Painting Perfection

So, after our plumbing disaster, we had to get our basement/family room walls re-done. Since we got some insurance money for the damage, I decided that I would hire out the work! Smart, eh?! It is such a large room, that I could've done it myself, but it would've been a much harder, longer lasting job than paying this neighbor, who is a painter, by the way a mere 200 bucks! I just bought the paint, tape, and caulk, and he did the hard stuff! I did learn a few tricks from him, though, like caulking around all your edges to get a smooth line! Bet you didn't know that, huh?! Well, it works, and it looks super nice.
The color is "mimosa"- whatever that means, but to me it is "creamy". Here are some befores:

This is going down our steps- I painted it a brown color this spring. You can't really see the color, but it was okay- a bit darker than I wanted, but live able.

This is right where the disaster occurred: on these two walls beside the bathroom. I tore down the wall paper myself- it came off so easily, and this was the color behind it. I patched all the holes, and am not rehanging anything.
This is just one of the paneled walls.
This is the last partial wall- the one that leads to our 4th level. Here is Al doing the paneling- you can see how fresh the new color looks. Here is Celeste keeping busy while staying out of the way: She was watching Kung Fu Panda!
They are nuts!
It worked, only Alex got his hand in wet paint, rushing to get upstairs- and practically the whole basement was wet, so that was pretty good!
And here are the finished walls: The one on the left is painted and the one on the right is the original- can you see the difference? It is slight, but so much lighter! This is going down the steps now:
The whole room is just so much more open now that it is uniform in color. I can just feel the difference in it.
I chose eggshell for the first time, and I loved it! It is very durable and washable! Love that it hides a little of the glue residue too!
Well, there you have it. I also cleaned out the toys that we have down there- and put a ton away- the ones they have outgrown. The pile is so condensed and the space is much nicer now. I just loved watching him do all the hard work- a change for sure!!