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Say it and Spray it

OUR 2nd HOUSE

Our office makeover is officially underway!

Color me extremely happy.  Like really weirdly giddy happy.  Sortof like The Joker but on a sugar high…and less scare-the-poops-outta-small-children-freaky.  I just nailed that description, didn’t I?  🙂

So anyway – you can imagine my uber-excitement knowing that this space would soon be not like this at all.

As you can see, it’s sortof depressing in there.  Brown trim, fleshy walls….clutter and mess.  It’s hard to be creative and organized and efficient working in a space that is anything but creative, organized or efficient…so when Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine offered up a $300 gift card for a room makeover we jumped.  as in up and down.  We immediately accepted the challenge and knew that this room would be the perfect jumping off point (we are doing a lot of jumping here aren’t we?! hello bathing suit calves?).

Why did we pick this room?  Well for one, its mess is sortof flowing into other rooms.  I need this space for photography editing (so it needs to be bright and happy since I spend a chunk of time editing photos and don’t wanna leave depressed), as well as sewing and craft storage (my fabric stash has taken over the Jack room which we will need for the Little Baby eventually), and general blog work (you would be surprised by how much I need to keep straight to keep Bower Power even remotely functional).  So basically I need it to be inspiring…bright and happy….and organized with lots of storage.

If you are an old friend, you may remember that I recently painted the office bathroom…which also had dark brown trim….and it took at least four coats to look decent but really it probably deserved closer to six coats for perfection.  Keep that in mind.

Now multiply the amount of trim in the bathroom by 8.  Now multiply that number by 5 coats.  That’s how much painting I would need to do to get decent coverage on the office brownness.  That’s a lot of math.  and a lot of painting.  Neither of which is fun.

So I was happy to fork over a bit of our makeover budget and my own debit card to score a decent paint sprayer.  I consider it an investment in my sanity.  We ended up going with the Graco TrueCoat Plus – because of online reviews and the fact that it’s more manageable for a gal like me for future furniture projects.

Okay – so after a lot of emotional and financial investment in this space, I took the plunge and moved everything out.  It took me all afternoon.  And when Jeremy got home, he helped me carry out the brown desk (which is gonna get a paint job too)…and a bookcase (both need a coat of white STAT!).

The empty room is still so gross.  I have to admit that I never mopped in there.  I think I vaccumed once.  I told Jer that I was surprised that he didn’t get sick when he worked in there because of the dust.  It was just dark and disgusting.

Then came time for sprayer-prep.  We definitely didn’t want to damage the hardwood floors so we decided that the best way to protect them would be with painters tape and paper.  It took about an hour to lay everything.

Oh and yes, it was definitely needed to cover everything that wasn’t getting sprayed.  These sprayers are no joke.  They spray big or go home.  And we knew that the over-spray and the white film would cover everything…especially since we planned on spraying all the wainscoting and the entire ceiling.

We also blocked off the windows with some plastic and tape.

Freaky deaky.

Oh and just so everyone knows….yes, our quarterround matches the floor…but we want it to match the trim…so we planned on painting it white too.

Then came time for Jer to crank out the new sprayer.  It’s pretty much crucial to your lungs to wear a mask and your eyes will definitely need googles…not protective glasses that little airborne paint particles can get behind…GOGGLES.

I took these photos and them ran for my life.

Two hours later, Jeremy was completely done with priming.

Yes…it was lots faster than us doing it by hand.  And yes, the coat of primer was LOTS thicker than I could have evenly done with a paintbrush.

Immediately I noticed two things.  First – this sprayer ate paint like it was Keilbasa at a Steelers tailgating party.  It went through two cans of Kilz primer.  TWO CANS!

And secondly – HOLY BRIGHTNESS BATMAN!  This room was instantly changed from a dungeon to a shining ray of happiness.  Even down the hall, the open door was gleaming with how marvelously bright the room was.

Two days later, Jeremy did the second coat.  He used Valspar’s Bright White paint base in Eggshell….and Great Scotsbrite!  It is so clean and bright.

It was amazing how fast we got it done.  Part of me wishes that I could have done it (new toys are always fun) but I knew that going up on a ladder with a paint sprayer wasn’t exactly Pregnancy Safety Wise.  And Jeremy said that besides cleanup he really didn’t mind (he HATES brushing and rolling is almost as bad).

It took two full buckets of paint for the second coat as well.

The ceiling wasn’t absolutely perfect when it came to the drywall parts…so we decided that it would be deserving of one more coat there…and some of the trim needed a little touch up but other than that – the white bits of the room were done.

Oh and just for reference sake – check out the three colors present in this photo.  The dark brown that was in the door way is the old dark brown office trim color.  The door is still the current house trim color (it’s like a soft tan color) and the white white is the newest trim color that we plan to carry throughout the house.  crazy how different they all are, huh!?

So that’s that.  Phase one complete in our office makeover.  Next up – wall color…and some painted furniture 🙂

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  2. WOW, the difference! Makes me wish I had a dark brown room to paint! 🙂 It looks like heaven, so bright and clean, complete with blurry edge-d clouds to sit on. Crafting heaven, that’s what it will be.

  3. We spray painted all our trim work and doors, too, although we did it before moving in so it was less of a hassle. But man, the apartment smelled for days!

  4. That was definitely the right option given how many coats it would have taken otherwise! Just one question: how easy was it to clean the sprayer?

    Since Jer did it all, I guess you’re going to have to talk him into doing a guest post for us! No, actually a video would be better.

    And if he could be topless, please, that would really make my Friday.

  7. Can I just say that I’m totally jealous of the ceiling and wall mouldings in that room? I moved from a tiny, apartment in an old brownstone to a big, awesome house, but I still miss the decorative mouldings. I don’t miss cleaning them though, that was a huge pain!

  8. Wow! What a difference.

    Nice work on the sprayer. We always think that spraying the walls would be a good idea, but chicken out as we are looking at which one to buy.

    Can’t wait to see the rest!

  9. Bathing suit calves? LOL

    Huge difference with just the primer alone. I’m envious all all your new found sunlight. 😉

    How do you like the Kilz primer?

    I was a fan of it for a long time then something happened. I don’t know if they tweaked the formula or what, but it seems like more coats are required to get good coverage. Then I tried the Valspar version of primer and that stuff was awful. I suppose if a person wants to spend days priming something it may be right up their alley, but that isn’t my idea of a good time so now all I use is Zinnser primer. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive but I’d rather spend the cash once than to keep having to go back for more primer which also means more cash going into the gas tank.

  10. Great investment, I’m sure Jeremy had fun using it (at least for the first couple coats). I can’t believe how much better it looks already! This is gonna be a fun project to watch unfold.

  11. This makes me excited to get out my paint sprayer. We have to paint all the doors inside our house because they are a funky off-white and definitely do not match our crisp white trim. Gotta wait till the weather in Ohio is actually nice (consistently) so we can take the doors outside to spray them. Love the wainscoting in that room!

    PS: GO STEELERS! (Ok, football draft started last night so I am excited even if it’s not football season)

  13. Amazing how a little bit (or a lot-o-bit) of white paint brightens up that room! Can’t wait to see what color you choose for the walls. 🙂

  14. Painting over that awful color AND a Steelers reference? LOVE! The paint looks great!

  15. So bright! That is going to be a great workroom for you. It really was depressing before.

  16. haha…yes he did it so he would know. And he said the cleanup wasn’t hard just time consuming since you wanna make sure not a drop remains.
    xo – kb

  17. It is amazing what white trim can do for a room! We had stained wood trim in our bathroom, and painting it a clean white made a HUGE difference!

  18. Nice, that is a huge difference! When I saw the first ‘primed’ picture, it reminded me of those glow-y heaven scenes from movies 😉

  21. We always know how much of a difference paint makes, but still, the difference in this room is just shocking and awesome. It looks so much better already! Can’t wait to see more.

  22. The room looks amazing already! I just have to say- I LOVED the comment about Kielbasa at a Steelers tailgating party! Go Steelers! (‘Cause you know there’s no sense cheering for the Pirates!)

  23. How awesome is that? We don’t have crazy molding in our Oklahoma house but the molding in our North Carolina house could use a good slap in the face with a paint sprayer. Ideas, ideas, ideas…

  24. Holy Cow, Batman!! Shoot. It looks so much better just primed! Keep us posted on the paint sprayer. I’ve been giving thought to one for the new-old house – lots and lots of old molding to rehab! Can’t wait to see the finished office 🙂

  28. What a difference white paint makes! It makes the flesh colored walls look almost not flesh colored… at least in pictures! Can’t wait to see the rest!

  29. SUCH a huge difference…I can’t believe how much brighter it looked right after priming. It was hard to see how you could get that cave-like office to transform into what we saw on your mood board without A LOT of time and A LOT of money, but after seeing what white paint alone did, I have no doubt you’ll get this bad boy transformed into the girly and light room you originally laid out for us. Can’t wait to see more.

    Have a great weekend!
    Ann

  31. Not gonna lie, this post makes me want a paint sprayer. I don’t even know what I’d paint with that bad boy. I just want one. I love how bright and cheery the office is already! Can’t wait to see the top half painted.

  32. Looks great KB! I’m loving the kielbasa tailgating Steelers reference…and the new paint:)

  33. Amazing!!! I’m so excited to watch this transformation, I have a feeling it will be AWESOME!

  34. I had to do a double-take after the first coat….it doesn’t look like the same room! Yay for the miracle of paint!

    And kielbasa and a Steelers reference – you just made my Friday, Mrs. Bower. 😉

  37. Katie, think the sprayer was a great investment since you have all the toothpaste walls to cover too! Can’t wait to see what color you pick for the office walls (mostly because I love light blue, but can’t ever seem to pick one that doesn’t look like a nursery!).

    I am hoping to add some wainscotting in my dining room. I would have thought you would paint it semi gloss like trim, but I was just assuming that!

    Can’t wait til the next post!

  39. Holy makeover Batman! That is one helluva difference Kb, and wonderful to be able to achieve that potential labour intensity monster so quickly so you can get to the fun stuff – I wish painting all the trim in my house could be so simple!
    Can’t wait to see what you do with the space…

    And congrats again on mini-Bower #2, excited to see what plans you have for the nursery.

    xx

  42. The white looks A-MAZING! I have to admit that I love white… and that room looks so happy and bright already!!! Can’t wait to see how you accessorize! 🙂

  48. It’s looking great. Can’t wait to see the finished product.

    Congrats on your pregnancy!

  49. HUGE difference! I’m always amazed at the difference a coat of paint can make. This is making me antsy to paint my walls. 🙂 What color are you going to do the walls? How was the clean up of the room afterwards – did the floor/window covering do the job?

  50. Oh freaking gash. This looks really really good. What a great space that’s going to be with the white woodword. Love it.

    We hired a dude to come spray all the new trim we needed to install, just because he was short on money and I was short on patience (I blame the pregnancy, which btw my due dates just a couple days before yours, Nov. 1!) . I can totally relate to the differing whites on the trim, all the old trim and doors have a yellow-white paint on them, compared to the new trim which has crisp white paint. Even though our house is small, is still daunting to think of repainting every freaking door and all the trim. I think I’ll keep pulling the pregnancy card and have my husband do it.

  51. I am DYING for a spary painter!! So glad you did a review, but what what the cost of that bad boy? Also, is it hard to clean that thing once you are done?
    Thanks!
    Katie of AtHomeWhenImWithYou.blogspot.com

  52. The difference is amazing!! Makes me want to go paint something 🙂 Looking forward to seeing what you’ve got going on in there!

  54. Given the crazy amount of super dark painted trim and weird wall treatments in your house, that sprayer is a must! Looks great so far. 🙂

  57. I am so grateful you did a post on sprayers! We have been looking at getting one but heard negative comments on them-clogging etc. What type of respirator is Jeremy wearing? Do you recommend this for painting?

  58. Awesome! I can’t wait to see the rest of this room come together. Is there going to be a kidde area (for nearby play while you’re working) or is it a no-toddler zone?

  59. WOW huge difference!! Its amazing what some white paint can do for a room. Cant wait to see what you do with the rest of the room.

  60. Huge difference, especially with the wainscoting. We have dark wood trim throughout our house and we are painting it white room by room. So time consuming! I will have to start thinking about a sprayer to move along the process!

  61. Oh. My. Gosh! What a difference!!! Loooove the bright white. And my favorite part, is now any paint can be spray paint!!! It’s probably a good thing you’re pregnant, because otherwise you would LOSE YOUR MIND and spray everything!!! 🙂 Love it.

  63. It’s probably gonna be a no-toddler zone…seeing as how they are like the plague…they seem to spread quickly…
    xo – kb

  64. You’re such a tease, Katie 😉 I got excited when I started reading this; I was thinking I’d get to see a completely painted room. I am amazed at how eager I am to see the transformation in there! It looks great so far!
    Are you guys going to tape off the trim/ceiling and spray the walls, too? Or are you going to roll them?

  65. The clean up was a breeze. We just pulled up all the paper and tape and the floor was ready for a quick vac/mop job. There were definitely some touchups needed on the white (like under the bottom molding of the accent boxes on the wainscoting)…but other than that – it was super easy.
    xo – kb

  66. love it Katie! looks amazing… Can’t wait to see the upper walls painted… greast job!

  68. holy moly, what a change!! it looks so bright and inviting. I know the floors will go back to wood in the pictures so it won’t be quite as bright, but wow, looks so so great already! Can’t wait to see it finished!

  70. That looks awesome– and super fun, too. I am with Jeremy on the hating brushing/ rolling paint… but spray paint is a different story. So wish I could justify a paint sprayer!

  71. Crazy amazing how that white brightens up the whole room and makes it so cheery and seem so much bigger! Love it! Can’t wait to see what’s next for that room. Definitely using this to explain to my husband why crisp white trim is such an essential- he’s not swayed to one side or the other.

  72. Looks great but even better….”this sprayer ate paint like it was Keilbasa at a Steelers tailgating party”. Crack me up!

  73. A-Mazing!!! I can’t believe how much brighter it is. Can’t wait to see phase two! 🙂

  75. So, do you think you saved any time with the sprayer? Obvy the painting is faster, but with brush & roller you wouldn’t necessarily have to spend so much time taping, putting down plastic, etc. (I don’t usually tape at all when I paint–I just take my time cutting in.) I’m wondering if overall you think the investment was worth it??

    Thanks for the post–I’ve never known anyone with a sprayer and am interested in your thoughts!

  79. Oh yes, we definitely saved time. It took us about an hour to tape and paper…and it took Jeremy 2 hours to spray each time. So a total of 6 hours total between the two of us to spray. Now one (maybe two) coats of the minimum four needed would have taken me 6 hours to do by hand with a brush and roller. All in all, I think it saved me about 20 hours total. Worth every penny 🙂
    xo – kb

  82. I love how some white paint really changes a room. I had this experience when I started my kitchen. Just the white primer over all the dark trim, beadboard and cabinets transformed the whole room. It’s so bright in there. I’m still working on the cabinet doors and have to finish painting the ceiling, trim, beadboard, and walls. Takes a while for just one person to do with a toddler around. I’m so ready to be done with it. If I could just have a whole day (like 8 hours) of uninterrupted time, I could accomplish so much. I’m the type of person that once I get started I dont like to stop, and having two little boys around doesnt allow me to do that. So hopefully I will get it finished before it starts getting hot around here.

  83. We used a sprayer in our TX house to redo the kitchen cabinets-it was FAST, and like you said, well worth the $$$ vs time spent.

    What color are you doing the walls?

  86. Long time lurker here…but the change that just that white made inspired me to say, Holy Crap! Amazing difference! With all that brown and swine flesh color going on I was thinking how in the world will she make a space that could inspire anything but meh and blah?? Well done, diy-ers, well done! Can’t wait to see how the rest of the room turns out 🙂

    PS: I know you’ve lamented the tan trim in the rest of the house, but it was never more obvious than with that picture with the unpainted door against the sparkly white. Yick

  91. Looks awesome! Is the sprayer hard to clean afterwards? I’ve heard they can be a pain in the butt to clean all the parts after you are done. True or false?
    Thanks for sharing!

  92. Wow! It’s amazing how beautiful the moldings look after the paint! We took a major break in our remodeling after baby #2 (as in 13 months major). Your blog is really making me itch really bad to get back on it now! Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂 Oh, and PS… I took a major break from blogging once I got pregnant with said #2… your blog is making me want to blog again… thanks for that, too! 🙂

  93. Wow, I love how the white turned out! May I know the paint brand and colour code you use? I hope they’re available in my country, I plan on painting my house all white! 😀

  94. I used Valspar’s Bright White…just the base – no tint. It’s really quite stark so some folks couldn’t handle it but I love it.
    xo – kb

  95. Katie,
    What is the material you guys used to cover your floors? Does it come in rolls? Is it kind of thick so it doesn’t tare easily?

  97. Hey Katie, where did you guys buy the paint sprayer? I am trying to find this same one local but no where has it. I want it asap, but if I order on Amazon it will take several days to arrive. I’m just wondering if you have any ideas. Thanks.

  101. I really like the progress on this, I did something similar when updating a very old cottage that we purchased recently. I did have to use a low PSI pressure washer to strip off some of the old paint before priming. I was wondering what your thoughts were on working with older wooden walls?

    Adam

  107. I love how some white paint really changes a room. I had this experience when I started my kitchen. Just the white primer over all the dark trim, beadboard and cabinets transformed the whole room. It’s so bright in there. I’m still working on the cabinet doors and have to finish painting the ceiling, trim, beadboard, and walls. Takes a while for just one person to do with a toddler around. I’m so ready to be done with it. If I could just have a whole day (like 8 hours) of uninterrupted time, I could accomplish so much. I’m the type of person that once I get started I dont like to stop, and having two little boys around doesnt allow me to do that. So hopefully I will get it finished before it starts getting hot around here.

  110. I am so grateful you did a post on sprayers! We have been looking at getting one but heard negative comments on them-clogging etc. What type of respirator is Jeremy wearing? Do you recommend this for painting?

  111. You can use any respirator as long as it is rated for gas and fumes…not just dust particles. It should say on the packaging and make sure the filter is the right one!
    xo – kb

  112. I’m a huge fan. I’ve seen time and time again in blogland how so many can transform something really ugly into something completely different and beautiful with spray paint.

  113. That sprayer looks soooooo easy!! I wouldn’t mind trying one, but I am knee-deep in other projects for now…I love love love the way you paint walls, doors, anything! You are so inspirational!

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