Me and my big ideas. When I bought my house a year and a half ago, I had to move in quickly, and so I didnt have time to paint any of the rooms. The two bedrooms are absolutely hideous. One is bright baby girl pink and the other is bright lilac purple. Maybe that sounds nice if you like those types of colors, but I dont. I like earth tones, or mellow muted colors. So for my Spring/Summer project I decided to finally redo my bedroom. Paint it from purple to a color I like, and buy all new bedroom furniture. Its a very small room, so painting it should be easy, right? Youd think. Instead, I have to go to Home Depot and get this ridiculous grand idea. The walls are in rough shape, uneven drywall under the purple paint, lots of nail holes, flaws, etc.
So I thought, maybe Ill texture the wall. It would look pretty cool, like a stucco-type look, and the texture will cover all the flaws. So 3 gallons of paint, a 5 gallon bucket of joint compound, 3 paint rollers, one handle, one tray, 2 liners, 2 drop cloths, an empty 5 gallon bucket & lid, a big sea sponge, an trim edger, an angled paintbrush, 2 ½ hours and $163.43 later I come staggering out of Home Depot wondering what the heck I just got myself into. Sure, theres Martha Stewart special effect paint medium made for texturing walls for $45.00 per gallon PLUS the price of the paint color per gallon, which is like another $35.00 bucks. I say, no way! Im way too smart for that.
So I tell the paint department guy my brilliant plan. Ill use joint compound, mix it with the paint, and texture it that way. Ill save a ton. Im brilliant. He agrees with my brilliance and says thats been done (I really thought I invented it) and heres how to do it proceeds to explain mixing the paint into the joint compound, getting it to a frosting-like consistency, etc., etc. Turns out Ill need to double the paint and buy a big 5 gallon bucket of the joint compound to do this, but hey, Im still saving money, right?. But then it starts getting complex, and soon were discussing the ratio of compound to paint to use, how I dont want the texture too sharp, so once I roll it on with this textured roller I then need to take a sea sponge and tap down the peaks, plastic vs. paper vs. canvas drop clothes, flat paint vs. egg shell vs. satin vs. semi gloss vs. glossy, on and on.
I knew it was really bad when I went to get the joint compound and ended up in the lumber section buying a railing baluster to use as a paint stick because the guys at Home Depot were pretty sure that little ol me wouldnt be able to stir a bucket of this joint compound/paint mixture without breaking the paint stick. Even the baluster was my brilliant alternative to buying the suggested auger.
Then factor in that I brought my dad along, whos been a professional painter for 45 years and thinks I am absolutely out of my mind for wanting to texturize my wall at all when he spent his life perfecting the smoothing of painted surfaces for a living. The paint guys backed me and assured him that texturizing walls is commonly done these days and its not that insane after all. So Im pretty sure I drove the two paint department guys mad with my incessant questions in the middle of a busy Sunday afternoon, so on my way back from Lumber with my baluster and joint compound, I stop by to thank them for their time. The nicer of the two guys (okay fine, I mean the better looking one) had already punched out for the day and had left, but the other guy assured me that I wasnt a pain and said I was nice and also cute (cute!) and that he suggested to the guy who had left that he should have asked me for my number. So I leave feeling flattered and relieved that I wasnt as annoying as I thought I had surely been, in fact, Id apparently been cute and came home happy.
As I was struggling to carry in the five gallon bucket of joint compound and went back for the wooden baluster it suddenly dawned on me that I might be in a little bit over my head with this grand idea if I need a freaking railing to stir my paint. Now I start laughing my butt off (alone) at how absurd it all was. I was supposed to just go pick up a gallon of paint and a roller, and here I am with a giant bucket of joint compound and a 2 ½ foot piece of porch railing in my hand and wondering why I bothered with pressure treated wood!
Oh, and the best part might have been when my dad and I were talking to the paint guy, and my father is insisting that all I need is a runner drop cloth, and Im insisting that Im very messy and need to cover the entire carpet. My father is saying loudly, Do you mean to tell me that you cant paint a wall without dripping paint 4 feet away?! And Im yelling back, Yes, that is what I am telling you!! I WILL make a mess, trust me, I know me, I GUARANTEE I will make a mess and I will get it everywhere! All while people are looking on and the poor paint guy is standing there listening to us debate how much of a slob I truly am when it comes to paint. Why this guy later thought getting my number would be a good idea is beyond me. Maybe he was hoping to rehabilitate me, I cant say for sure. I certainly know it was not because I was having a good hair day
So it has yet to be seen just how much of a nightmare disaster I will actually create with this bedroom painting project, but if this is just the story of BUYING THE PAINT, Im guessing Im in for trouble.
**Added for clarity: My story was meant in jest. When I said "I guess I'm in for trouble", I meant simply that I complicated what started out as simply painting a wall. I did not meant that I don't think I can handle it; I just meant that now this will be a humorous and time consuming pain in the butt.
So I thought, maybe Ill texture the wall. It would look pretty cool, like a stucco-type look, and the texture will cover all the flaws. So 3 gallons of paint, a 5 gallon bucket of joint compound, 3 paint rollers, one handle, one tray, 2 liners, 2 drop cloths, an empty 5 gallon bucket & lid, a big sea sponge, an trim edger, an angled paintbrush, 2 ½ hours and $163.43 later I come staggering out of Home Depot wondering what the heck I just got myself into. Sure, theres Martha Stewart special effect paint medium made for texturing walls for $45.00 per gallon PLUS the price of the paint color per gallon, which is like another $35.00 bucks. I say, no way! Im way too smart for that.
So I tell the paint department guy my brilliant plan. Ill use joint compound, mix it with the paint, and texture it that way. Ill save a ton. Im brilliant. He agrees with my brilliance and says thats been done (I really thought I invented it) and heres how to do it proceeds to explain mixing the paint into the joint compound, getting it to a frosting-like consistency, etc., etc. Turns out Ill need to double the paint and buy a big 5 gallon bucket of the joint compound to do this, but hey, Im still saving money, right?. But then it starts getting complex, and soon were discussing the ratio of compound to paint to use, how I dont want the texture too sharp, so once I roll it on with this textured roller I then need to take a sea sponge and tap down the peaks, plastic vs. paper vs. canvas drop clothes, flat paint vs. egg shell vs. satin vs. semi gloss vs. glossy, on and on.
I knew it was really bad when I went to get the joint compound and ended up in the lumber section buying a railing baluster to use as a paint stick because the guys at Home Depot were pretty sure that little ol me wouldnt be able to stir a bucket of this joint compound/paint mixture without breaking the paint stick. Even the baluster was my brilliant alternative to buying the suggested auger.
Then factor in that I brought my dad along, whos been a professional painter for 45 years and thinks I am absolutely out of my mind for wanting to texturize my wall at all when he spent his life perfecting the smoothing of painted surfaces for a living. The paint guys backed me and assured him that texturizing walls is commonly done these days and its not that insane after all. So Im pretty sure I drove the two paint department guys mad with my incessant questions in the middle of a busy Sunday afternoon, so on my way back from Lumber with my baluster and joint compound, I stop by to thank them for their time. The nicer of the two guys (okay fine, I mean the better looking one) had already punched out for the day and had left, but the other guy assured me that I wasnt a pain and said I was nice and also cute (cute!) and that he suggested to the guy who had left that he should have asked me for my number. So I leave feeling flattered and relieved that I wasnt as annoying as I thought I had surely been, in fact, Id apparently been cute and came home happy.
As I was struggling to carry in the five gallon bucket of joint compound and went back for the wooden baluster it suddenly dawned on me that I might be in a little bit over my head with this grand idea if I need a freaking railing to stir my paint. Now I start laughing my butt off (alone) at how absurd it all was. I was supposed to just go pick up a gallon of paint and a roller, and here I am with a giant bucket of joint compound and a 2 ½ foot piece of porch railing in my hand and wondering why I bothered with pressure treated wood!
Oh, and the best part might have been when my dad and I were talking to the paint guy, and my father is insisting that all I need is a runner drop cloth, and Im insisting that Im very messy and need to cover the entire carpet. My father is saying loudly, Do you mean to tell me that you cant paint a wall without dripping paint 4 feet away?! And Im yelling back, Yes, that is what I am telling you!! I WILL make a mess, trust me, I know me, I GUARANTEE I will make a mess and I will get it everywhere! All while people are looking on and the poor paint guy is standing there listening to us debate how much of a slob I truly am when it comes to paint. Why this guy later thought getting my number would be a good idea is beyond me. Maybe he was hoping to rehabilitate me, I cant say for sure. I certainly know it was not because I was having a good hair day
So it has yet to be seen just how much of a nightmare disaster I will actually create with this bedroom painting project, but if this is just the story of BUYING THE PAINT, Im guessing Im in for trouble.
**Added for clarity: My story was meant in jest. When I said "I guess I'm in for trouble", I meant simply that I complicated what started out as simply painting a wall. I did not meant that I don't think I can handle it; I just meant that now this will be a humorous and time consuming pain in the butt.
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