apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I last painted my living room and hall 3 years ago - and although I still love the color it might soon be time to repaint just because of the inevitable scuffs and scrapes...

...but the kitchen is another story altogether - It's been over 10 years and it needs it far, far worse than any other room in the apartment - particularly the chipped cabinets: I didn't use the right paint and don't have handles so the door/drawer edges began chipping within weeks of finishing the paintjob all those years ago. What I'm going to need for that job is a good sander with dozens of pads and a drill template for when I make holes in all those doors and drawers...

I'd love to see the painted fish in your bathroom. Please do a post on this!

Me and my family tend to repaint at these different intervals:

6 months,
1 year,
2 years

No less and no longer. Plus we donate everything we don't need anymore. It keeps the house looking awesome and clean longer also.

I love the dark paint and the desk area. Your desk area is what my desk wants to be when it grows up. I love peacock feathers and use them about the house as well. Beautiful, but my landlord once told me she had a nightmare that someone painted "her" walls, so i guess dark brown is out for me.

I've been in my place for going on 6 years. I haven't repainted once. I have redecorated, reorganized, but every time I come back to the paint it's fine and I love the color. I did repaint a small chunk that had been next to the bed then next to the computer then the tv and managed to have a hundred little scuffs. But everywhere else the walls are fine. I recently covered all the spots where I'd rehung things and you can't tell the new painted spots from the old.

I also don't have children, animals, or rowdy parties.

urbanconjure, I hate it when landlords act like they own the place...oh yeah. But you really do need to feel like it is yours even if you are renting. I wish more landlords understood the importance of nesting for their tenants.

My apartment walls look like they've aged like cheese. No longer white by any means. Looks like grandma's house. Probably time for a paint job. It's been about three years now.

http://www.modernests.com

I'm getting ready to repaint after 3 years but only because I did such a bad job the first time. I hate painting and I can't afford to hire someone.

Hmm... in that case I'm due to repaint. I painted most of my apartment about 3 years ago and my kitchen 4 years ago, but I'm not itching to make any changes. (My bathroom is unfortunately tiled completely, so the only thing I've painted in there is the ceiling, which needs touching up often.) I have rearranged the furniture pretty frequently and made a variety of upgrades, but I still like the paint colors. In the kitchen, I used Benjamin Moore's scrubbable flat, which I love. Any dirty marks just wash off.

Our second bedroom will most likely be repainted in a year, good light, easy to paint.
our living/dining room probably no earlier than every 5. With the high ceiling, it's just too much of a hassle and not cost effective. I just need to be able to like my gray walls for that long.

Oops, my apartment has gone at least 7 years...

I don't even KNOW how old the paint in mine is as the previous manager didn't really paint my space before I moved in like he promised. Oh I think he did PART of it but not the kitchen and perhaps not all of the living room either.

That said, he did get his ass canned about a year later for not doing his job apparently and I'll have been in my space 6 years this Dec and it still looks OK and since one can't smoke inside, it helps keep the walls relatively white, that is unless it's gotten a coat of dirt and grime from being near an open window all this time. :-)

I had no idea how often to refresh the paint on the walls. I never painted in an apartment, but I just bought a house so AT has come thru once again with some lifestyle information for me! Thanks!

The last place I was in, the landlord at the time hadn't painted in six years before I moved in, then when I moved out 13 years later it was finally repainted. In my new place, it was painted just before I moved in and the landlord offered to let me pick the colours! (He suggested tan and dark red, though. Ack!)

This Q seems like something thought up due to boredom.

I have repainted every room in my house at least twice in the past two years since a bought. The breakfast room I have painted 7 times because my mood keeps changing and I have no direct sun exposure so it always looks different than I intended (also my walls are that crazy stucco texture, which looks good in pictures, but messes with my sense of order in real life). I am getting ready the whole place one more time and this has got to last me at least two years!

BTW does anyone have a fix for these textured walls for me? Am I going to have to sand down everything?