Megan, you asked who we used to paint our place, and rather than email you the info, I thought I’d post it as a blog entry because I’d love to recommend our painters to everyone. We used Heffernan Painting Services in Evanston; the same painters we used eleven years ago (!!) when we first moved in and painted the bedrooms upstairs.
Heffernan and company are great. Their work is first-rate, with super attention to detail. They were prompt, finished the job in less time than originally thought possible (a good thing, since we were going into a holiday weekend), and they left the place in great condition (no mess). In fact they cleaned up considerably at the end of each day, so I was living with as little mess as possible throughout the process.
Heffernan’s is currently offering a one hour color consultation, which I highly recommend as well. Julie zeroed in on the perfect color combination, with suggestions for where the different color schemes should begin and end, kind of tricky in our place which is an open layout with odd flow issues. She also gave us some good ideas for accent walls and window treatments.
In this photos, there are actually two colors: the tan color heading up the stairway to the second floor hallway and the green, as an accent wall in the dining area. The green is also in the kitchen and around the column that divides the kitchen and entry hall from the rest of the first floor.
You can see the two colors better in the photo on the right. The white on the bookcase that we built out under the pass-through counter to the kitchen really pops now and sets off the stone on the countertop. We had them seal the stair rail with a natural stain. The gray carpet on the stairs and second floor doesn’t look nearly as bad now and I think I can most definitely live with it for another ten years before we finally get around to ripping it all up and replacing it with hard wood floor.
I’m taking my time moving back in, doing a thorough cleaning, de-cluttering and reorganization. I have to admit, I’ve kind of enjoyed living in a very stripped down, clean and open space this past week. The place seems so much bigger and I feel calmer when there’s not a lot of crap everywhere.
(P.S. Megan, if Heffernan sounds familiar, yes, it’s that Heffernan, from the video store oh-so-long ago.)
2 Things @ Once 
Great, thanks for the info. I do remember them and it’s great that they’ve been in business for so long. Everyone seems to love them on Angie’s List, too! We’ll definitely be giving them a call! Painting is one of those things that I’d much rather pay someone to do!
I love it!
Looks Fabulous! And I agree with the de-clutter idea – I’ve been thinking that that will make me feel better also!