Painting: Questions Answered + Saving Time & Frustration
Since our last post; Tips for Picking out your Next Paint Color, we’ve had a couple of questions come in that I wanted to address, PLUS a few painting tips we want to share.
First, yes, Autumn Haze by Glidden IS what we have in our living room and like I mentioned before, most of our house, upstairs and down.
Secondly, yup, we ALWAYS purchase samples of the paint we’re thinking of using and test it out with large swatches on the wall(s) first. It ain’t so glamorous, it’s sometimes time consuming and absolutely creates a few extra trips to the store… but DEFINITELY the smartest and most crucial step in the “paint picking process”.
You may ask, what’s happened in the past when we’ve invested in painting the wrong color?… well, frustration of course… but usually never about the expense of the paint, as much as about the time and energy wasted painting, just to realize you HATE the way the color looks in your space. Ugh… that’s the worst feeling ever! So before you get completely set on a color at your local hardware store, research out some helpful tools like the My Image Inspiration or Color My Room Tool over at MyColortopia. Using resources like these, along with taking the extra time to test out different colors directly on your wall, will save you tons of painting drama.
Lastly, it’s true, we cut-in and edge more than we tape.
Every time I post a picture of us painting anything, it never fails, one of the first comments is, “How are you doing that without tape?” or “Don’t you guys need to tape the space off first!?”.
Well, I’m here to tell ya, that after painting 1,347,399 different walls and rooms… you become somewhat of an expert. LOL.
Alright, the real secret, is mastering the cutting-in technique, which you can see below in this Show Me How Glidden video.
Also, using a few choice tools for the job makes painting go SO MUCH faster!
Honestly, I know that picking paint can seem somewhat intimidating at first, but if you go in with a plan, it’s much easier to tackle.
– Decide what shade you want to paint your room.
– Stop by your local paint or hardware store and pick out a few swatches of your chosen shade that catch your eye.
– Bring those home FIRST, and hang them up. Do you like the way they look? If yes, then invest in getting small samples of the few colors you’re debating on, go home and paint large swatches on the wall and live with them for a few days.
– If you’re still having a hard time deciding, simply Google your paint color in an image search. You’ll be amazed at how many different pictures of rooms will pop up with that exact one! This can sometimes give you a really good idea of what the finished outcome will look like.
In the end, the best thing about paint, is that it’s ALL fixable! Think about it like getting your hair done. Bad hair color is ALWAYS manageable, right?… a bad haircut on the other hand – notsomuch.
Seriously though, you’re not tearing down a wall or ripping up flooring… it’s JUST PAINT, go for it!
๐
This post was sponsored by Glidden Paint. Regardless, I only post about products or companies I love. All ideas and opinions are 100% my own.
Jen says
I like to think that I'm a very seasoned painter. I started painting, with my dad, who did it professionally, my whole life, when I was about 8. I'm in the process of revamping my daughters room, and for the first time, bought paint and primer in one. I started painting and got a wall and a half done before I stepped back to see how it was looking. My heart dropped to my toes and panic ensued when I saw the newly painted wall crackling and literally melting off the wall in some areas, like it was being repelled or something freaky like that. I had to stop my painting immediately and scrape the paint off of the large areas that this was happening to. Can you give me any insight as to WHY that happened? I've totally lost my mojo and don't even want to go back in there to try again. My hubby seems to think that I was putting too much on, that my coat was too thick, but I've painted as many walls as you have. I know what I'm doing!! I have pictures, if you'd like to see what I'm talking about. I didn't think there was any difference in how to apply paint and primer in one, but maybe there is. Did I miss something I should have done first? HELP!!!!!!
valentinegirl says
It sounds like you might have been painting over an old oil based paint. There are easy ways to figure out if that is what happened to you–just google how to determine if the old paint is oil or latex
Anonymous says
I TOTALLY agree with ALWAYS getting paint samples. Yes, it may cost you a few extra dollars and it may cause a little more time spent but IT IS SO WORTH IT. When we moved into our house we made the mistake of choosing a color and just going ahead and buying SIX GALLONS of it. Well, when we finally got around to painting the room we HATED the color. It was awful. I tried to get the paint exchanged (we opened one can of paint and painted about a two foot by two foot section before we realized we hated it) and the store didn't want to work with me at all. I might have let it go if it was one gallon of paint, but six?! I wasn't going to stop there. I actually ended up writing a letter to corporate and a year later they allowed me to exchange the paint color for something else – and yes, I absolutely got samples that time. (In all honesty an exchange is what I wanted, not a full refund or anything like that.) Plus, you can always use the samples of paint as touch ups later and use the colors you didn't actually pick for other projects/crafts.
Runt
runtspickins[at]yahoo.com
runtspickins.wordpress.com
Christina says
Was it humid Jen?
Leigh Anne says
Love the tips! And I am going to look into the autumn haze…. Looks like a warm neutral ;).
Unknown says
were you painting latex over oil based paint?
Unknown says
were you painting latex over oil based paint?
Linda says
Perhaps the paint that was on there pryer was an oil based paint? Just a thought.
Cat says
Jen, the same thing happened to me with Behr paint—it sloughed off my walls! From that day forward I have been using Benjamin Moore as they rescued my walls and saved the day!
Cat