blue to gray

Our apartment.  Lech Naumovich Photography

I love to change things up, move, redecorate.  I just get antsy.  We've lived in our apartment for two years, which is the longest I've ever lived anywhere, aside from my parents' home.  With rent prices through the roof in San Francisco, moving is not an option.  Nor am I even interested in leaving our current apartment.  That leaves just minor cosmetic changes as an option.  One of the easiest and cheapest ways to make a big difference in home decor, is changing the paint color.  

With Ryan out of town on a bike touring trip, I was able to get down to business.  I already had change in motion after painting our new kitchen table yellow.  Next up was improving my counter space situation.  After weeks of full time Craigslist browsing, I finally found the kitchen cart that would essentially triple my work space.  The only catch, as usual, was I would have to pick it up.  I was also faced with the problem of having to move a large piece of furniture solo style.  

No worries, TaskRabbit to the rescue!  This was my first experience with this company, and I am a believer.  The gist: hire someone else to do your boring chores.  Everyone is reviewed by other users, so it feels safe.  I posted my task, and minutes later I had a bite.  Aldous, a TaskRabbit veteran, picked-up, delivered, and assembled my new kitchen cart.  All I had to do was chill out at home.  

That complete, I was on to the next chore.  Paint our blue kitchen gray.  I already had a painting tray, roller, and brush from previous painting adventures.  All I needed was some painter's tape and a gallon of gray paint.  I went with Gray Stone in a high gloss for easy cleaning.

We, luckily, have a toolshed in our back yard that includes a ladder.  If we didn't have access to this, I would have again turned to TaskRabbit to borrow a ladder, as the tool sharing program in the city closed to the public in 2008.

After taping around the ceiling and molding, I was ready to get painting.  My plan was to take two days to complete the job, but I was in the Friday evening, post work, zone.  I ended up finishing the whole job by midnight.  

Obligatory before and after shots:

Stella photo bomb

I think Ryan is worried to leave me alone again.  Who knows what will change the next time he's gone.

Painter's tape: $15.98

Gray paint: $32.00

TaskRabbit: $30

Kitchen cart: $125

Total:  $202.98

engagement shoot

Apparently, one of the steps to being engaged is setting up an engagement photo shoot.  Ryan's college buddy, Lech, has a photography side business, Lech Naumovich Photography.  He is so talented and very, graciously, offered to do our engagement photos.

We snapped a few silly inside shots, but wanted to spend time outside in our favorite park, and on our bikes.

 

First stop, Kite Hill.  I love this tiny park.  It offers views of Twin Peaks and the city.  You can even see the roof of our building.  The day of our shoot happened to be unusually hot in the city, but Kite Hill didn't get the message.  It was windy and chilly way up on top of the city.  So windy, that we eventually had to abandon ship, but not before we got a few great shots.

We traded wind for our next supporting character, bikes.  Even Lech was on a bike.  We rolled out to Duboce Park.  Our original plan was to head to Golden Gate Park, but it was getting late.  We needed an open sky and a close location to make the most of the fading daylight.

Lech was patient, thoughtful, and creative with our shoot.  He was happy to make stops along the way to our locations, and was ready to improvise.  If you're looking for someone to shoot your wedding or engagement pictures, Lech is definitely your guy.