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Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Feb 20, 2008 7:44am
Thread (disabled) Board
I'm sorry this is long!! I am going to attempt my first interior painting project ever. Well, I shouldn't say ever, I painted my bedroom as a teenager and failed horribly. I guess I should say I'm going to attempt to not do a half*** job of it as an adult and start from absolute scratch.

Unfortunately I have no idea how to put colors together for the most part. I grew up with white walls (other than my previous job which was a nasty green) and I've had them almost my entire adult life in various dorm rooms and apartments, places I didn't have a choice. My walls are now a pinkish-beige, which is okay while waiting for the paint... but I want some color!

We're starting with the bedroom since we can screw it up and no one will really see it. I know to take the outlet covers off and to use real painters tape (most of the advice I'm getting from friends and family is "don't be cheap on this project") and to not skimp on the type of paint I buy (I'm planning on buying a "middle of the road on price" paint--and only because we plan on painting almost the entire interior by year's end) or the materials I buy, especially the brushes. I know to buy at the very least a 1 inch brush for cutting in and I know what that means too.

I also know I'll have to patch a section of drywall (no problem, lots of experience there) and I know I have to paint some of the crown molding b/c the guy who sold it to us painted some of it the same pink-beige as the wall and left some of it white. I also know I should wash the walls first and I assume sand down some of the rougher spots that I've noticed. I have to buy at least the white and then a color.

The room is small and we also have the problem of a slanted ceiling. It has a flat ceiling and then it slants up from the walls to it (I guess it's considered a bungalow type?). I'd like to make the room look bigger but I'm also looking at a darkish purple color for the walls. Then I thought I'd have a white ceiling and with the white crown molding (and it's not the fancy kind I guess, it's the basics for the floor trim with the fancier stuff around the doors/window), it might give it a lighter mood. I've got some ideas to work with on that, but any advice on types of paint, ways to make it go smoothly would really be appreciated. I know I don't want to have to wash the walls very often and I know that when I walk in this room, I want to be able to relax (even if the paint job isn't perfect). I have 3 days to do this project, not that it has to be done, just 3 days off of work with the promise from my husband that he will do whatever I say, so obviously I want the most done in the time allotted. I have total control of decorating the bedroom (he has power of veto that he has yet to exercise and probably won't unless it gets too "girly") and I already have the sheets and comforter that I want and the carpeting is new so that won't be changed either, so I have to coordinate to that, everything else is still negotiable (i.e. re-painting the dressers).

One more thing, my nearest Home Depot or store of that kind is 2 hours away, so everything for this project will be purchased at Walmart or our local hardware store (another reason that I will be going for the middle of the road on price).

Any advice or tips are appreciated, especially on color coordination!!! Obviously I don't want to screw this up and have to do it again, but I am not walking into this with the expectation that it will turn out perfectly either, more of a practice run even for the other rooms that people will see. I'm just so excited to finally be doing something to my house, even in the dead of winter!

moonduck
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188603 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 7:54am
Thread (disabled) Board
I'm no expert, but here's what I've noticed:

The darker the color, the smaller it will make the room feel.
Crown moulding that matches the ceiling color will shorten the room.
Crown moulding that matches the wall color will make the room feel slightly higher.

An eggshell or satin finish seems to be good for a bedroom. I like Behr paint, but I'm not sure if Walmart sells that brand.

Good luck with your project;)
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188607 by Bikercats
Feb 20, 2008 8:12am
Thread (disabled) Board
I agree with what Bikercats said. Plus there's this to consider. The darker the paint on the walls, the harder it is to paint over it with a lighter color if you want to change it.

Get as many paint swatches as you can in as many colors as you find attractive. You can usually get small sample cans made up of your favorites so that you can paint several squares of color on your wall to see how the color looks at different times of the day.

Oh, be sure to get acrylic paint. Cleans up with soap and water and won't smell quite as badly as oil base. Also ventilate, ventilate, ventilate! Fans are your friend! :-)

Good luck! I love painting and if I lived closer I'd gladly come lend a hand.

Knit Wit
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188612 by knit wit
Feb 20, 2008 9:24am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote The darker the paint on the walls, the harder it is to paint over it with a lighter color if you want to change it.


But if I go a lighter color at this point, wouldn't I have to put a coat of white down to cover the peach/beige that's already there? This is why I was thinking the darker color.... plus, we don't want a really bright room (any light in the room while trying to sleep or sleeping really bothers us). I guess I'm not really worried about re-doing it later anyways, if we end up putting another bedroom into/onto the house eventually, that room will be ours and I'll be starting from scratch again, lol! And worse comes to worse and we have to re-paint, I'll just enlist others to help me cover up the purple.

Or should I do a coat of white as a base now regardless?

Quote Good luck! I love painting and if I lived closer I'd gladly come lend a hand.


Thanks, I hope I actually enjoy it too. My dad was disappointed that we were so anxious to do it now and he can't get here b/c of weather to help, he asked if we'd leave some painting for summer when he and my mom can come to help b/c it's fun....

I didn't tell him that I already asked/told my mom a few weeks ago that they're going to help us move the claw foot bathtub if we manage to afford the laminate flooring this summer OR that they're helping us put the soffit up on the house in the spring (the easy on the ground work part of it, not the climbing and hanging of it). Let him think it's fun for a while still ; )

moonduck
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188631 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 9:32am
Thread (disabled) Board
From someone who has done a lot of painting... I don't have a single white wall in my house =o) It can actually be harded to paint a darker color over a lighter color than a light color over another light color. My office has one dark maroon wall and I think I had to put 3-4 coats of pain before the offwhile color that was originally on the wall stopped showing through. So, I definitely would NOT want to paint white first if you ar thinking about the dark purple!

The dark purple color may not be a bad idea, but it will make the room feel smaller (but could be cozier in a bedroom). One option for keeping the dark purple and making the room feel larger is to paint two walls the dark purple (opposite walls) and the other two walls in a lighter/medium purple. The two lighter walls will feel farther apart. This also helps to balance out a room that might feel long and skinny. If you have a rectangular room, paint the shorter walls the dark color and the larger walls the lighter color and the room will feel more balanced.

Cheers!
Rhea
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188635 by The Gillespie Tribe
Feb 20, 2008 9:34am
Thread (disabled) Board
I forgot to mention... if you want to make it easier to paint the darker color, get a primer and have them tint it a purple color. (Beware, this purple will not be anywhere near the dark purple you want, but it will help). Wal-mart can do this too =o)

Cheers!
Rhea
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188631 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 9:53am
Thread (disabled) Board
You may be able to paint over the current colors without having to put down a white primer coat first. This is where you want to pick the right kind of paint and make sure you get enough paint on your roller and not skimp (pull paint off as you are rolling). After the first coat of the new color dries, you will be able to see whether a second coat is necessary.

Stay away from Flat paint if you don't want to have touch-ups, or need to wash the surfaces frequently (pets?). I have used satin finish on my painted woodwork and that worked well for me.

Are you painting woodwork for the first time? If so, it will need to be primed before you paint. Also -- one of my pet peeves -- folks who paint doors and get paint on metal hardware. It's pretty simple to remove doors and hardware and paint it right. If you have hardware that you want to remove old paint from, there are some tips online about how to do that. I just don't have the link right now.

If you have a bungalow, you might think about the dark purple in terms of lighting the space. Especially in dark, cold Winter. Do you have enough window light to balance the desire for purple? Enough outlets for other light fixtures? How is your eyesight at night? Can you find your way to the bathroom without light?

I love bold colors, but I live in a tidy bungalow. We are going to redo our room eventually, but now it's a calming, steel grey with white trim. The room is much smaller than the one from our old house, so I am afraid to make the room shrink with color.

Good luck!
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188636 by The Gillespie Tribe
Feb 20, 2008 9:58am
Thread (disabled) Board
I can't add to the excellent advice you've already received about color- I'll just give a couple tips I've used over the years to make the job easier.

When you take a break from painting, wrap your brushes tightly in saran wrap so the paint doesn't dry out and you don't have ot wash them out just to take a lunch break.

I LOVE these gadgets for doing trim edges and colors: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=40657-000001077-00100C&lpage=none

I don't even bother to tape my windows/doors anymore- I just use these to go around them. Although you may want to tape since you don't have a lot of experience yet. (that will come!)

A handy place to keep track of the paint name/number is to pencil it onto the back of one of those switchplate covers you've removed. That way if you ever decide that you need to repaint the same color or need to get some touch-up paint you don't have to dig through old receipts and records- just pop the switchplate cover off in that room and see the # you need.
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188603 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 10:03am
Thread (disabled) Board
We have painted almost everything in our house too...we love color. We painted our foyer a color called yam. It is a nice mid-tone orange/yellow warm color. It's not especially dark but we found that painting it over white walls took 4 coats to cover! It was crazy, but the white kept showing through...and we thought it was going to be an easy job!
Anyway a nice dark purple color sounds beautiful and afterward if you find that it is too dark for you then you can always add lighter accessories and such. A nice pale yellow in curtains or bedding or pictures can lighten things up if needed...or any other lighter color you like.
My dad always has an issue with things making a room "look smaller" I always tell him it doesn't matter what size the room LOOKS....it's still the same size as it started! Hey if you like it that's all that matters : )
Good luck!
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188647 by Poodle Circus
Feb 20, 2008 10:07am
Thread (disabled) Board
Those pads are what some letterboxers use to clean rubber stamps!

I totally agree with keeping track of paint colors. When we bought this 1921 bungalow in 2006 I had a furnace room full of paints, stains, putties, etc. More than 70 cans and containers. I wrote down every can's contents and then went around the house to match the colors up. Some cans had dates on them, some had never been opened. One color - huckleberry - had been a child's bedroom, but the only remnant was the closet. I will eventually repaint that closet, but I liked recording the "huckleberry" name. Yes, it was Huckleberry Hound color.

Lowe's will print out the formula and stick it on the lid. If you ask for a second label, I would attach it to a paint sample card and file it away for future reference. I would guess the other stores have a similar procedure.

We're going to have to paint the exterior this summer - four colors - and I am so grateful the previous owners left the names and formulas for me. We have a real cutie.
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188647 by Poodle Circus
Feb 20, 2008 10:08am
Thread (disabled) Board
I second those gadgets for trim and edges!! They do take a bit of practice to get it right, but I find them far, far easier than cutting in with a brush =o)

Cheers!
Rhea
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188653 by The Gillespie Tribe
Feb 20, 2008 10:11am
Thread (disabled) Board
Absolutely! These pads are great and Walmart probably carries them or something similar. We never use a brush for cutting in. You do need to be careful not to get paint on the little wheels when you load the pads though. My husband has fits with that.

Knit Wit
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188647 by Poodle Circus
Feb 20, 2008 11:17am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote When you take a break from painting, wrap your brushes tightly in saran wrap so the paint doesn't dry out and you don't have ot wash them out just to take a lunch break.


When done for the day wrap the brush in saran wrap and place it in the freezer. Next time you want to paint, place the end of the brush in a plastic cup of hot water. It will work like a charm and save on clean up and money for brushes.

I am the painter. My spouse is the coordinator of colors and likes to put a horizontal border along the wall. Then uses a dark color and a light color. One above and one below.
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188603 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 12:34pm
Thread (disabled) Board
If you're concerned with covering another color, I highly recommend The Woolie http://www.woolie.com/

I've used it in a couple of rooms, and it covers a multitude of sins and is incredibly easy to use. You can make it as bold or as subtle as you want (mine tend to be very muted, soft applications). I've done whole walls (8' high by 15' wide) in under half an hour. I don't know that I would use it on all four walls in a room, but one or two gives the room dimension and texture without being overwhelming.

My most fun project was the boys' bathroom a couple years ago:
http://www.opencitizen.com/gekko/ It took me a month of evenings. Thank heaven for clear contact paper to use for masking the shapes!

I love to paint, but I hate the taping and prep work. I've tried the edging gadgets and I always mess up and get the woodwork.

Good luck! :]

-AG
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188603 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 12:35pm
Thread (disabled) Board
You've gotten some great advise here! My two cents:

Yep, the plastic wrap trick for brushes and rollers works great. You only have to clean them up once, at the end of your project!

Check into the availability of low- or no-VOC paint. VOCs are hazardous to one's health, and should be avoided by women who are pregnant and by children. If you cannot obtain no-VOC paint, please make sure your room is VERY well ventilated until the 'paint smell' disapates.

We did our (very small) bedroom in dark purple, with a green stripe about 6 or 7 feet up from the floor, and above the stripe and on the ceiling used a lighter shade of the same purple. I think it kind of makes the ceiling 'disappear' in a way...we don't have much in the way of moulding at the ceiling line, just a very small one, so I painted it the same color. I love it! Except now I want to change the stripe from green to something more neutral...

Oh, and cover all your furniture with dropcloths, or move it out of the room. If using rollers, remember that stuff spatters - particularly when painting the ceiling!

Also, you can purchase tinted primer to make painting your dark color easier. Not sure if Meglo-Mart would be able to help you there, tho...

~rozebud (another member of the "No White Walls" club!)
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188642 by speedsquare
Feb 20, 2008 1:23pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Are you painting woodwork for the first time? If so, it will need to be primed before you paint. Also -- one of my pet peeves -- folks who paint doors and get paint on metal hardware. It's pretty simple to remove doors and hardware and paint it right. If you have hardware that you want to remove old paint from, there are some tips online about how to do that. I just don't have the link right now.


NO, thank goodness, everything has been painted already at some point, but I did know about priming that at least! This is a pet peeve of mine too actually, altho I never realized it until I moved in to this house and saw some of these kinds of shenanigans. My house was built in the 30s and still has almost all of the metal doorplates and fancy crystal type knobs.... the doors don't all shut either but that's a project for this summer (and eye hook thingies if need be, I'd rather keep the "old look" in the house). But they did paint over some of the old metal doorplates and I hate how it looks so that'll be a project for this summer too, the doors will probably come off completely since they need a bunch of work.

I like the idea of the dark and light purple on different walls, I might try that depending on how the color turns out when we first apply it. I'm not really too concerned with it being dark I guess b/c it is the bedroom and we like it dark, it's just that it's such a small room that I'd like to not make it look absolutely tiny. The comforter is reversible gray and black and we have somewhat bold and different colored sheets and I think the purple is going to match them all, there is a lot of molding and the closet door (it's a tiny door, the closet is very deep but built into the half wall... hard to explain I guess) has the fancy moulding all around it too, so there is a lot of white trim to balance the dark purple... I think ; ) And we have a street light right outside the bedroom window so it has to be able to be very covered up at night (it's maybe only 30 feet from our window)... currently there's a doubled up black sheet hanging in it, we never bought curtains for it when we moved in b/c we couldn't agree. I will probably make the curtain myself and it will match the fabric covered door panels, which will contrast/accent the purple.

My husband is already sorry that he allowed me to do this just for watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose... says he should have made it at least 3 movies, lol! Wait until I put him to work on the padded headboard, he already tried to veto it but I think if I take him to the furniture store and show him how expensive a new one is compared to the cost of making what I want, he'll give in.

So, satin finish paints, saran wrap, cover everything up, ventilate well, brushes and rollers and tape, put paint types and numbers under the outlet covers (fantastic idea, never would have thought of that)... wow, I feel like I can really really do this and do it well, thanks so much! I'll let you know how it goes, I've already been instructed by a few friends to do before and after pics so I'll let you all know how it goes too!

moonduck
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188729 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 1:31pm
Thread (disabled) Board
No one mentioned it, and I assumed it, but be very careful if you use the blue painter's tape. You don't want to leave it on too long or it will cause more work for you.

If you check my photo album that has a letterbox as the first picture, open it to see what I did outside with stain last summer. I was insane and it took 4 days, but those 4 days were the best days of the summer to finish the project.
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188732 by speedsquare
Feb 20, 2008 1:49pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote If you check my photo album that has a letterbox as the first picture, open it to see what I did outside with stain last summer. I was insane and it took 4 days, but those 4 days were the best days of the summer to finish the project.


I only found 2 albums of yours and I couldn't figure out if I was missing something or not? I admit I had a hard time going thru the albums to look so maybe I missed it completely.

Quote No one mentioned it, and I assumed it, but be very careful if you use the blue painter's tape. You don't want to leave it on too long or it will cause more work for you.


Yes, someone told me that they learned the hard way that it will tear paint off with it and to go very slowly when pulling it off and to do it soon after finishing painting. Thank goodness for advice, I would have just ripped it off like a bandaid probably! I'm so glad I'm not going into this blindly and it is just painting and can be fixed, but for once I'd like to be somewhat prepared for the what ifs... learning the whatifs when replacing the wax ring on the toilet a few months back was not fun :D

moonduck
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188603 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 1:51pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I've done a LOT of painting, and I've also hired painters when the project was too big or too complicated, so here's some advice from them:

Preparation is key.
- START patching holes a few days before you paint (in case you have to re-patch, you'll still have drying time).
- While the patch compound dries, tape off trim you're not going to paint (though you SHOULD be painting the trim, too!).
- If you have marks on the walls that you might have trouble covering up, use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on them.
- This Old House would tell you to sand the walls. Yeah, whatever. If you're dealing with a gloss or semi-gloss, you might need to rough it up a little bit, but flat, satin and eggshell finishes do not need to be sanded.
- You SHOULD, however, clean the walls, especially after you sand down the patches. A Swiffer duster (the floor version) works wonders.

Use SHERWIN-WILLIAMS paint.
Store brands are crap (even though the Wal-Mart "house" brand is made by S-W, it's still crap). Behr is too thick to work with. Duron sucks paint balls.

Drop cloths, drop cloths, drop cloths.
Because no matter how careful you are, you're going to get paint where it shouldn't go.

Use GOOD rollers and your paint job will be smashing.
Middle of the road is okay. Use bad rollers and you'll be smashing the walls. Ask the S-W guys which ones are good.

Use GOOD brushes. Expect to pay $4-6 per brush.
Again, middle of the road is okay. Use bad brushes and you won't be needing your hairbrush much longer.

While we're on brushes, you want at least two kinds: a flat 1-1/2" and a tapered 1-1/2".

While we're on tools: all those funky gadgets for cutting in corners and painting trim...
JUNK! JUNK! JUNK! You'll never see a pro painter using them because they're not going to stake their word-of-mouth reputation on junk, junk, junk and the inevitable results.

TWO COATS, MINIMUM.
Behr claims you can do the job in one coat. Bull. Been there, done that... it sucked.

I could go on and on and on, but I've got to get ready to go ....

*S
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188742 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 3:23pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Sorry, Moonduck, here's the link to my last summer's project:

I see boxes
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188743 by BrewHiker
Feb 20, 2008 4:06pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Oh! I remember another tip: new rollers have fuzz on them which might come off onto the wall with the paint. Wrap tape (the blue stuff is fine) around the roller, pull it off, and (just like removing cat hair from your clothes, a task I am overly-familiar with) viola! Fuzz-free roller! :-D
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188612 by knit wit
Feb 20, 2008 6:35pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote be sure to get acrylic paint


Shouldn't this be latex paint?

I've painted lots of rooms. THe most important thing to do it the prep work. Check out some home improvement website, Lowe's or Home Depot or HGTV, for advice on techniques and prep work. My best painting job resulted from priming the entire room. When the young adult moved out, his room was a wreck. It looked great when I finished. I bought the little 2 ounce jars of paint to try out colors and painted squares on the wall to get the color right.
I've never bought paint at Wal-Mart, so I can't tell how that would go. I usually go to Lowe's or Home Depot. I always want someone that can answer my questions and really knows what they are doing. Can't get that at Wal-Mart.

Use flat paint if the wall has lots of defects. They won't show so much. I usually use semi-gloss for the walls.

One other tip. Try to buy all your paint at one time. If you need more than 1 gallon, you'll get a better match from gallon to gallon if they are mixed at the same time. Professionals pour all the paint together and mix it to insure that the color stays true throughout the room.

Good luck.
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188603 by Moonduck
Feb 20, 2008 7:49pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Any advice or tips are appreciated, especially on color coordination!!!


I'm not very good at color coordination but I do know the darker the color the smaller the room "appears". It is "suggested" that a bedroom should be a "soothing, relaxing" color. That can differ to individual tastes. I have painted my fair share of rooms and prep work is the key.
Remove all fixtures, outlets, window/door hardware (make sure you remove the doorknob with the door open .. been there done that! lol!) patch the holes from pictures you will not re-hang. Sand the patch jobs that were needed and use a primer/sealer on them (these can be "spot" primed before doing the entire wall). Prime the walls with a primer/sealer, pre-washing the walls is not needed unless they are greasy (kitchen) or moldy (windows are prone to this) a light sanding should do it, but if they need to be cleaned then use a wash that does not leave any "residue" (rid-x has worked well for me, however it will take a day or two to dry before anything can be done).
Then:
Use a Primer/sealer on the walls (tinting the primer if it will be a dark color does help!)
Paint the ceiling.
Paint the woodwork/trim around windows, doors, molding. (if you "slip" the wall paint will cover it).
Paint the walls. (it is easier to "cut" around the trim and ceiling, than "cut" the trim around the walls).

best of luck!
Haventaname
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188900 by haventaname
Feb 21, 2008 6:33am
Thread (disabled) Board
Well, we got our first fight over it out of the way last night ; ) He realized this was going to be "work" once I told him of the plan I had laid out for getting it done. I don't know why it just dawned on him now, lol! Then he made the stupid mistake of telling me that he wants our house to look unique and I informed him that actually takes "work" to do and colors don't appear on walls magically and if he could find a wand, I'd be more than happy to let him try. We compromised and he gets to pick the color for the spare room and I have no veto rights on it and I have to help whenever he decides he wants to do it. Considering the spare room will be turned into a baby room someday, I can deal with whatever crazy color he decides for a couple of years.

Quote Yes, I think that romantic and calm can go together. Your bedroom is a special place where you retreat to spend special time together and it'd be great if you could get it to reflect both your personalities. Maybe consider a focal point you'd like... a painting that reflects your combined tastes, a wedding portrait, anniversary portrait, maybe wall decor that suites both your tastes...


This is basically what I said to him to get him to shut up last night! Then he started coming up with some really great ideas too for pictures and stuff and finally said... I don't like the idea of a purple bedroom but we can change it at some point and I can have a bigger say then right? I said yes and he said, "Alright, let's do it then, my wife is getting her purple bedroom."

Then we cleaned... definitely have to wash the walls! It looks like when we first moved in there, so empty and I can see things on the wall that I didn't notice with all the stuff in the room, like dust and stuff. I realized that all of the outlet and light covers were painted over and they look like they're really nice old ones under the paint. I figured out exactly what I'm going to do for a window covering and he agreed to it and I told him he can pick out the paint for the dressers when summer gets here and we can take them outside to work on.

So tonight I clean walls, take off fixture plates, patch the holes (there's only two) and patch the weird crack where we think there was another closet door. Tomorrow morning I get up early, go and buy my supplies (I have a nice list thanks to all of your help) and I finish up the patching, do it again if need be and can be done, paint the trim and cut in everywhere I can that I don't paint the trim (the doors and window are already white trim). Hubby comes home and once the trim is dry, we plan on hopefully getting the first coat done very late tomorrow night and if it needs a second, we'll do it first thing Saturday morning.

Like I said, he thinks we'll be done tommorrow night, I don't expect things to go as perfectly as I'm hoping/planning so I expect to at least be able to sleep in our room on Saturday night, even if it's not put back together. Our first fun and productive house adventure that hasn't been instigated by something going wrong or breaking... is actually going to happen!

Speedsquare, the project you did is amazing, I hope to work my way up to managing to do cool things like that someday!

moonduck
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #188975 by Moonduck
Feb 21, 2008 9:35am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Well, we got our first fight over it out of the way last night ; )


Churches swear by marriage prep classes, but I think the best test of a relationship is doing home improvement projects together. DH and I celebrated our first anniversary by building a deck on our first home. The next year we wallpapered a bedroom. We're still together!

Here's hoping you're sleeping in a perfectly calm and romantic purple place by Saturday night! :)

-AG
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #189035 by ArtGekko
Feb 25, 2008 6:26am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Here's hoping you're sleeping in a perfectly calm and romantic purple place by Saturday night! :)


Well, folks, we pulled it off!!!! It's not quite purple, actually.... it's blue, lol! He went with me to pick a color and I just could not pick a purple and he wouldn't give me any help. We looked thru some packets they had with names like "intense" and "historic" and "tranquil" and in tranquil we found a color called Riverton Heights... it was a blue purple and we both liked it so we ran with it. But it came out a lot more blue than purple, but we both love it!

All of your tips helped so much! I felt very competent and confident when I went in there and started working. I learned many things as I went, such as.... lightweight spackling sucks for my walls and the extra amount of time spent trying to spread it would have been better spent sanding heavier spackling that would have done a better job. But it looks okay under the paint, just not really close up. I also learned that you should buy extra paint tape for just in case b/c stopping at midnight b/c you ran out of it and there's no place to get it and you're half done with the room... well, it sucks, lol! We also decided to be daring and instead of painting the ceiling white and the walls blue all the way up to it, we painted the slanting parts white and the ceiling and lower walls blue, it gives it a different look for sure.

We had all of the trim and the slanted white walls and most of the first blue coat done on the walls on Friday night by midnight before we camped out in the living room. We got up the next morning and he prepped the room again and got the paint ready to go while I ran and got more tape. We finished all coats by 2 or 3 that afternoon and then we started getting ready to move back in. We ended up rearranging the room a little bit, took some stuff out, put some stuff in and we're both completely happy with the end result!

Then my husband decided it was time to rearrange the living room yesterday, to get ready to paint in there in a month or two. And he decided he really likes painting, lol! He got very inspired and very into doing the rest of the house... so much so that he called in sick today to finish cleaning up the house, lol!!!

Our only mistake (we think!)... we used old sheets for drop cloths (along with a tarp) to save some money b/c not "going cheap" really cut into our budget and we put the paint stirrer on the lid of a can on the floor and it moved off of it and soaked thru to the carpet. Only one spot tho and it can be covered by a throw rug. I think we might pull the carpeting out of that room eventually anyways, we think there's hardwood floors underneath.

And, next time around, all we'll need to buy is paint and rollers, we now have everything else we need! Thank you so much to everyone who chimed in, I really don't think we could have pulled this off without all of your tips and help! We didn't argue once and we had so much fun with it! If I can, I'll try to post a pic of a before and after.

moonduck (who woke up yesterday and today in a wonderful mood in a wonderful room)
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #190370 by Moonduck
Feb 25, 2008 2:27pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Our only mistake (we think!)... we used old sheets for drop cloths (along with a tarp)


You can get light plastic 'drop cloths' cheaply, I use them with old sheets for a couple of reasons.

If you have spills that will 'wick' through it contains the mess.
Cloth is better at 'containing' dust than plastic.
Plastic (alone) has a tendency to 'slip' around, with a sheet over it it holds in place better.
Sheets (alone) can bunch up leaving unintended exposed areas.

Just like carving... practice will perfect it!
he decided he really likes painting, lol! He got very inspired and very into doing the rest of the house...

WOW!! can I borrow him sometime??

Congrats on a successful project!! ;-)
Haventaname
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #190370 by Moonduck
Feb 25, 2008 3:08pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Everything about home improvement leads you along a path of "while fixing this I might as tackle that too" Good job going for it!
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #190561 by Kayak Bandit
Feb 26, 2008 5:28am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Everything about home improvement leads you along a path of "while fixing this I might as tackle that too"


That's for sure, I don't know if I mentioned it before, but we ended up replacing the outlets completely b/c they'd been painted over as well and I thought it would be nice to have white outlets and white covers with the trim. So while he replaced the outlets b/c he's faster at it than I am, I installed a dimmer switch for the light. I was surprised at how easy that was.

Then when I got home last night to a wonderfully cleaned by him house, I asked if he'd given any thought to our next project (I got another Home Depot gift card in the mail, yay) b/c I'd thought about tackling the living room at the end of March and he said I was nuts if I thought waiting a month was long enough b/c..... HE WANTS TO REMODEL THE BATHROOM NEXT!!! He said that's the room he wanted to do first so he wants to do it next. I asked if he realized how much work painting around the tub would be (it's a claw foot) and he said yes and that's why we'll move it when we replace the sink... I didn't know we were doing that any time soon.... and yeah, he's all gung ho about that project already. He even said something about "rearranging the tub" and I asked if he realized he's talking about moving pipes... including waste/drain pipes and he said we'll figure it out.

I think he's nuts and no you can't borrow him, sorry, I'm not taking for granted the fact that I have a man who not only cooks and cleans, but helps me with my crazy ideas. I know it's rare, lol!

moonduck
Re: Interior Painting
Board: Home Improvement
Reply to: #190691 by Moonduck
Feb 26, 2008 6:22am
Thread (disabled) Board
Could it be that he is pregnant? You have heard of the nesting instinct, haven't you?