The Home (hopefully) Improvement Project

From the end of July to mid August, I was working on a personal project that I really enjoyed, which was changing the look of my space. I figured, the last time I changed up anything in this space was high school (more than a decade ago), it was time. And I remember it not being a whole lot expensive to do so, just a little time consuming.

So after buying two paintbrushes (one 4 inch one and a 1 inch one) a roller, and two rolls of masking tape at Divisoria, I took the plunge of painting my room.

I knew after watching a ton of Queer Eye that I wanted to paint my walls white, and I did. My two biggest issues were my two roommates (Chibi and Chester, the bunnies) since they couldn’t be overwhelmed with the chemical smell of the paint and I don’t want them to be able to consume any of the paint or get anything dropped on them. In this aspect, I used a pet gate to separate them from the space, used Davies’s Bio Fresh paint and I painted small chunks of wall at once so as not to make the room smell too much at a time. I fortunately have a lot of windows so I opened all of them most of the week except for when I had work or was sleeping.

And as anyone will tell you, it’s not the painting that’s hard, but the putting aside stuff so it won’t get paint on them, and the laying down of paper and taping up of edges. Even with all that, my floor is a mess of paint splotches and smudges as I am not the neatest of painters.

I did finish though. Most of my space is now white (even the wood cabinets) except for one accent color wall which is a mauve gray I had to have mixed special from Boysen’s Healthy Home line of interior paint, which was more of a smell than the Davies.  I wanted a navy but I didn’t want another blue (which is the color I painted over) and I figure, now I know if I want to change it in a couple years I can.

Here’s what I spent on the renovation project:

1. 1 Swiffer (the reusable chamois version) P700 to clean the walls beforehand
2. 1 Gallon of Davies Bio Fresh Paint in Porcelain: P757
   
3. 4 paintbrushes: P329
4. Davies Wood white primer (small): P179
5. Davies 1 gallon white wood enamel P699
6. Boysen Healthy Home Mauve Gray 1 Gallon P1179
7. Blackout curtains P3780
   
8. Light clips and cable hooks P299
9. Christmas LED lights: P249
10. Masking tape: P160

All in a total of: P8331 or around $150 USD. I did realize that the curtains were the most expensive purchase but they made such a difference and with the hours I work, having extremely gloomy curtains just won’t do.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Davies Bio Fresh is less of a chemical smell than Boysen Healthy home, however it takes 2 more coats to cover the same amount of space than the Boysen, and it scratches off more easily (I learned this scratch issue when I was putting away the pet gate)
2. Old newspapers are a godsend for painting, and really helps cover spaces you don’t want to smudge paint on.
3. Take the time to clean the space first. Otherwise you’re just painting over dust and will have dust balls on your walls forever.
4. Painter’s tape can actually be more detrimental than useful if you put it on wrong and take off more paint when you take it out, it sticks so well that it can take some of the paint off with it. Regular masking tape used for school/office supplies is fine if you’re not the most skilled.
5. Rinse off paintbrushes after each use. Otherwise you’ll have to paint with a hardened mess after a day. It’s not easy (or pretty).

With how much I spent and the effort I’ve made, I’m hoping this look will last for at least 3 to 5 years, and then who knows. I really did enjoy myself, even if I may have ticked off my roommates for three weeks with all the activity, it feels like a more peaceful, restful space that I can breathe better in. And who doesn’t want that?