Painting the Walls & Cabinets

It was in the middle of this project that we found out that we were pregnant, which meant I had to stay away from the paint fumes, leaving my hubs to do most of that work. But I prepped the cabinets for him, washing them and taking all the hinges and knobs off.

I did some of the priming, since I was out in the open air. And I wore a bandana to be extra safe. But after doing some reading and talking to my friend Julie who is a doula, I decided to take any chances and just let Brannon do the rest.

Meanwhile, Brannon cut pieces of the foamboard insulation to fit under the cushions in the seating/sleeping area.

They had previously used fiberglass insulation, which was not nearly as efficient, and also left a nice little spot for mice to make their home. Lots of disgusting little burrowed tunnels! 

Next, I used the scraps of the foamboard insulation to stabilize the cabinets knobs so Brannon could spray paint them (I just stuck the screws in and it held perfectly - worked like a charm!). 

Then the drop cloths went down and we were ready to paint!

We decided to go with mint and white for the walls and cabinets - we thought the light colors would make the small space seem bigger and a little more open. And it looked perfect with the coral fabric we had used for the cushions.

Then the priming began! 

(I held my breath and snuck in to take a few photos. I had to be part of it somehow!)

It was about this time that I started feeling pretty nauseous and exhausted - all new feelings (ya know, first trimester stuff). It was very frustrating for me because I love doing projects like this. And I had finally finished those darn cushions - now I just wanted to paint! So I was not only struggling physically at this point, but mentally as well. To have to cave in to what I was feeling my body needed was extremely difficult, especially when we had a beautiful day with so much potential to get a project finished! 

But I listened to my body and went inside, leaving my husband to finish. My mom also stepped in and helped with painting some of the cabinets (how sweet is she?).

The colors already make it feel more open. It's lookin' pretty good!