gray to green: 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: