I’m stopping in today to share a few photos of the basement so far. We’ve been painting and painting and painting. And we’re still not done.

I will say that the white paint is so fresh and bright and clean. Yes, please! It makes me feel all energized and relaxed at the same time. But, I haven’t been very relaxed while actually painting.

Because…. apparently, white paint doesn’t cover that well.

Go figure, right?

I thought we’d need two coats, because it seems like everything needs two coats to really look nice…but, we’re not two coats in and going to have to do a third one. I’ve NEVER needed three coats to paint a room before. But, then again, I’ve never painted a room white before.

I thought the walls were pretty light before (a pinky sort of beige?) but apparently, they were darker than I thought. At least when compared to white. Imagine if we were painting over blue or brown or…black! Goodness gracious. That would have taken ten coats.

Another tip, when painting a big room (this room is huge) just get the big 5-gallon bucket. Also, get the paint plus primer. Thank goodness we’re doing that. I can only imagine how many coats we’d need without the paint plus primer. Yikes.

So, yea.

I realize in these photos, the walls actually probably look pretty finished, but trust us. In person, it’s still splotchy. Especially where we had to cut in with the brush.

We also have to repaint one of the walls (that faces the stairway) the gray of our living room since it goes all the way up there and I don’t want to repaint that one white. These are leftover touch-ups needed from the ceiling repair.

Also, I’m currently struggling with what to do about the mantle. It’s pretty washed out since the walls are white. I actually like the way the white trim matches the white walls, and there will be curtains on the windows anyway, so I’m not worried about the windows looking washed out, but something is bugging me about the mantle. Wyatt wants to build a new one, so maybe we’ll do a wood one, (whitewashed to match the counter tops that are going on the built in cabinets, maybe?)

Or paint it gray? Black? Another color? Maybe I need to whitewash the bricks lighter so they don’t stand out as much? (We already have a plan to make the fireplace less of a black hole.)

Maybe just add some art above it and some decor items? Maybe some sort of garland or…greenery?

I’m not sure. And I’m open to suggestions, so feel free to weigh in!