Look, it's not really a mystery to the painter what goes into painting a new construction home. If they paint new construction homes for a living, then they know their costs and they know their labor times on what it takes to accomplish various tasks. I am pretty sure that a bare bones 2,000 square foot new construction interior with few extras will take me less than 200 hours to paint. So if the painter is charging you 15K, then he is probably shooting for $65-$75 per hour. Is that reasonable? I suppose it is, but around here new construction work is very competitive so most painters in that sector of the industry really make the least. You can easily find someone to do it for $35-$45 per hour. Also, I'm assuming that the professional painters working in new construction are spraying trim. I assume this because it's the year 2008 and there are not many painters left brushing it because it just takes longer and the trim looks much better when sprayed. That said, it takes the same amount of time for me to shoot on a coat of latex as it would to shoot on a coat of oil. If both systems are getting a primer and two coats, then the price difference between the two should be minimal if any. I'm sure there are painters out there charging more for oil, but that could also be because they just simply do not like working with it. I don't like it either, but I'm not into the whole game of nickel and diming people to death really. You are not saving yourself any time by painting the trim before installation if you are going for professional results. After the trim is installed, all the gaps get caulked and all that caulk needs to be painted. If you don't paint the caulk, it will soon collect dust and you will have black lines all over your trim where the caulk was not painted. Also, all the nail holes get filled after installation and two coats should be applied over the nail holes. No matter what, you are doing two coats after installation so painting it before it's hung really doesn't save you anything.

Unfortnantly, I have no pics. of my furniture because it is all in storage. We are in transition. The couch and chair in the living room are from crate and Barrel, it is the Lombard couch and chair in what the call cafe Noir "dark Brown". I tend to like traditional piece mixed with modern pieces. I like clean lines and simplicity. I do like color, not pastel and not in every room. I do like to have a dramatic room with some color, which was my dining room in my old house. We had it in a merlot color. Here are some colors I was thinking. Lenox Tan in the living room...with some orange and and navy highlights played off the dark furnitue...pillows,etc... Dining room I am leaning towrards chocolate brown...suggestions...The Dining room is directly across from the living room and I think it will play off nicely from one another. In the kitchen and family room combo I was thinking of using a mix of the lenox Tan and I would like to highlight the walls around the kitchen in green. I saw a color I loved but they no longer make it...deep green by ralph Lauren. Does anyone know a comprable color in BM. Here are som pics of the new home if you follow the link below. http://www.adam31.com/house/photos.html Thanks, Jill

I'm looking for a rustic look with light airy colors for the kitchen, bedroom, and bathrooms. I want the colors to flow. I like neutral and white colors. Please help!

spraying would expedite the job but, when spraying you still need to back roll. I'm assuming you have a lot of time to do this that is a big house dor one person. how about the trim and doors?