Room Painting Tips: Learn From My Mistakes

My family has been out of town for a few days. Left home alone, I had to get my hands on a project, and , apparently a large bag of Tostitos. I decided to paint Molly's room as a surprise.

Why I took the plunge, I do not know, because when my mom did the same for me, I told her she ruined my life. She had light yellow wall to wall carpet installed in my room, but my 1983 chosen color palette was NOT yellow, but Dusty Rose and Sea Foam Green as in "Dusty Rose and Sea Foam Green! Dusty Rose and Sea Foam Green. How could you NOT KNOW THAT ABOUT ME?! MY LIFE IS OVER!"

Anyway, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, because for the last 60 or so hours I've been busting my butt re-doing Molly's room. I'll show you pictures when my camera gets home from vacation, but if you are a praying person, please pray for me at 2:30 today when Molly gets home and sees it.

Since I hadn't painted a room in a while, I had forgotten or ignored several of my painting rules and reminders. Here they are in case you have an upcoming painting project:

1. When choosing a paint color, go one shade lighter on the paint strip. For instance, if you like "Tropicana Cabana" on a paint strip, hop over to "Jamaican Aqua." It will be in the same color palette, just a bit lighter. For the love of God. Please. Paint gets darker on the walls, and when you have four walls closing in around you, it can get pretty intense. Molly's soothing blue looks like the inside of a kiddie dental office with an "Under the Sea" theme.

2. When you tape the edges of the room, press the tape down securely, and go back and do this again when you paint each section. I had some paint seepage behind my tape, which of course is more evident WHEN YOU PAINT WITH A BLINDINGLY VIVID COLOR.

3. When pouring paint into your tray, use a pour spout, or use a hammer and nail to make a hole down into the rim of the paint can to let the paint drain. I didn't do that this time, and had a drippy, messy can.

4. Speaking of messy, be sure to secure your dog during the painting process. You know the song that goes, "Me and You and a Dog Named Blue?" Well, Shadow is looking like a "Tropicana Cabana" right now.

5. If you have to paint the ceiling, consider using paint that goes on pink, then dries white. I did this for the first time and it made it so much easier to see where I had been. I think it's worth the extra money.

6. Empty the room if possible. I was home alone and was unable to do this, so I spent a lot of time climbing over furniture, teetering and tottering, and using choice language. This added to my stress and painting time. I also had a little incident in which I hammered the primer lid shut and sent a spray of primer onto Molly's new bedspread and ottoman. If I had been able to clear out the room, this would not have happened. By the way, Microfiber rocks! A damp towel and Molly will be none the wiser.

7. If attempting to move heavy furniture out by yourself, please reconsider. You might end up with 3 deep gouges in the floor from the bookcase (Tom's going to kill me!) and a bad-back relapse. Where did I put those *$#!@#! Magic Sliders? Try plastic drop cloths over everything instead.

8. Oh, and please, before painting, take off your good shorts. Seriously. If you think there will be no drips or other mishaps, think again! However, if you leave your shorts on, and they get "Tropicana Cabana-d," at least you don't need to take the paint swatch to Jo Ann's Fabric when you are looking for accessories.

9. If you are using latex paint and have to stop for a while because, well, you need to go to work or something, you do not need to clean your brushes or rollers. Wrap them in a damp paper towel, then aluminum foil, and put in the fridge. They'll be ready when you are even a few days later.

Well, I'm off to do some last minute touches on the room.

And about that praying thing? I'm serious.

Midweek Musings, In List Form

1. I can not seem to finish a single project these days. Everything I'm working on has one little detail missing. Yet do I finish it before moving to the next thing? Of course not.

2. Irony alert: I am fixing up classic, sturdy, vintage furniture to sell so I can make money to re-do my daughter's room with items made primarily of particle board.

3.When hammering the lid on a can of primer, you first might want to move your daughter's brand new comforter and fabric ottoman out of the way.

4. If Joe Kennedy was indeed as driven and ambitious a father as depicted in "The Kennedys" I feel sorry for all of his children.

5. Lo and behold, Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes are 100% believable in the roles of JFK and Jackie. I would not have believed this had I not seen it myself.

6. I do not see how the Kennedys had the time and energy for all of those extramarital affairs. I mean, I know they didn't cable back then, but it just sounds exhausting.

7. Watching a miniseries on Netflix can keep one from completing projects.

8. Speaking of projects, when someone cuts wood for you at Home Depot, be sure to measure it before you take it home. Aargh.

9. While I now admit that the Pump2Fit is a waste of time and money, rolling paint on a ceiling, while tedious, is good for those cafeteria-lady arms.

10. As I picked up some new propane at Home Depot today, I realized I am ever so grateful to be part of a propane cylinder exchange rather than a needle exchange.

What are you musing over today?

Wordy Wednesday and How Blogging Messes With My Mind

The kids are away at camp all week. Although you might think that Tom and I have been walking around the house naked and I've been painting, gluing, and staple-gunning everything in sight (Tom excluded), my week has turned out differently than expected.

For one, Tom and I didn't coordinate our "free week" very well, so it meant he spent part of it in NYC and had obligations some of the other nights. We tried to go to a movie or a play, but there's nothing out that we want to see. Good news? We've started watching "Friday Night Lights" from the first episode and are hooked. It's so nice to be able to start a show before 10 pm!

And the painting projects?

Waah!!!!!!!! I have a new curbside find called a Pier Chest, which is going to knock our socks off (I hope), but I can't finish painting it because it's almost 100 degrees in the the carport. The paint ain't sticking, people.

I know it's pretty lame to feel sorry for myself about the heat when my kids are sleeping on plastic mattresses and nylon sleeping bags in un-airconditioned cabins, but they haven't written me a single letter yet, so how would I even know to be sympathetic?

Also, the reality of this week has been that I miss the kids a ton and feel kind of mopey. I know I'll be yelling at them within hours of their return, but for now they are my precious angels who are too darn far away.

I've decided that next summer, I will plan my free week better to take FULL advantage of it (cool weather, lunch dates with friends, and ample nudity).

Now for the "blogging messes with your mind" part of the post:

I don't know if this happens to you, but I find myself thinking about blogging quite often-- even in my sleep. In the midst of a crazy dream, for instance, I'll think, "I need to tell my blog friends about what just happened!"

When I wake up and realize it was all a dream, I feel disappointed. That's why you haven't heard about the time I tried to use a Chinese urinal, or the time I peed in front of Richard Gere and J. Lo at an upside-down nightclub. Am I the only one who is surprised I don't ever wet the bed?

I also think about blogging a lot during the day.

Today, for instance, I had 2 things I wanted to take pictures of and share with you, but I just couldn't do it.

One was in an "antique store"--and I'm using that name liberally-- where everything was piled together willy nilly. I was DYING to take a picture OF A PICTURE in a little silver frame. The subject? 2 middle aged people cavorting in a hot tub. We'll call them Tawny and Big Ron. Gross. Gross. Gross. Could they not have removed the photo???? Alas, no picture for you, as the "antique store" proprietress was watching me the whole time. She offered me 30% off, but I didn't bite.

The other thing I wanted to photograph was my dear next door neighbor's house. They are moving on very short notice and I am giving her my somewhat-solicited advice on staging the house.

Let me tell you, I'm putting the TOUGH in Tough Love. I wanted to take before and after pictures for you, since a lot of you are into houses like I am, but I didn't want to put any more pressure on her than she already feels.

Her husband is out of town, her daughter got her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday, they have to drive 20 hours to drop off their 4 pets halfway across the country, and the house goes on the market in 5 days! Needless to say, my friend is up to her ears in packing and probably would not have appreciated being a "before" picture, you know?

It has, however, piqued my interest in staging, and I'm toying with the idea of learning more about it. I'd love to get advice from any of you who have tried staging as a career. Thanks!

Well, I've got to go, Tom gets home from his softball game in 20 minutes and "Friday Night Lights" is calling my name!

Do It Yourself Party-- Black Side Tables

I love checking out Kimba's blog for great before and after shots at her "Do it Yourself" Parties.


I'm not sure if this counts as "Do It Yourself" because Tom actually painted these for me, but I'll share anyway.


I found these smelly, broken, little guys on a trash heap in the rain. They were once on either side of a mirrored vanity, but the mirror was long gone. The veneer was chipping off and the knobs had to go.

I thought of spray painting them white, but with Tom's recent comment that I was going a little overboard with all the white in the house, Tom sanded them lightly, painted them black with an oil based paint we already had, and we switched out the knobs with the old wooden knobs from my last dumpster dive .

They are now cute bedside tables in our guest room. Total Cost: $0

Check out the other projects on Kimba's website.

For Everything Else...

Telling the workman who helped hang your pocket doors, “No thanks. We will paint them ourselves. We’re handy that way and besides, we want it done immediately.”

Savings: $75.00

Calling the same workman exactly one year later to see if he will please paint the doors that you and your husband were too lame to get to.

Priceless.

Mocha Madness

All of my “Designed to Sell” episodes tell me to neutralize my décor, but I’m afraid I just did the opposite. After our textured ceiling was de-asbestosified and our gorgeous hardwood floors installed, it was painting time.

I chose a rich chocolate brown for my laundry room turned office. I parked the kids in front of the tv and the Wii console for the next 6 hours and opened my $60 gallon of paint (Benjamin Moore’s AURA line—truly the best paint I’ve ever used). I stirred the yummy chocolate colored paint. It looked just like the chocloate stream in Willy Wonka.

I had spent 2.5 hours taping around the 6 windows and doors and 8 electrical outlets (in a tiny 9x12 room!), when I finally was able to start cutting in with actual paint on my brush. I wanted to get finished before Tom got home from work, b/c we have wildly different painting personalities, and mine seems to stress him out. I like to tape her up and slather on the paint. He likes to paint slowly and carefully with lots of grunts and groans and little nuggets of wisdom like “Anna, it’s a lot easier to get no paint on the new floor than to clean it up later.” Thanks, Sherlock. Anyway, I wanted no comments from the peanut gallery as I tackled my new room.

After 2.5 more hours, the cutting in was complete, and Molly had taken a break from the tv long enough to paint her initial on one wall—a family tradition. I tensed up seeing my 6 year old brandishing a dripping paintbrush over our expensive new floors much in the same way Tom must feel watching me paint.

The cutting-in finished, I ate a truffle and admired my handiwork. Before my eyes, things began to change. As it dried, the paint went from Milk Chocolate, to Semi-sweet, to Special Dark to … Coffee? It dried to the darkest brown I’ve ever seen. You may ask what color I was using. I hesitate to tell you that the color was “French Press”-- an obvious coffee reference. But I can’t be the first one who has been screwed by faulty paint names. I just figured it was a bad name for creamy milk chocolate paint. After all, I learned the hard way there ain’t nothing delicate about Delicate Pink. Soooooo, knowing full well that my paint had a coffee name, I hoped for the best.

Now with a striped room with coffee-colored edges and a big “M” on in the middle, there was no turning back. I started rolling like a madwoman and soon had the world’s darkest office.

Molly’s verdict, “dark and depressing.” Tom diplomatically said, “It’s dramatic” and wisely refrained from reminding me of his choice, the innocuous light brown “Lodge.” The cleaning lady walked through and pronounced, “Miss Anna, for me, I like the lighter colors.” No comments from Jake or Shadow. So, from now on as I write this blog, I’ll be in my mocha paradise. Don’t be surprised if the blog takes a more “dramatic” turn given the new setting.