A lot of people have been painting red in their homes these days. If your thinking of trying it out here is my best advice to avoid countless coats of paint. If the wall has never been painted, get a primer tinted as dark as the paint mixer will let you. Just ask them to add black. If the wall is already primed get another gallon of cheaper paint and have that mixed to a deep mauve or rose color and use that as a base.
Magenta colorant is naturally transparent so to take your deep red paint and put it up on a white wall will take many coats (and maybe many trips to the paint store to get just one more quart). Using a darker base will save on time and money. Hope this helps someone out!
By Casie Peltier
I had a painter tell me that it was really hard to get red paint on a wall correctly even with multiple coats of paint. Anything with a sheen is even worse. His solution was to use a faux technique with more than one shade of red. I would think that sponging would be nice. I always wanted a red bedroom and maybe I will try it one day! (02/10/2005)
By Ellen
I always wanted my living/dining room red. Because it is a very long large room without enough trim in a contrast color, it was a bit overwhelming. Also, the choice of red I selected was probably not right, red is a funny color. I'm sick of it now and soon will go to a neutral color, partly due to the fact I will in the future place my home on the market. Otherwise, I might try another shade of red. If I hadn't tried it I'd still be yearning for the red room. But now, been there, done that, no regrets, ready for the change! (07/27/2005)
By Sharon
Being a fan of red, it can be a pain to paint if not primed properly. If you have watched Trading Spaces (and who hasn't), you will see that they like to use primer tinted pink under red walls. What you DON'T see is what the walls really look like later. It's been my experience over and over to prime your surface with a darker primer as Casie suggests. I recently painted our front door red and used a gray tinted primer. The door still took two coats but I always paint two or more coats on everything.
Reds can be 'tricky' to work with. If you aren't sure about painting your entire room in a shade of red, pick a shade that you like, buy a quart and paint a 2' x 2' square of it on your wall. Look at it for a week or so and then decide. At least if you don't like it, you haven't invested a lot of money.
Also, darker colors and glossy paint show more blemishes than lighter ones. If you want a red room (my kitchen and dining room are painted in brick red), use satin, eggshell or flat paint. When we bought our house, the master bedroom was painted in dark green gloss. I could see every blemish and it was very difficult to cover this and in fact, I had to actually put a texture on my walls. So painter, beware! (01/10/2006)
A gray primer is best. Never use a pink tinted primer. When ever you use a brush to paint around the edges and elect. outlets and then use a roller to fill in, where they overlap you see the difference. The light reflects off the white or pink primer showing the areas that have fewer coats. Using a gray primer reduces this reflection and makes it more even. You can use any brand of paint, the link is to confirm this tip. http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/problem/tips/bases.jsp
Oh, anther tip is: You get what you pay for when it come to paint. (06/25/2006)
By Smith
I just completed painting my dining room Cranberry by American Tradition and Signature Eggshell (Lowe's). This is the most beautiful color I've ever seen in a red! But, it comes with some trial and error that I'm happy to share.
First, use the grey primer that the store mixes for you according to the brand recommendation - it really does help. It is a light grey, and you may not think it will make a difference, but it does. It eliminates 2-3 coats of the red you will have to use without it. I used primer and 2 coats and it was great.
Next, wait AT LEAST 3-5 DAYS before snarling in disgust at the streaks/strokes visible in the room. They will go away! This paint is very thick and takes about a week to fully dry - really. After that, you can decide if you need another go-around, but you shouldn't.
Lastly, a very important tip: score your blue tape line on the edge with a razor before you pull it off the baseboards and window frames. As I said, the paint is thick and areas often will peel right off along with the tape if you don't. I learned this the hard way on one window.
One more thing I noticed in my case; using the same roller direction kept the lines at a minimum. For example, if you start at the top and roll down, keep it that way on the whole wall, not up and down and over and diagonal, etc. You will have a few lines running up and down with the roller strokes, but again, these will fade in a few days.
I absolutely love this color - it looks so rich and classy.
Good luck to all of you! (10/23/2006)
By Bridget
Red is a beautiful color but I noticed something that no one else had said. Colors and moods go hand in hand. Jails use baby blue on their walls because it is a calming color to the inmates, red on walls does just the opposite. Just a little FYI, if you are considering this color on your walls! (10/23/2006)
By patty
I painted a room red and it was a complete pain in the butt to do it. I made the mistake of using the pink tinted primer instead of the grey primer. By the time I was done I needed nine coats of paint on the wall to sufficiently cover the primer. (12/26/2006)
By Dave
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