Adventures in Painting

So I decided to finally start carrying through on some of my bigger DIY's. The ladies in the church decided last minute that they want to throw me a housewarming party at my house next Sunday. So I'm thinking, okay, I'd like to have some of my ideas implemented before then. I'd already begun prepping the bathroom vanities for some painting--had them taped off, cleaned and the door pulls and toilet paper holders removed. Had the paint bought. Just needed to get the actual painting done.







Went home yesterday afternoon and got the ball rolling. Do you know that oil based primer STINKS? Ugh. Like, gosh awful intoxicating stink. And I made a mess with it. I think I may have gotten it too thick...you're only supposed to put on a light coat. But I was in the groove and maybe got carried away. Ended up with a ton of the stuff on my hands. And did you also know that unlike latex paint, oil based primer does NOT wash off with soap and warm water?



Yeah, I kinda knew that. I'd researched this process beforehand so it was there in the back of my mind. But they said it wouldn't come off the BRUSHES...didn't say anything about SKIN. Shoulda worn gloves, but seeing as how this was my first rodeo, I didn't really think about gloves at the time. So after priming two vanities and four cabinet doors, I went to wash my hands and...Oh noes! It's not coming off. Can says to use mineral spirits or paint thinner. I was starting to panic thinking, okay Lowe's is 45 minutes away and how am I going to drive 45 minutes with sticky oil based primer all over my hands. (I kid you not, it looked as though I'd used my hands instead of a roller and brush! lol)






And then a light bulb went off...Paint thinner...removing paint...hmmmm...Aha! Nail polish remover!! And it worked. (FYI, nail polish remover also removes the stain off of wood. Learned this yesterday, too. *shakes head*) I think I still have, like, three small spots on my hands that I couldn't get it off of and of course, some under my fingernails. Blech. But that's my tip to all you newbie DIY'ers like myself. Nail polish remover cleans oil based primer from hands. Yay! Totally glad to be a girl today, let me tell you. hehehehe


So I sat for about an hour and let the primer dry before tackling the paint. From the moment I walked into the house I've had a vision of what I wanted the guest bathroom to look like. Black vanity, green walls and black hardware with cream accessories. So I have a gallon of black latex paint that I knew wouldn't all go on one vanity so I decided, hey, you know what? Why not paint the guest AND the master bath vanities black. *shrug* So that's what I did.

Did ya'll know that black latex paint is messy? And that it, too, STINKS?? I swear, it's a wonder I can still breathe. I am actually smart enough that I had some fans going and all the windows in the house open but, sheesh, all that stuff is loud stinky. And messy.


Latex paint is drippy, just an FYI, again for all you newbie DIY'ers like myself. I dripped black paint all over the floor. And yeah, I know that's what drop cloths and stuff is for, but YOU try crawling around on plastic sheeting. I actually had to lay down to get the toe kick strip painted. I may or may not have gotten paint in my hair at this point. But you wanna know what's funny?? I didn't get a single drop of paint on my clothes!! LOL



So I stopped after the one coat and decided to let it dry over night before going over it with the second coat tonight. So far it looks pretty snazzy. There's a couple of spots on the front of the guest vanity that look a little sloppy where I think I'd had the primer too thick, but other than that, not bad! (And, well, there may or may not be a couple of black spots on the wall that I missed cleaning up but will get painted over sooner or later with green.)





The Devil Pup is impressed. Or not.



I slept with the windows open last night because, ya'll, the house still smells of primer and paint. Seriously hoping that the stench fades before Sunday afternoon! :-O


And so goes the tackling of my first major DIY project. Tonight's the second coat of paint and then, per the tips offered by Sherry and John over at Young House Love, it's about a four-five day wait on rehanging the cabinet doors and installing the new cabinet pulls.


Up next: Uncle R is supposed to come by this evening and change out light fixtures in both bathrooms, the entryway and the kitchen. So here's hoping that actually happens. Possibly, also later on this week, painting the bathroom walls. This, however, will require some help from Mama, so it may or may not happen. I'm thinking probably not. But here's to hoping.

Guest Bath with one coat of black...
All the little cabinet doors, lined in a row...Shiny.
Guest Bath: A rather heavy coat of primer...Bonus, you totally get to see what all I keep in my bathroom cabinets! LOL
One coat of Valspar's "New Black" later...A little rough in spots but for one coat, not half bad. I think I'm really gonna love it when it's done. If not, I guess I'll learn to live with it since I'm NOT going to strip it and redo! lol
Actually looks pretty good with just the white primer, huh? I actually almost rethought the black for like a nanosecond. You know, until I remembered I'd already spent the $20 on black...
Master Bath: The best "before" I could find. Dummy me, I forgot to get a good "before" shot before I started priming.