Staying home during a pandemic gives you a lot of time to notice things. Like how many mosquito smears you can’t clean off your ceiling. I cranked the AC and stayed inside on the 100-degree days to freshen up my bedroom.

I liked the paint color when I chose it seven years ago, but years of grime on the walls (“ghosting”, and not the social media kind) had lent it a dark and dingy quality. You can see the stripes where the cold air leaking in at the rafters and gaps in insulation created the right conditions for particulates to stick. And then of course the smeared areas where I tried unsuccessfully to wash it.

So! Walls, ceiling, trim. All of it fresh and clean.