Facts: Brand new home, flat paint on all surfaces in a taupe color. Wood trim that has a certain amount of gloss to it. Textured walls, rounded corners, typical new construction. Issue: Over the weekend, I finally settled on some paint colors for our great room (after literally 8 tries with tester paint). I got the paint onto the fireplace surround and loved the color. Looks even and beautiful, true to what I expected, etc. First person to walk in the door goes, "oh, shiny!" Not my intended reaction. I used Valspar paint with an eggshell finish, and I also bought what I intend to put on the rest of the walls in eggshell as well. A lot of money on a bunch of now deemed "shiny" paint. Knowing the eggshell is a little easier to clean, more durable, etc I chose it for practical purposes and also because I wanted the room to have a warm feel to it. The paint colors are earthy (well, the fireplace paint is literally called earth, the other is a golden color). Is it possible I am so used to seeing the flat paint (which mind you is still right up against the eggshell in that area) that the shiny-factor is in my head? Or is it popping because I haven't finished the rest of the room with eggshell? Or is there anyone here that would like to make a case for flat paint instead? One other note also - if the decision is that I should go back to the flat paint, is there a solution to the fact that I have purchased all of the paint in the wrong sheen/finish - such as a wash or glaze of some kind that I can roll over it when completed? Would it work to put a light coat of flat over the eggshell to jsut tone it down a bit? Perhaps I am being optimistic. :)

I own a 20 x 20 foot garage that is sided with milled lumber designed to look like logs. There is no chinking or caulking between the individual boards; they are overlapped. The boards are coated with an old, transparent finish of some sort. I would like to remove the existing finish so I can apply a new wood preservative/finish. I have tried the heat gun and putty knife approach. It works, but it's quite slow as the logs are curved and the putty knife is not. I will be getting some quotes for blasting with sand/glass beads/walnut shells/corn cobs. But I'm wondering about chemical strippers. I should mention that the only water supply available is from an old sand point well that has limited flow. So if the stripper removal requires a lot of water that's probably a non-starter. I'm looking for suggestions on what type of chemical strippers would be suitable for this job. If this website allows specific products to be identified please provide that information as applicable. I'm interested in how well the product works, how easy it is to apply and remove, and what is entailed in the removal and disposal side of things. Any comments on environmental friendliness would be appreciated. Thanks.