With the walls textured, I thought it was time to prime and paint the walls. It was finally going to happen. Think again! I left the existing mirror hanging on the wall, which turned out to be a problem. We bought a new vanity for the kids' bathroom but I never got around to measuring the distance from the floor to the bottom of the mirror to see if it fit. Allison and I finally got around to doing it and discovered there wasn't enough clearance for the vanity, which meant we had to take down the mirror and I take care of the wall beneath it.
We gently pried the mirror from the wall without breaking it. Beneath it, the wall looked to be in pretty good shape. I took the opportunity to spackle some holes in the wall. A few days later, I returned to prime and to texture the wall. Again, it took about 30 minutes to prep, 10-15 minutes to shoot it, and 45 to clean up. But this time, I did it in the morning. I let it dry for a few hours and then returned to prime it.
It was about 95% dry so I went ahead and primed it.
I came back later that night with Allison and we were ready to start the top coat of paint. Elise asked for a green color. (Allison believes she was influenced by me because my default color of choice is green.)
Prior to this evening of painting, I'd researched the technique of cutting in without taping off surfaces. Family Handyman had an article on "How to Paint a Room Fast." First, use a screwdriver and etch a small line where the walls come together. This creates a small channel or moat between the two surfaces, which helps to keep paint from crossing it. Second, when you're freehanding, use less wrist and more shoulder motion. You want to try and make long and straight brush strokes. Third, make sure your brush is loaded with paint. Finally, have a wet rag handy to wipe up mistakes when you have one (trust me, you will make mistakes. I did but they cleaned up right away with the rag.).
We put down the first coat in one evening and then came back the following evening to put down the second and last coat. We think it came out quite well.
We gently pried the mirror from the wall without breaking it. Beneath it, the wall looked to be in pretty good shape. I took the opportunity to spackle some holes in the wall. A few days later, I returned to prime and to texture the wall. Again, it took about 30 minutes to prep, 10-15 minutes to shoot it, and 45 to clean up. But this time, I did it in the morning. I let it dry for a few hours and then returned to prime it.
It was about 95% dry so I went ahead and primed it.
I came back later that night with Allison and we were ready to start the top coat of paint. Elise asked for a green color. (Allison believes she was influenced by me because my default color of choice is green.)
Prior to this evening of painting, I'd researched the technique of cutting in without taping off surfaces. Family Handyman had an article on "How to Paint a Room Fast." First, use a screwdriver and etch a small line where the walls come together. This creates a small channel or moat between the two surfaces, which helps to keep paint from crossing it. Second, when you're freehanding, use less wrist and more shoulder motion. You want to try and make long and straight brush strokes. Third, make sure your brush is loaded with paint. Finally, have a wet rag handy to wipe up mistakes when you have one (trust me, you will make mistakes. I did but they cleaned up right away with the rag.).
We put down the first coat in one evening and then came back the following evening to put down the second and last coat. We think it came out quite well.
Looks great! Good color choice, Elise! Clem just sent me your blog today, so now I am caught up and looking forward to following your work. I'm very impressed!
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