Begin With the End in Mind

... or so they say. This applies to a lot of areas in life, but perhaps especially to painting projects. When you break out the paint and all the necessary accoutrements (in my case, roller, pan, ladder, old shower curtain), you should be asking yourself: What is the end goal here? Am I seeking to create the next Sistine Chapel? Do I wish to mask a rotting/moldy/lead-infested wall just long enough to lure in some hapless unsuspecting tenants? Am I hoping to spruce things up so I can sell the place at a tidy profit?

In my case, the goal was simply to see if I could more or less cover up the watermarks on the wall (including one that is 8' long) so I don't have to look at them every day for the next few months until the contractor gets around to rebuilding the wall. Instead, I'll look at a wall strangely streaked with the paint I'd saved for touch-ups, aged in the can for the last nine years. I'm sure that will be much better. Especially since I managed to remove a lot of the rust from the rim of the can before I started.

Ah yes, old world craftsmanship at its best.

Postscript: Amazingly, the wall turned out fine; you can just barely see the borders of the area I re-painted, if you know where to look and the light is right (or wrong, depending on your point of view).