the work myself but time is not on my side in the this effort, so we decided to hire a professional crew. Corey from Benedict and Associates told us about a good crew he had worked with on a Minneapolis condo project so we had them give us a bid. Although more expensive than doing it ourselves the price to paint and prime the whole house was good so we decided it was worth the time savings.

The painters started on Monday and by Wednesday they were completely finished priming and painting 2 coats upstairs and down. I consider myself pretty precise when it comes to painting (I get this from my mother who uses a small art brush to do edging) but watching these guys work makes you realizes how good they really are. They edged in all the windows and ceilings by hand and I couldn’t find a single spot on the windows where someone had dripped paint let along covered them. What so impressive is that they were doing it with a brush 3 times the size of the one I would have used and doing it in a fraction of the time. I have to say I’m really pleased with the quality of the work and most of all the time and effort it saved me.

The hallway before it was mudded taped and painted felt bright until the paint was added and I looked back at this picture.

Tuesday morning after the primer and first coat were on ???shield your eyes.

Willfrado our painter (facing camera) and one of his crew preparing to paint the second coat on the downstairs, Wednesday afternoon.

White walls,hite world. Looking out the downstairs living room windows to the pond.

The view from what will be the kitchen, over the bar and into the living room.

Looking up the stairs to the mid-level landing and the office.

Looking down from the mid-level landing to the front door.

Looking out the second story windows to the pond. Yes that window is broken, they’re coming to replace it early next week.

Seriously this is a shot of the deck. Corey and I worked in shifts this week to get it completed. Me in the morning before work and him during the day. We’re two boards short of completing it and then we can put the fascia board and the railing up early next week.
We got a great price on a composite decking material from Hammond window and Door (no not a relative of mine either). Once I get the snow off and the railing up I’ll post some more shots the material is great Gray color.

The outside hasn’t changed much but that looks to change early next week when the crew comes to start putting up the cement board siding.