Paint This House!

For the past two days, we have been painting.  Well, I painted on Friday, Clay helped today, and we spent almost 8 hours each day doing so.

Here are some things I learned:

PRIME.  Prime dark colors, or any color that isn't white, unless all of your walls in the room are "light colored walls" and the same "light color."  Otherwise, you run the risk of applying the paint and having it turn up different shades as a result of the under-color.

Some paints have primer in them.  Great!

Don't skimp on paint.  Cheap often means, well, cheap.  This is going on your walls, people!  Everyone sees these and you see them everyday.  Every little dink, miss-roll, or uneven application will show up, so do some research.  At Home Depot, they'll all tell you to go with Behr.  Otherwise, most people recommend Sherwin Williams.  They have different grades of paint.  We chose the paint and primer in one for the interior white for our baseboards and doors, and the Emerald paint for the wall color.  Emerald Pain has a great texture to it, but it will show a little more brush marks.  On the other end, it wears really well and is one of the few paints that is washable!!!! (perks for those with kids, animals, or, like me, just someone who has a tendency to spill and break things randomly!)

Go for color!  Don't be afraid of it, but also know the space you're in.  Darker colors will make the room look smaller. If you're in a loft, try a neutral: greys or beige.  The fact that all the walls connect from one room to the other makes it difficult to color the rooms differently, and too many "accent walls" only makes a loft look choppier than it is! 

Our choice?  Grayish, 6001 by Sherwin Williams.  I am in LOVE with the color.  It's a bluer neutral as opposed to a yellow/brownish neutral, and in certain lights looks almost white while other sections have a purple/blue tinge to them!  LOVE.  Very lofty.  Very cool.  Very industrial / modern.

Now, we just need to finish!  Two coats.  ALWAYS go with 2 coats.  And wine or beer and lots of good music or background noise.  It makes the time go by faster and gives you something to look forward to when you finish!