Earsing the Past Can be Daunting

I finally tackled a project I have wanted to complete since last March when I painted our kitchen. You see, I was a bit of a novice when I painted our kitchen and did not realize I should have painted the molding BEFORE I painted the kitchen walls. It could have been easy peasy, but I sometimes like to do things the hard way. Not so.... I should have planned better.

 This is the best pic I have of the before color of the kitchen.... It was taken right after I had 10 inches cut off my hair to donate to Pantene's Great Length Program...

At any rate, when we purchased our home in May of 2008, I immediately had a love hate relationship with the very dark olive green color our kitchen was at the time; seemed more like a cave than a kitchen to me. It took me a few months to find the right paint color. Our granite countertops were very neutral with lots of creams, khakis, browns, and a bit of black specks. Therefore, I choose to paint the walls Bittersweet Stem by Sherwin Williams. After finishing two coats of primer, and two coats of paint color, I was in love with my new kitchen, and never wanted to paint again.

Then, I saw it.... The past was staring me in the eye all over the kitchen. The old owners did an awful job when it came to protecting the molding during their painting projects. Depending on where you were, you could see shades of olive green, country blue and bright yellow shining on the dingy white molding. I have quite the eye for detail which has turned into a curse at times for me. The paint “vomit” was driving me nuts, but I was a bit intimidated with taping off the molding, and repainting it. I didn't want to harm the walls that I worked so hard to paint. So I waited, and stewed, and waited some more until I could not handle it anymore......

Evidence Pic #1

Evidence Pic #2

Evidence Pic #3

Well, the wait is over. This past weekend I got the confidence to get the job done. I hit up Lowe's and purchased some Frog tape (I was giddy to try it since its praise has been all over blogland). Initially I thought about free handing my molding project, but I didn't trust that my hand could be that steady.

Anyhoo, I sanded down the parts of the molding where paint had chipped, and filled in some areas that were a bit dented with some wood filler. Then, I spent some quality time taping off the walls where the molding met the wall, and were the molding met the wood floor. It seemed like this took forever, but in all honestly, it took about 1.5 hours.

Once the tape was up, I got to painting. I used Benjamin Moore’s Decorators White in semi-gloss. I applied three coats of paint just to be sure that I was able to cover that olive green paint up. After two coats, it looked like it was covered, but I wanted to be sure because I did not want to have to do this project again.

I am allayed with the results. The molding looks so crisp and clean, and I am so happy to be rid of the past. My husband was a bit skeptical of the worthiness of this project, but once it was complete and all cleaned up, he realized that the crisp white molding was the final touch for the room. Needless to say, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief in the kitchen because I finally got this major project checked off.

Although, I think I created a bit of a monster now….. Now I keep thinking, perhaps I should repaint all of the molding in the house. Next up, the foyer and main hall walkways…..

My opinion on Frog tape…. Not sure if it is worth the extra money. All and all, I didn’t see much of a different between blue painter’s tape vs my use of Frog tape. The semi-gloss paint bleed through in about 4-5 locations on the wall that I will need to touch-up. Therefore, I am just not sure about it….