NOMINATIONS
HAVE STARTED
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1 Nominate your favorite people, places
and things in the DMV!
The winners are chosen by popular vote, so let
your friends know it’s time to cast their ballot.

As a business, share with your audience to help
you win the title of “Best” in your category!
own New Home te t gory
Heroes Ca
Nominations close March 7
Voting for the winners starts on April 1. Winners will be contacted in June, and the results
will be in the July issue of Washington FAMILY magazine.

Go to washingtonfamily.com/bestforfamilies
and VOTE TODAY!
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Contact Jeni Tough Mann
for more information
jmann@midatlanticmedia.com



MY TURN
WF GOODBYE,
Khaki Walls
HELLO, Happiness
I t happened one day this summer. I couldn’t stare
anymore at the putrid color of my living room
walls—Relaxed Khaki. I wasn’t much for home
renovations, and I had done very little to my house since
purchasing it three years ago, but something had to be
done about the walls.

I started to wonder whether I could do some of the
painting myself. I’d start small and do one wall to see
if I was cut out for the monotony of taping, rolling and
brushing for several hours at a time.

After checking out some DIY websites, ordering my
supplies and mulling over paint colors for a few weeks, I
was finally ready to begin. It’s hard to explain the calm
that came over me as my drab-colored walls began to
disappear. That night, for the first time in months, I
slept hard, real hard. My body was aching and tired.

My right thumb was blistering, and yet I melted into a
relaxed and peaceful slumber without any worries.

I couldn’t wait to start painting again the next
day. Surprisingly, what I thought would take a day
or two became a weekly occurrence. Because of my
responsibilities, I did a lot of painting in the evenings,
often working until midnight. I’d never been a
night person, but there was something about the
adrenaline rush of just me, alone in a room, with the
smell of paint and the sounds of ’90s rock music playing
on my phone that kept me going.

Rather unexpectedly, what started as a
chore quickly turned into a new hobby. As a
mom of three, I haven’t had much free time in
the past 10 years to devote to hobbies that fulfilled
me. I used to be a part of a weekly fiction writing
class where I could work on short stories or that elusive
novel that we writers all have. And, for a stretch of time,
I loved going to the Alliance Francaise in Washington,
D.C., to keep up my French language skills or go on long
bike rides through Rock Creek Park to spend a few hours
on the Alexandria waterfront. Now those activities seem
like they were part of someone else’s past.

Painting the walls became my obsession. There was
a hypnotic feeling of peace when each patch of khaki
became a bright, uplifting yellow. I loved being covered
in paint from my hair to my bare feet at the end of the
night. When I finished a room and opened the windows,
letting in the hot summer air and the sound of cicadas,
I was able to look around and admire what I had
accomplished, all by myself. There was no unsolicited
advice from friends and family. There was no one there
to critique my work. I was wholly present for the activity
and completely satisfied with the fruits of my labor.

I will continue to paint rooms until there is no more
pandemic or until there are no more rooms left to paint
(although there is always a friend’s garage that needs
sprucing up). Sometimes, as I have learned, it’s the simple
accomplishments that can make us feel the most fulfilled.

I recommend you find your space—then paint it. n
Jacqueline Renfrow lives in Rockville with her husband and
three rambunctious elementary-aged kids. As the pandemic
rages on, she has now risen to the challenge of wallpaper
stripping. WashingtonFAMILY.com 35