After taking home a few samples and holding it up onto the wall, testing it with both artificial and natural light, we found the perfect colour in Blue Dusk. The next day, we bought 2 large cans of paint together with all the appropriate equipment for the task at hand. Painting rollers, a sanding machine, a tray, tape and lots of plastic covering. We surveyed how much it was to hire someone to do this professionally, and it was too expensive. So we were up for the challenge. How hard could it be anyway, right?
It turned out to be so extremely exhausting. Big appreciation to professional decorators who do this everyday because it was so physically taxing. It wasnt the actual painting itself, it was more the preparation leading up to painting. First, one must clean the wall, then sand it, fill up any holes with putter, followed by taping all the edges and sockets, then making sure the floor is well protected from potential spillage. Prepping the four walls of the living room took the whole day. And by the end of it, we had zero energy to actually paint.
Painting itself was actually therapeutic and fairly quick. I loved watching the yellow fade away under the gorgeous blue. It was very satisfying. We initially thought it would take 3 coats maximum. But after the third coat dried, there were still very visible uneven patches on the walls. In the end, it took a grand total of 5 coats to complete the transformation. FIVE. If I had realised how much bicep work was involved to achieve this depth in colour, I would have invested in more expensive, higher quality paint. Maybe it would have achieved the same sheen in less coats.
But I have to say, that at the end of the day, it was all worth it. I walk in the house everyday and instantly become calm. The shade of the walls just manages to wrap warmth around you and offers a sense of security and stillness. The colour is not bright and in your face. It accompanies you but does not shout at you and its a perfect backdrop for our art pieces. Basically, I love it. The living room is my favourite room in the apartment.
It was also the first room we finished decorating and it was the first room we slept in on our first official moving in day. Coming from a tiny studio, the thought of sleeping in a separate bedroom (a room made just for sleeping) was something we had to slowly get used to. So instead, we transitioned by sleeping on the sofa bed for the first week. At least the kitchen could still be visualised from the where we laid our heads down at night. The familiarity gave us a sense of security.
We have since moved in to our bedroom for rest. But the living room remains the room we spend most of our days in. It was the first room we made with our own unexperienced hands and without a doubt, it is special. Many memories were made there, and inshaAllah many more are still yet to come.
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