Hi, friends!
Welcome back to the place that I ramble and you can't interrupt me because I typed it yesterday! I'm only kidding, but in a very serious way.
So glad you're here because today we're talking about Shiplap's dated older sister... PANELING!! Thankfully, our 1970's rancher was not covered entirely in panelling (just shaggy carpet.. remember those bathrooms...) but the biggest room has it. Between the brown walls and the brown carpet, the room felt very dark.
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Our budget was limited (story of our lives) so we had to push up our sleeves. Let's be honest, paint can solve so many problems. (Please don't quote me on that in a weird way HAHA!)
There's a couple of different ways to go about the process, and I used a slightly different way here than in the half bath. Both ways are easier than I expected, though, so I have full confidence that you could do this yourself!
The first thing you need is oil based primer. You heard me. OIL BASED. Why? The oil will absorb into the wood and help prevent discoloration. If you were to use a latex primer (or... and I'm hoping this wasn't you... no primer at all BUM BUM BUM!) the wood would absorb it and discolor it. Not only that, but you would need to paint a bajillion coats of paint. Let's be honest, ain't nobody got time for that. Or maybe you do. I don't know your life.
OKAY MORE IMPORTANT FACTS: (Please listen carefully) You can put latex paint over top of oil based primer, BUT (imagine me clapping between words here because it's that important) YOU CAN NOT PUT OIL BASED PAINT OVER LATEX PRIMER. Not that I did that, or this post has anything to do with that, I just wanted to be clear that just because you can do latex over oil does not mean it works in reverse. WHEW I'M GLAD WE GOT THAT OUT OF THE WAY. Not let's do this!
THE STUFF:
- Oil based primer like this one
- Brushes, rollers, paint trays. (I would get two of everything. If you have the proper tools to clean oil based paint out of things, you might not need to do this. Once we finished with the oil based brushes, rollers, and tray we just tossed them. Latex can be washed out with water, oil can't)
- Latex paint in the color of your choosing. (We used a light grey)
- Drop cloths and painters tape if needed (We had our flooring ripped out before we started, so it wasn't necessary for us.)
- OPTIONAL: Sandpaper (Did she say optional?? Yes, read on.)
SO, like I mentioned, we had our floors ripped out right before we started. That made our job a whole lot easier. Because my grandfather was there, he insisted that we sanded the walls lightly before starting. After sanding, we took some slightly damp cloths and ran them over the walls to get off any dust. (Why do I mention it this way? I did not sand the half bath panelling before painting them *GASP* and they turned out perfect too! If you are someone who follows the rules... SAND. If you like to see what happens like me... don't HAHA!)
Since we had to paint the trim and the walls, we were careful, but didn't have to be AS careful. So we primed! We primed these walls twice, I only did one coat in the half bath. I will warn you... oil based anything is STRONG in smell. Make sure you have proper ventilation and take frequent breaks to give your sniffer a rest.
After just priming it already felt like such a bigger, brighter, airier room! I loved it (and still do!)
Once the primer had completely dried we moved on to painting just the wall. We saved the trim for last. On the walls we used an eggshell finish in a very light grey color.
I believe in the end we did 3 coats of grey just to be on the safe side, and I needed to do 3 coats of white in the half bath. I know, it's still a lot of coats, but less than if you didn't prime at all. Once we finished the walls we DID use tape around the trim to make sure we got crisp white lines. We used just a pure white, semi--gloss paint.
This was after we put the flooring in, but AH I LOVE WHITE TRIM. LET'S HIT THAT BEFORE.
Same angle! RIGHT? It's brighter, bigger, and airier! It has made such a difference. I absolutely love it.
My purpose in this is to show that you don't have to have the most expensive house, or a lot of money, OR a lot of DIY experience! With some hard work you can make your house your dream house without breaking the bank.
LET'S SEE THE ROOM WITH OUR STUFF IN IT.
Peanut butter covered chaise and all! HAH! I love it, though! Have you ever attempted to paint panelling? Did you even know you could?? Let me know!
Let's be friends!
Amber