I've been planning to paint my walls white since before my house even arrived. I actually had planned to do that in the first few days after it arrived and before moving anything in. But then my house arrived and I got my first lesson in the fact that propane appliances, including heater, may require electricity to run at all. Because it was the start of winter and below freezing, I couldn't really paint until the heat was up and running. And by that time, I needed to move in because my lease was up on my temporary place.
Then it was winter and due to condensation, painting damp wood seemed like a bad idea. Then it was summer, and I was so busy with gardening, hiking, and working, that painting just never happened. And then it was winter again, and the dampness returned about the time I got more free time, so no painting again. Then I got my wood stove. No more condensation. None at all. All the wood in my house including around the windows, is totally dry to the touch. Hey, it's winter, I have a little more free time than summer, and I have dry wood to paint now. So I got started today.
I know it's not what everyone likes, but I love plain white walls. They make my surroundings feel clean, bright, open, and calm. Some have told me not to paint my beautiful wood, and while I love wood, my house has so much of it, that I really would like some variety. Plus, every time I see photos of any house and instantly think, "I like that one!" it's always a color scheme that is mostly white with natural wood accents. And I've thought this for years now. But still, just to be sure I wouldn't dislike my choice, I thought I'd paint my little bathroom first. Giving me the opportunity to change my mind and not paint any of the rest of the house if I didn't like the results.
But I love the results! I just wish I'd made the time to do this earlier. I thought I'd leave all the window and door frames natural, but I like this white so well, I'm wondering if I'll just paint them too. For sure I plan to leave the ceiling as natural wood. And the floor will be staying the natural cork color, so there will still be plenty of natural wood colors either way.
The new color makes everything look brighter and fresh I think.
Now before you get worried about me painting inside in the winter, dry wood or not, you should know something about this paint. It's totally chemical free and has no toxic odors or anything. I used it in the past in another house I lived in and loved it. I'm actually using paint leftover from that job now. Almost 6 years later, the paint still seems to be just fine. Which is great since this stuff is kinda expensive, though totally worth it.
I've never done much painting, but I quickly realized that taping everything I didn't want to paint took more time than the actual painting.
I am just using a single coat and thinning the paint with a 50/50 mix of paint and water. This leaves all the wood grain showing through as you can see here. And I really like it. I have to work the next few days, but hopefully I can do the rest of the house soon. I just have to decide how much of it I want to turn white.....
And P.S., a side benefit of having a composting toilet? When you want to paint your bathroom, you can just pick it up and set it in the living room so it's out of the way. And even use it right there when you need to!
