Sidewalk Chalk PortraitsLearn From My Stupidity
There was a time when I thought I knew everything there was to know about interior painting. I knew how to make newly installed chair rail look seamless. I could paint crown moulding without putting down plastic or using painters tape. I could roll a new coat of paint onto our living room walls in just under four hours. I loved painting so much that I would sometimes just randomly decide to repaint a room. For fun! Because painting was fun!
And then we moved into a much larger home.
And while most of that much larger home was filled with walls that had only been attended to by the builders, there were some rooms where there were . . . issues.
Apparently the previous owners of the home got in a bit of a domestic dispute, split up, and abandoned the house in the middle of painting the master bedroom.
Or at least I think this is what "the middle" looks like when you forget to apply common sense to a painting project.
And before you try to say that maybe they were really smart but just hadn't finished, uh, NO.
But no worries! I knew everything there is to know about painting! I could handle the mess!
The day we moved in, I marched right past all the boxes that needed to be unpacked and headed straight out to buy some paint. I planned to have the entire house beautifully in adorned in fresh, vibrant paint by the end of the week.
Hahahahahahahahaha! I was so naive!
Sometimes I have to learn lessons the hard way. This was one of those times.
As I stood at the paint counter with visions of a leisurely week of painting in my head, the employee at the paint counter tried to make a recommendation. "You may want to consider using the paint with primer in it."
"No, thank you," I told him. This was two years ago when paint plus primer was just starting to appear in stores. It cost nearly $10 more per gallon than the paint I had been using at our old townhome. Why upgrade? Especially considering I had only once used primer before and that was when we installed a brand new wall in our foyer. Of course you have to use primer on new drywall. The walls at the new house had already been primed, though. I could see the coat of basic contractor white paint on them!
Three days later, our family room was looking better.
But that was THREE days later. It took three full coats of paint to get good coverage. Three. Full. Coats. Of. Paint.
By that point in time, I was starting to not like painting so much.
But I continued on, regardless.
I didn't learn any lessons from Round One of painting, so Round Two was equally time consuming and painful. All I was doing was painting white walls a creamy off-white color, but it STILL took three coats to get good coverage.
And then it was time to tackle the master bedroom. By then, I had started to realize that *maybe* I didn't know everything. Maybe I did need to consider using a different paint. Maybe I would benefit from a paint that had primer already in it.
I'll be honest. I expected that it would take four coats of paint to cover up that red mess that reminded me of dried cow blood. And that was WITH a quality paint plus primer. Without it, I figured it would be something like eight coats of paint.
I was wrong.
Two coats, people. TWO COATS. It only took two coats to turn that messy, streaky, dried cow blood into a beautiful neutral shade of beige. Even better, I was able to turn the ceiling a tranquil shade of blue with just one coat of paint.
The paint plus primer may have cost more per gallon, but it covered SOOOOO much better. Our over-sized bedroom was completely painted in just one day and I only needed one gallon of each color.
(Just to compare--I went through three gallons of paint in the family room. The family room is half the size of the bedroom and I didn't paint the ceiling in there. Go Team Paint & Primer!)
Because of this experience, I can tell you with the utmost certainty that when Glidden says their DUO Paint + Primer can help you get great results while saving you time and money, they are telling you the truth. I will never again use a paint that doesn't have primer in it. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER.
I recently grabbed a can of Glidden Duo Paint + Primer for a new project. Glidden DUO is available only at Home Depot and comes in all of the colors from Glidden's vibrant color pallettes. Just a few hours into my project, I can already say ::swoon:: It's some great paint that covers really well, even when the surface you're painting isn't in the greatest of conditions. You'll have to wait and see exactly what I'm up to, but it's safe to say Glidden Duo Paint + Primer has definitely put the fun back in painting for me.
Sponsored content from BlogHer and The Home Depot.
IHOP at Home (And a Chance to Win a $100 Walmart Gift Card!) (CLOSED)
If you want to make Alexis squeal with delight, ask her if she wants breakfast for dinner. "YEEESSSSSSS!" she'll say. Always.
It's such a shame she's so hard to please.
As we pulled into our neighborhood a few nights ago, I figured it would be a perfect evening for an easy dinner. "Alexis, do you want pancakes or French toast for dinner?" I asked.
She grinned so big she couldn't let any words out. Finally, she stammered, "Pan...umm...FRENCH TOAST!" "PLEASE!" "...AND CAN I HAVE BLUEBERRY SYRUP?"
She practically vibrated all through the two blocks to our house as she waited for me to approve her syrup plans. Which, of course, I did.
A few weeks ago, IHOP sent me an amazing box filled with their new IHOP At Home® Syrups. There's Original, Lite, Sugar Free, Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity® Strawberry, and Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity® Blueberry. I bet you can't guess which one is Alexis' favorite.
She's not wrong about it being REALLY good. It most definitely is. There are little bits of real blueberries all throughout, so it tastes like there's a blueberry explosion going on when you put it in your mouth. DIVINE.
When we finally pulled into the driveway, the vibrating kid ran up to the kitchen and had the bread and eggs out on the counter before I could manage to take my coat off. Together we mixed up the eggs with a little milk, dipped the bread, and cooked up some really fantastic French toast.
Alexis was filled with giggles as we gathered around the table to enjoy dinner. Breakfast for dinner has that effect on her. She especially thought it was funny when she tried to hide the Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity Blueberry syrup under her chair so I couldn't have any.
It's a good thing I'm bigger than her. Ahem.
It's probably an even better thing that Mr. Husband hasn't joined in our fight over the Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity Blueberry syrup. He's a big fan of this one instead.
I'll grant him that the Lite is good, but gimme my fruit-flavored syrup, please!
You can find IHOP At Home products at stores nationwide. Just use this handy dandy site to locate the store nearest you. You can also follow them on Facebook.
Or, with a little luck, you can win your very own IHOP At Home Syrup gift pack and a $100 Walmart gift card just by leaving a comment below. Tell me what your family thinks about IHOP at Home Syrup and you'll be entered for a chance to win.
SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY RULES
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from March 1, 2012 - March 31, 2012.
Be sure to visit the IHOP at Home Syrup round-up page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
