Sunday, November 12, 2006

My white whale...the red room

Thank you all for the painting advice. We're doing ok with every single room...except the red room. We now have three coats up and I'm debating bothering with another. If I can disguise enough with borders, wallies, signs, posters and curtains then the streaky effect might add to the juvenile feel to the room. I hope. But then again, it might just be my albatross...driving me crazy every single day when I walk into that room. Hard to tell.

This is not our first adventure in interior painting. And we have pretty much broken every rule there is out there...learning by trial and error, you might say. I wish someone had been around when we first bought this house to tell me I would NOT be happy with paint over wallpaper, no matter how lazy I might be. eeks! That room will be getting a re-do...no doubt about it. lol

We are using semi-gloss because we have six dogs and matte finish paint just doesn't hold up well to the dirt and grime. Semi-gloss looks a little shiny for my taste and does show more of the flaws in the wall and the paint job, but it's worth it for the easy wash-ability factor.

After this project is over, we will have painted every single wall in our home at least once. And I can honestly tell you that we will NEVER be painting red again ourselves. Hell...we'll never be painting any of the walls again. I'll pay somebody from now on...the thrill has definitely worn off.

So here is an update after yesterday's efforts...
Yes, you can see the schizophrenia going on in our lives illustrated by this room. Neutral colors as a guest room. Bright color ceiling fan...just in case...

MY closet...

The laundry room...

So every room is painted. Now we need to do the hallways and common areas and we will be done with walls. Now we have trim to debate. We are committed to purple trim in Sam's bathroom. The rest I'm not sure of. We're installing white doors and the trim is natural wood. I'm not sure whether to stain the trim or paint it to match the doors. We have almost all white trim in the downstairs of the house, so I think maybe I should do the same upstairs. And we'll have neutral carpet in the two small bedrooms, neutral tile in the bathrooms, and wood laminate in the master bedroom and the common area and hallways. Hmmm...decisions, decisions, decision...

6 comments:

Anna said...

I love-love-love red. Our den is red. Took three coats and was a PITA to paint and even out, but I love it. I think the red room is awesome, and the Cars border and accessories are just great!! Sam will LOVE it. :) Oh, and (not that you asked) I vote for painting the trim vs. staining it. I'll look great!!

Clare said...

Yes, I'm with Anna about how awesome a red room can look. But red gloss paint is notoriously tricky to diy well. If it were me, I would go another coat so it didn't irritate me every time I went in that room. But it will look amazing with the boarders and everything else in there when it's finished. and what a huge job you guys have done already painting EVERY single room in your house at least once!!! YOu guys are just too cool!

Julie said...

And what goes through my mind is The Shining, what with "Red room, Red Room, Red ROOM, RED ROOM REDROOM REDROOM REDROOM!!!"
See, it really can drive you crazy.
:D
Seriously though, it looks faboo.

kate said...

You painted over *wallpaper*? Oy vey. Why didn't you ask me?

I had alot of trouble with my kitchen cabinets the same way -- only they are bright blue, rather than red. But it's the same problem. Luckily the cabinets are much...uh...smaller than a whole room! I did them first, too, so that made me decide against strong colors. Which i am scared of anyway.

Yeah, i hate painting too. I need to repaint everything downstairs now, too. I would definitely hire someone if i could afford it. UGH.

sillyhummingbird said...

it took my husband about 40 coats of 2 different types of red paint to do our dining room. A LOT of effort, but seriously one of our favorite rooms in the house color-wise. it'll look great!

grumpyABDadjunct said...

Have you tried changing rollers with the red paint? You might get better coverage with a different pile on the roller.

I can sympathise on the painting overload. After we painted our bedroom (tiny, with a bed that can't be easily moved out so we painted around it) and dressing room when I was about 8 months pregnant we vowed 'never again!' Of course that was after I'd made the same vow after painting our built-in bookshelves the summer before...I think I have amnesia where painting is concerned!

Mom

My mom insisted on living independently. She wanted to live in the two-story house she and my dad built in the 70s, despite the fact that da...