Painting

After a June full of clouds and rain, August finally allowed some days of good drying weather that coincided with days I was off work, allowing me to get around to some painting I'd been waiting to do.

The first thing I painted was two small black wooden end tables the previous tenant left behind, which were structurally sound for the most part, but a bit scuffed and worn. I put two coats of high-gloss oil-based black paint on them, with the result that you can now faintly see reflections in their surfaces (they were not kidding about the "high gloss" part!). I also learned that I do not like oil-based paint, as it's formidably difficult to get out of brushes, even with paint thinner.

Next up to be painted was the front porch. Although nearly the entirety of the remainder of the house had been painted while it was vacant, the front porch was highly scuffed between the top of the steps and the door and I'd been itching to slap a good coat of paint on it ever since I moved in. (This paint was a latex-based paint and thus much easier to clean up out of the brush afterwards, thankfully.) Here you can see the two tables atop the freshly-painted deck (note the reflection in the table on the left). There's still blue tape around things because I put a second coat on right after this picture was taken.

It's been several years since I last painted something, and I'd forgotten how soothing it can be. There's something quietly satisfying about watching something be visibly improved as you paint over it, and since I still have a lot of paint left over I may go ahead and paint the fence rails on the porch too (they didn't need it like the floor did, but they'd match a little better).