Textured Paint: Do Not Try This at Home

While I love our home for all that we've accomplished since we've been here, there's one room I can't stand to look at anymore, and unfortunately it's one of the rooms in which I probably spend the most time -- our Kitchen.

Our home's previous owners apparently had an affinity for texture, because they took it upon themselves to add a sand texture finish to the kitchen walls, which looks like stucco gone horribly wrong.


As if texture weren't enough, they painted the kitchen walls a semi-gloss mint green! It was awful. One of our first painting projects was in the kitchen, where we took the texture down a notch by painting the walls using a flat, light cream paint. But now with new hardwood flooring installed and a DIY kitchen cabinet makeover on the horizon, the time has come to get rid of the textured walls once and for all.

We're Bringing in the Professionals
I'm all for DIY home improvement projects (obviously!) but we're hiring professionals for this job. The painters are going to sand down the texture and then skim out the walls with a drywall compound until the walls are smooth. Then they'll apply a coat of primer and two coats of eggshell paint to seal everything in.

How to Prep for a Big Sanding Project
Thanks to our previously-leaky bay window, we have a lot of experience with sanding in the home. Nothing gets into every nook and cranny like sanding dust, so if you have a big sanding project to do at some point, I highly recommend the following:

1. Move everything that can be moved. From kitchen tables and chairs, rugs, home accessories, sofa cushions, and dishes, to cabinet contents, window treatments, lamps, books, small appliances, etc., move all of these items to another area. Displacing as much as you can will save you some vacuuming and dusting. Because believe me, you'll have plenty of that to do once the project is complete.

2. Drop cloth what's left behind. What can't be moved should be covered with drop cloths (plastic or fabric) before the work begins. Ideally this will keep dust from settling into what must remain in and around the project zone, but don't bank on it. Drop cloths will protect your large sofa or dining table, but be prepared to vacuum/wipe these things down once the project is complete.

Image courtesy of ApartmentTherapy.com

I just can't wait to see final result -- all the moving, cleaning, and reorganizing will be so worth it once we have banished the most noticeable mark left by our home's previous owners. Our kitchen will have fresh, smooth walls again! There's nothing like a clean slate for an upcoming project!