You are a wonder to me. I stay home all day and don't accomplish in a week what you do in a day.
The power roller sounds great and I was looking at them a while back - but they are not worth the investment for the painting I've got in front of me. No walls, just doors and windows.
The original part of our house was built in 1945 and has been added onto - but every wall, and I mean every wall, except the bathroom, is panelling. I have already painted over it in our daughter's room and papered and painted in the kitchen. The living room and family room I will leave as is because it still look just fine - but the dining room and our room need major makeovers.
Once we finish the attic and I can get my "office" out of the dining room I will have a better perspective of what I want to do in here.
"...but every wall, and I mean every wall, except the bathroom, is panelling."
I so sympathize with you! Our house was built in 1975. It has that horrid dark brown, almost black, paneling that was in style back in the '70s in most of the house. I've painted the master bedroom and it turned out very nice - but boy did it take a bunch of paint to cover that mess! I've since learned about Stain Kilz and have used it when I've painted the paneling in other parts of the house. The paneling is so dark it still takes 2 coats of Stain Kilz and 2 coats of paint to cover it!
The worst paneling in the house is in my kitchen. It's dark, dark brown paneling and dark brown cabinets! I feel like I'm going blind in there! It's really difficult for my 46-year-old eyes to see in there at night to cook or wash dishes. If I have enough time left over this summer, I'm going to tackle it next.
I'm sort of thinking of a "granny's house" looking kitchen - sort of a collage of the '40s and '50s - with white walls, light-colored cabinets (maybe putting glass doors on some of them), some old-fashioned looking hardware for the cabinets and a white and black checkerboard-patterned vinyl floor. The countertops are stumping me, though. I'm not sure what will fit the image I'm going for. I'm leaning toward tiling them with ceramic tile - it's cheap and I can do it myself. I also want a 1950s-era chrome and formica table and chairs - hopefully in bright red! I'm looking at the flea markets and thrift stores, but I haven't found a set yet. I've got a lot of old cooking utensils, appliances, dishes, etc., from the '40s and '50s, so I think I could make it look kind of like I want it - I just have to have the time to git 'R done.
P.S.: My 6-year-old (Ethan) offered to wash dishes for me every day for 50 cents a day. I let him try it tonight and he did a surprisingly good job, so looks like he's got himself a job! :)