My weekend was saved!

As my college-bound kids packed and  moved out, I was left with a room needing some attention. After hauling what appeared to be junk out to the garbage, I began my quest to freshen up the space. I was on a mission to get this project done DURING the weekend and not have it drag out for weeks. So how do I get it painted and things moved back into it in just two days?

Using the right paint and right tools!  What exactly does that mean, you ask. Spending a bit more money and getting quality paint AND quality tools. I needed paint that had great coverage and low odor but I also needed the tools to reduce my time involved. I'm tellin' you....being conservative (cheap skate, tightwad, whatever you want to call it) with paint brushes and rollers only causes more work and frustration.

I decided to use PPG Pittsburgh Paints Manor Hall (spent a little over $35) because it had good coverage, low odor and the color palette I was looking for. Now, normally I would have spent $35 on the entire project, paint and tools both, but I only wanted to deal with this for two days. Time to shop for quality tools.

You can buy roller covers for about $2 all day long, but as you roll, you get those funky "hairs" on the wall that you have to scrape off with your fingernail. By the end of your project, you've got paint under ALL your nails, on the end of your shirt and down your leg from wiping those pesky "hairs" off. I had no interest in that so I spent $4 and got the Purdy White Dove roller with woven dralon fabric. Dralon is a derivative of nylon, which enables the paint to flow freely and makes for easy rolling. That type of fiber can also carry alot of paint at one time, reducing your paint time. Sounded like a deal to me! TIP: lightly wet your roller cover before you start and it will pick up paint from your tray more evenly the first time.

Trimming out the room....ugh! My least favortie job that takes time and patience. I only wanted to drag the ladder around the room one time so I stepped it up and bought a quality brush. The Wooster Chinex 2" angled brush was around $20....could've bought a case of the "cheapies" for that, huh? Nonetheless, I was determined to do this the right way. This brush has some added stiffness and a softer tip, which increased the paint release and reduced drag. It actually helped push the paint farther and I had much cleaner edges. My only question was "will it clean up easily?" and man, did it ever.

My weekend was saved! I started my quest at 8:00 Saturday morning and had the room back together by 7:30 pm. I made one trip around the room with the trim brush and two trips with the roller. My nails were free of roller hairs, my shirt was free of paint splatters and my evening guests had no idea I'd just painted the room. PLUS, I had all day Sunday to relax! I spent a little more on my renovation, but it was money well spent. The painting and clean up were so much easier with good, quality tools; I'm looking forward to doing it again.