I did let everyone have a say in some of the color choices, and I appreciated their input. One decision I had already made, though, was the type of paint I would use and that was  limewash.

After researching different companies and products, I settled on one brand. It wasn't cheap, but I had already decided that paint was going to be one of the places where I was willing to spend more.

Limewash is a centuries old painting technique that gives walls incredible texture. My goal was to create a home that reminded me of Oaxaca while still feeling like my own.

Creating a natural flow from room to room ended up being very hard. Even now, when I look at the finished house, I sometimes wonder if I should’ve done something differently.

Originally, I wanted the dining room to be a soft cream. But that left me completely undecided about the living room. I knew I wanted the living room to feel light and peaceful, a space where I could relax. At the same time, I wanted every room to have its own personality yet to make sense.

Then my cousin and his girlfriend suggested painting the dining room orange. Orange has never been one of my favorite colors. I don't dislike it, I actually love seeing how other people use it but it's never a color I naturally gravitate toward. I immediately said no.

But after looking at dozens of paint samples, I realized every color I kept coming back to was somewhere in the orange family yet the dark side kept calling me, There was one color in particular that I couldn't stop thinking about, Desert Red.

Originally, I had planned on using a deep red or purple in my office, but once I saw Desert Red, I couldn't stop thinking about it. For days I debated whether I really wanted to give up that red for my office. In the end, I did. By then I had discovered the brand's black collection, and I knew exactly where one of those colors belonged. The dining room became Desert Red. The living room stayed light. The office became black. As for my bedroom, I couldn't decide between blue and green. Blue has always been my favorite color, so that was my original plan. But after looking at all the greens, I changed my mind.

I still say blue is my favorite color, but after walking through this house, most people would probably disagree. Once the priming was done, I started limewashing my office. At the time, I thought it would be the first room finished and ready to move into.

When I started the dining room it was frustrating. I had painted one coat and left it to fix at the end.  I couldn't get the texture that limewash is supposed to have. I ended up going on YouTube and rereading the instructions on how to properly apply it.

I started painting my office and it looked good. Then I started to believe I could actually pull this off.

Next came my bedroom, and that started looking good too. My arms were killing me every night, I only had time to work on the place after work and some weekends. So the project kept dragging and at times overwhelming, but I liked the feeling of it all.