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Goodbye Salmon Sushi

OUR 2nd HOUSE

Salmon Sushi is what I think of when I see Will’s room.  Just like how our rag rolled bathroom reminded me of raw ground beef…weird.

 

And you wanna hear something crazy?  This room actually photographed better than it looked in real life.  To the naked eye, it was like snorting bleach.  it BURNS.  I do not know that from experience…and will take the retina-searing wall treatment as an alternative.

And yes, we lived with this hideousness for way too long. 

That’s one of the reasons I was thrilled when True Value asked if I would be willing to review their new paint and primer in one. 

I have no idea why we pose with the True Value bear but it’s now a tradition. 

Then we went in right away to check out this new EasyCare Platinum paint. 

I must admit that I’ve been having a tough time picking out what I really want to do in that space.  It’s one theme one day, the next it’s totally different.  Sailboats, robots, dinosaurs, rainbow colors….it’s endless.  But it’s difficult for me to pick something since this little guy surprises me every day. 

So in the end, I did what any normal indecisive girl would do.  I chose white.  I took a swatch of Allen + Roth’s Subway Tile white in with me and the fine folks at True Value colormatched two gallons for me.

Will is a fan and he hasn’t even seen it on the walls yet.  THAT’s how much he hates the salmon sushi walls.

oh and yeah – my teeth look ridiculous…like I’m signaling aliens for landing.  ET call home!

Okay – so you should know that it took me three weeks to get two coats on the walls.  It took forever. 

The painting process itself didn’t take long and frankly I am surprised how well the first coat covered the pink on pink.

That’s my mom helping out again…literally I would get nothing done without her help.  And when she can’t watch Will, we put him down in a pack n play in the guest bedroom closet. 

There he is cuddling with all his ‘creatures’…my little belly sleeper 🙂

The room actually started breathing when we put on that first coat.  It became a live again.  I started noticing things in the room – like how the ceiling is actually painted and the trim is all this dirty cream color and how there is even cable to the high corner.

And for the grand reveal – we have a very blank slate.  WHEW! 

Anything is better than the pink salmon sushi walls.   Oh and you may notice that we moved some of the furniture around a bit. 

Okay – so let’s get down to brass tax.  Here’s how I feel about the new paint & primer in one…

PROS :

  • Two coats and our walls are decently covered
  • Did not drip or run even when we put it on liberally
  • This was probably the hardest challenge any paint would go through – and it came out looking like way more than just two coats.
  • The paint dried fast…so fast that we could put Will back in there after his nap and the walls were done. 

CONS :

  • This stuff dried fast…so fast that we had to clean out the roller pan because the dried clumps were transferring onto the wall
  • The paint was thick…so two gallons could do two coats…no more (and if I was being really picky, I would have done one more coat)

I give the paint a 8.7 outta 10.  Sorry True Value, I know you would want a 10 outta 10 but I’m like those Chinese judges at the Olympic’s gymnastics…they always seem to score lower to leave room for the best.

So that’s the start of our nursery…not bad considering it looked like this only 6 short months ago:

Remember that horrible carpet?  I do.  Like I said…snorting bleach. 

 

Dear Salmon Sushi…I will not miss you and your ragrolled texture.  I hope you had a good life and hope you are enjoying 1993 heaven the rest of your ugly wall treatment friends.  Say hello to my old pal – the floral wallpaper border in mint green and pink coral.  We go way back.  Goodbye Salmon Sushi…goodbye.

p.s.  I do not recommend snorting anything.  unless it’s laughter.  or one of those netti pots. 

“I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.”

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Comments

  1. Wow! what a difference. seriously, how many rooms in your house are rag rolled? 3? craziness! i love the white. it actually IS like a breath of fresh air. i look forward to seeing what you create for that space.

  2. It looks AH-MAZING. I agree with shannon…3 rag-rolled rooms? what were they thinking? And was that purple carpet!? Or did the salmon sushi just reflect that purply-ness onto your carpet?
    Well done, well done.

  3. Wow. It really is amazing what paint can do to transform a room. And I see Will is still enjoying his rhino I sent. That makes me happy. 🙂

  5. What an improvement!!!! One weird question (and I’m sure it’s somewhere on the blog already) where is Will’s crib from???

  6. Tah-dah! Looks great! I will admit, I thought this was going to be a pregnancy reveal! But I don’t think you eat sushi?!
    Congrats on getting it done!!

  7. Really like the “dirty cream color” molding. When I was a kid the only options my dad would let us paint any of the rooms were white and off-white. Definitely like the off-white!

  8. Wow! What a difference! That paint looks/sounds super easy to use. Thanks for the review. How was the price of it? Are you allowed to comment on that?

    Gotta love a blank slate. I’m sure you will make Will’s room into something special – can’t wait to see what you do with it!!

  10. I don’t know why, but that amazing crown moulding is screaming to me to be painted navy blue. Not the other trim, but the crown for some reason.

  13. I would really love to see the current house of whatever crackhead picked out the design scheme for your place.
    My eyes burn.

  14. Bleck! That salmon sponge wall treatment was so bad. I love paint – it changes everything and really helps to make your house your home. (Sorry for the cheese but it’s true).

    The white paint reminds me of my bedroom growing up. My mother let us paint the walls whatever color we wanted ONCE and then we’d have to live with it through high school. Being the type of girl that switched my bedroom furniture around every 6 months and rotated wall art faster than Hugh Hefner rotates girlfriends, I chose an off-white.

    My mom hated it more than my sisters purple ceiling but it bounced around the sunshine and made me happy when I suddenly decided to change up my accessories.

    Ah, foreshadowing…

    🙂 Emily

  15. Ahhhhhhh… It’s a little blah right now until you work your Katie Magic, but the salmon sushi is in a better place now.

    Kadooz! (Ramona Singer from RHNYC) to your mom — she’s the best. xo

  20. Did you see that episode of DesignStar on HGTV where the lady took a screwdriver and punched some holes in the paint can rim?!? You just do it in that little groove where the lid fits in, and the paint drips back into the can after you pour it/ wipe your brush on the edge. I’m a MESSY painter, and this was life changing!! 😀 Makes you want to paint something else right now just to try it, huh?

  21. My dad did the same thing to me. He said, you can paint it once, I’ll buy the paint, but you have to paint. It took me MONTHS to get it done … and when it was done it was flamingo pink, except for one wall that was green. I still love the green, but I wish I could paint the rest of the room white or off white. Though I don’t live there anymore, I do stay in that room when I come home. Ohhh the memories.

    I also changed my room around a lot! It was kind of crazy how much, my room was small and it was moved every way it possible could of been without moving the furniture out in the hall way! Hahah. It would be like 9pm at night and I’d be moving furniture around, when dad came up to say night, he’d be like “oh you changed it around again..”

  22. Oh yay! What a breath of fresh air! Love the globes up on the armoire. Maybe they could be the inspiration pieces for the big boy room???

  23. Wow. The salmon sushi walls with the purple carpet is probably the most eye-assaulting combination I’ve ever seen. Truly awful. I wish you had been able to meet the former owners of your home, just to see what kind of person decorates rooms this way.

  24. Much much better! Looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.
    I loved the quality of the Easy Care. Great for covering lumpy plastered old farmhouse walls. 😉

  25. Well, at least it’s done now so people can stop screaming at you to paint it. Keep doing things your way and in your own time Katie. We’ll still keep coming back to read no matter what you post about.

    P.S. The new paint looks lovely, by the way.

  26. Congratulations! That is such an improvement. 🙂 I’d be sighing relief everytime I came into Will’s room! He must love it too!!

  27. I bet those salmon-sushi walls were giving Will nightmares. Here’s hoping the white walls induce some long nights of sleep for all of you :).

    Don’t discount a pretty trim color (blue?) when thinking about how you want to tackle the rest of the room. Excited to see what you make of it!

  28. Girl…huge change. Looks great. I never noticed before, but the carpet is actually grey. The sushi salmon pink casted a weird glow on it and it looked…not grey. Anyway, congrats on the freshness of the space and can’t wait to see what theme you decide on!

  29. I laughed when you said you put little Will in the closet. Then I went ‘Awwww’ because I found out you REALLY put Will in the closet and it is SO CUTE! The white looks SO much better than the pink I don’t know how you put up with it this long…

  30. It’s amazing how white walls can look so much better compared to that awful salmon sushi color. It just looks so fresh and clean and updated. BTW – I love that you do things at your own pace because no one is perfect. It takes me way too long to get things done around my house because of life and work and every other thing, so I enjoy the fact that I can relate to you.

  31. I have to say, that looks 100 times better!! That pink was freaking me out, so I can’t imagine how Will felt!! 😉 and can I ask, what made you do a dark crib with the two other furniture pieces being white? Do you like the contrast, was it other furniture coming into the room after you bought the crib (because I though his dresser used to be in your kitchen at the old house)?

  32. Hilarious- when I read the title of your post I thought that this was a pregnancy announcement, as in you could no longer eat sushi. I was thinking, “it’s not just salmon sushi, really it all types….” and then “Oh- I get it!”

    Love the blank slate, and can’t wait to see what you do with it!

  33. This comment made my day since it is so true and funny – “like those Chinese judges at the Olympic’s gymnastics”

  34. YAY! goodBYE sushi, fish egg pink! Good for you, girlfriend. This is probly THE room I am most excited about you finishing. Numero uno, just because the pallet wall in his last room was a showstopper, all over Pinterest. Can’t wait to see version 2.0. Just jump in! Cannonball style!

  36. Wow! That room as it was originally is probably the most hideous room I have ever seen! What sane person would spend time and money to make it look that way?? Yuck! I can’t believe you lived with it for that long! It looks MUCH better now! Can’t wait to see what you do with the blank slate now!

  37. When I saw your comment about 3 weeks, I laughed, because I have no babies (I guess grad school is my ‘baby’), but it took me MONTHS to get my act together between having a room that was half primed to one that was actually painted. To me, painting is an undertaking — moving and covering everything, keeping our cats out of the room, etc.

  39. It looks so much better right now. My parents had wallpaper fever in the 90s and did the whole house except for the living room. NOT PREETY.

    BTW Have you announced the steam mop giveaway winner yet? I remembered because it’s “cleaning the floors day” here today :-S

  40. Love the white! I say make on wall chalk board and let the litte man go to town 🙂 Yes, I know the obvious issue of “let him color on one wall and he will color on all walls” but I still think it would be amazing.

  43. I know I for one feel better!!! Fewww!! I vote for a nice light blue for the real color!! I saw the globes in the room…and I think that would be a nice direction. I am not into themes though…they just get ya in a rut!!

  44. I never cease to be amazed at how much of a difference paint makes! Our ENTIRE house was sponge-painted like it was 1990 when we bought it. Including doors and doorknobs. We also had some 1980’s colored wallpaper borders in the bathroom, some of which was collaged together to create a unique pattern. Oh and the trim was all a creamy/almondy color. I couldn’t paint that house fast enough — hubby was out of town the day after closing and I conquered the house alone in a week. I painted from when I got home from work to 2am every day. It looks like a totally different house!

    One of the rooms I painted a Martha Stewart brick red, but I’m totally tired of it already. I might have to pick up some of that paint you used to cover it without having to do 6 coats.

    P.S. Every time I eat salmon sushi from this day forward, I’ll be thinking of your ex-hideous room.

  48. Thank you so much for painting! Every time you showed a picture my eyes hurt. I look forward to whatever you choose to do!

  50. Love the “blank slate” the white paint provided… Now maybe you can actually think when you walk into the space… Your little man will probably sleep better too! Looking forward to reading about theme selection… I know the room will be “handsome”.

  52. Looks amazing! Will should be able to sleep so much better now that the wall color isn’t glaring through his thin little eyelids…also you’re teeth are amazing 🙂

  53. Wow….. talk about a 1000 percent improvement! That pink made feel like I was in an episode of The Magic Schoolbus taking a tour of the human digestive system. LOL

    I love the white. I think it would look good two ways… either a red, white and blue nautical theme with the globes, etc. Or white, brown, tan…. with burlap, rustic wood, etc.

    Anything is an improvement over that horrid pink. LOL

  56. I am still trying to figure out why someone would think that a salmon color, rag rolled wall treatment would perfectly compliment a purple rug. My eyes were bleeding. The white with the cream is a 100% improvement. Good work! And yay for moms! They are always there when you need them!

  57. It’s funny how you don’t notice the ‘shade’ of trim until you paint the room… happened in our family room! Oh well, living with ‘cream’ for now. Anyway, room looks so.much.better – you got it right by saying it can now ‘breathe’ – awesome!

  59. Looks sooooooo much better. Great job.
    Just curious–why do you put blankets ont he side of Will’s crib/ playpen?

  61. Much better! Can’t wait until you paint the trim too. Why is the white dresser in there instead of the buffet that used to be his changing table/dresser? Just curious. Also, I have to put in a vote that I LOVED Will’s woodsy-owl nursery and I think you should try to recreate it here…maybe that’s boring but I just loved his original nursery so much, I miss it, especially that gallery wall with the owls!! 🙂 I know whatever you decide to do will be amazing.

  62. Oh Wow! you have done a great job, well done , what a difference paint makes. I think the white looks fantastic & with the cream it does looks quite high end too. It’s not easy taking on big painting jobs with young children, so well done. From my experience when I have a dark or bright color to paint over for the best coverage use a grey undercoat, it gives a really amazing coverage, & is a beautiful base , it adds a depth to your top coat. For a white top coat you would use a paler grey, even a pale grey will work amazingly well. Your local paint shop might even have a grey scale available, you tell them the color you are using & what colour you are painting over.
    I love your family & home, I read your blog every day thanks so much & good luck with all your future projects.

  63. Bahahaha! I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🙂

    -Emily

    PS When I moved out, my mom painted the room a nice khaki/tan color and countrified it with red plaid accents. Nothing I would have ever picked but it fits her style perfectly.

  64. I am wondering where you put Will’s dresser/changing table. I have loved that since you bought it for him and have been wanting to use it as an actual buffet but wanted to know how it held up?

  65. We have just been switching things up to see how different things look…so the white dresser is in there for now because Will is old enough to damage the brown one and I don’t care what happens with the white one 🙂
    xo – kb

  66. Well, Will used to have night terrors and would literally crawl into the side of the crib and bang his head while he slept. Then he would wake up actually hurt…so we started hanging the blankets to soften the blow a bit. Now it’s just habit 🙂
    xo – kb

  67. It held up great! We loved it…and still do but eventually want it to be repurposed in a different room!
    xo – kb

  68. So much better! I’m not normally a fan of white, but I think it totally works in this room. I can’t wait to see what direction you end up going. I bet little Will will sleep better in this room.

  71. Love the new color in Will’s room. Very classy ! Can we please get a law passed to stop ragrolling aka ‘gag’rolling? I too think the trim would be fabulous in Navy Blue .
    Happy to see that Will still enjoys using the blankie I made!

  74. OMG. The second picture of Will with the flag might be the cutest thing I have ever seen. Love it!

    Oh and the room looks 100x better now!

  79. The white paint looks so refreshing. Definitely a breath of fresh air.

    Mmy first job as a 15-year old was at Howard Brothers Hardware (the one in Duluth, GA). It gave me great pleasure to see their name again on your local store.

  80. How funny…I happened upon your blog via YHL. Your kitchen colors are the same I am using on our Hartwell cabin…and then I see the pic of your True Value store…wait, that is MY True Value Store! I didn’t realize you were in the ATL area. Gotta love Howard Bros. and their neighbor, my Duluth Salvage. Love your blog and house!

  82. It’s Martha Stewarts Winterthur – we got it through Home Depot but there are other ways to get it I believe (if I remember correctly, Shaw makes it)
    xo – kb

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