I am trying to paint a wall red in my basement. The cutting marks show overtly, as well as unevenness in the roller marks. I have painted two coats with no visual improvement. Is there something I can do to fix this, or do I have to start all over again by priming?
By Lena Triebe from Ottawa, Canada
Before painting a red wall, you should always use a grey primer. You can ask for it at your local hardware store. They can add the grey to the existing white primer. It makes a world of difference.
I once painted a 12' x 14' bedroom a deep library red in just 2 coats, using only one gallon of Sears premium paint, and no primer at all. This included a walk-in closet that was about 7ft deep, though in all honesty, the coverage was utter crap by the time I got to the lower half of the back wall of the closet, because I didn't want to go back to Sears and buy a quart just for that little bit, so I practically squeezed that roller dry and practically licked the can. Not like anyone was going to see it as a chest was going in front of it, so I called it good enough.
The room and closet had previously been painted lavender, and I painted red right over that with no primer at all. Lavender has grey undertones, so maybe that's why it worked?
I've painted a lot of rooms and the only time I've ever used primer was in the same house, 2 coats of it to cover up a brown accent wall in the living room - the rest of the LR walls were baby boy bedroom blue, ugh - as I knew the gold paint I was using wouldn't cover the brown unless I went and got another gallon of gold paint to do it. It covered the blue in 2 coats, and even with the 2 coats of primer on the brown it still took 2 coats of gold to finish, probably because the primer was off-white. In retrospect I should've used beige-tinted primer. I work without a net and also managed to spill a huge puddle of primer all over my carpet. That was fun to scrub up.
Also once painted a large (13' x 21') light grey LR with a gallon and a half of dark forest green, without primer. I don't find primer necessary before painting, unless the room or a wall is a very dark color, and you're painting it shades lighter.
I actually found this site because I'm having an issue with painting a life-sized white ceramic apple (part of a larger ornamental piece; I've apple-ized my kitchen) in red acrylic. It's irritating me that I can see every single brushstroke after 4 coats of paint, even though I tried a foam brush rather than a thick bristle art brush with the last coat. I've painted the seat of a black kitchen stool with a leafy branch and a few apples on it, and painting red over black was a lot easier than red over white. Just can't get it to the point where I can start accenting with bits of yellow, orange, and white. I guess I'll try some grey acrylic over my 4 coats of red and then re-paint and see if it helps any.
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I own my home and the bedroom was painted like this when I moved in. I want to paint my bedroom a deep red including the ceiling, with antique gold on the bottom face of the beams and dado rail. I may paint the furniture black; I want it to feel really warm and cocoon like.
My question is I have looked at loads of images on the net and most dark red bedrooms have a white ceiling which I don't like. Do you think the ceiling being red as well will look OK and should I paint the beams black or red?
Here's an interesting article, Glynnis: designlike.com/
Maybe also check Google Images, "red bedroom" and see if anything appeals to you? Most of what's portrayed is contrasted with white and black and looks pretty sharp.
Have fun!
I think this will feel like you are in the stomach of a wild animal!
I've read articles on "red" rooms. This color seems to relax people, make them hungry (that's why restaurants have red dinning rooms) and feel sexy. By painting the ceiling red and the beams black you will have a very oriental look to your room. Is that what you want to achieve? What "look" are you doing?
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I want to paint the wall above my chair rail deep red. Now two coats of Lowe's expensive red paint later it seems like every little imperfection shows. I am wondering, is it the red or the satin finish of paint causing this?
