Sunday, February 7, 2010 | By: Sara

Painting: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.

So, I decided to paint one of the rooms in our house to make it a little more "homey". Here is my adventure. I actually learned some stuff on the way (one being that I really don't like the act of painting itself....just the end result.)

I started out with two-toned yellow walls and a groovy wallpaper border. I used some fabric softener diluted in water and an awesome scrapy device to easily remove the wallpaper border (after trying a few different methods first).


Groovy Wallpaper Border
Nasty be gone

Awesome Scrapy Device



Voila!
BEFORE

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*
*
AFTER


Yes.....It's pink. :D

(This is me working hard)
A Bunch of Tips for Painting that I learned the Hard Way:
1- Use masking tape on places you want really sharp lines (Not painter's tape)
2- Always do 2 coats! (Expecially if the first one looks like poo)
3- Use the same texture for the walls as the cut-in (Rollers for both worked the best)
4- Don't let the paint dry before you take off the painter's tape
5- If you do let the paint dry, cut along the edge with a razor before taking off the tape
6- Keep LOTS of paper towels
7- Try really hard not to spill on the drop clothes
8- Don't put too much paint on the walls and don't press too hard
9- Pay somebody to do this next time.....
Nooo, it really wasn't that bad. I am just not a professional and too picky for my own good. You always find the flaws in your own work.
Either way, I'm not planning on quitting my day job.
~S :D

4 comments:

Emily said...

Sara - it looks awesome! I love the color too - it will be perfect for your craft room {or a girls room for that matter, totally fun color!}. I learned how much I hated painting when all the other kids ditched me in painting the basement bedroom at our mom and dad's house... can you say wood paneling?? UGH!

Aspen said...

You forgot one tip.... Don't agree to dogsit when you're painting! Otherwise you'll be cleaning up paint AND poo ;)

*Brandi said...

Nice work Sara-bo-berra! Painting is a LOT of work, and it looks great!

Britt said...

Oh...the joys of painting. I learned the hard way that you should remove the painter's tape before everything dries. If you ever see our house...and we haven't repainted you will see all my lovely mistakes! Every wall in our house is the same color because we both can't stand to paint. BUT....seeing this awesome transformation is somewhat tempting me to paint a room. We'll see...maybe next year. :)