Two Gallons of Paint

We live in a really old farmhouse.  When my husband and I bought a few acres of farmland years ago, this old farmhouse came with it.  We bought the land from cousins on my father-in-law's side of the family.  My father-in-law had and my husband has lots of memories of the relatives and their families who were raised in this house.  When family members no longer had a need for the house, it was rented to other families.  If walls could talk, these would have lots of stories to tell about the people and the changes it has seen over the years.

When my husband and I retired a few years ago, we decided to move here and start our market gardening business.  We have been so busy with getting the business going that we haven't had time to do much with the house other than solving immediate problems like plumbing and re-doing the bathroom.  I painted the kitchen and a couple of the bedrooms upstairs because they were in bad shape.

This week, I finally have started on the living room.  Forty years ago, one of the "fixes" for houses which had walls made of plaster was to cover the walls with wood paneling.  That's what was done with the walls in the dining room and living room of this house.  It was probably a good solution at the time, plus, it stood up pretty well over the years with all the families who rented the house.  The paneling is very dark walnut-colored.  The rooms are small, so you get a real feeling of living in a paper bag.

Two gallons of paint - one of base coat and one of top coat, and things are looking brighter here.  It took lots of spackling to fill all the nail holes and I'm still finding a couple I missed.  The color of paint is "antique white" by Behr.  The doors and woodwork will be just plain white, when I get to them.  I'm going for a cottage garden look since we have lots of houseplants.  The room is already looking happier and I can't wait to get the dining room painted too!