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Walls, Ceilings, and now THE FLOORS!

I have despised the cracking dirty red cement floors in our house since moving in. So you cannot believe how EXCITED I was to Finally get them painted! What color? Well high gloss black of course! :)

I love how the floors turned out. It really changes the whole place so dramatically and just smoothes over all the mess that lies underneath it! It feels like a fresh start. But of course, this was no quick and easy task. Watch how we did it.

First I wanted to paint the base boards from black to white. This will keep the walls looking taller with a nice separation to the striking black floor. Also, it is a little more customary back in the US to have the baseboards white, yet in Rwanda, they usually are black. I keep trying to bring "new" ideas here, or just add some American flavor to a home that is otherwise very clearly Rwandan.


First coat, Second coat!


Now for the good stuff! When painting the floor, nothing can stay in the house. Nothing. 


It looked like we were getting evicted! (I guess, not that we have That much though.)


Just as our house was getting good and homey... we rip everything out and stick it on the front deck!  


As they just barely got started, I could imagine how amazing this was going to be. The black looked so new and clean and better than before! Look at that contrast! 


Here we go! 



Engulfed with paint! 


Ahhh! :)


YESSSSSS!


Then the bedroom. Now EVERYTHING went outside. Bed, mattresses, fridge, everything. 


Can you see? Far away behind the farm you can just barely see our house, but mostly it's hidden by everything we own in front of it in the lawn!


So it's painted... and now it has to dry. Patrick and I went away to Kigali for the weekend to let it dry, but our stuff stayed out in the lawn! What a stressful time. There was a guard on duty watching our things. Thank God it didn't rain! 

I'll end with my favorite shot. Patrick from maintenance sent me this so I wouldn't worry while we were away. The fridge remained plugged in, so our food all stayed too. Also, those puppy prints in the foreground are permanent now. I'm ok with it. :)


Black floors, woooooo!!!

Love,
Teri

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