Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Priming A Bright Wall Before Painting

Remember when our living room was salmon?

Living Room Phase3

Well, not anymore…

Primed Liv

That’s just the primer coat, so we’ll be back on Monday with the full details of what color we chose, why we picked it, and a whole bunch of prep info, in-process pics, and of course the all-done afters. Today’s the last day of our Florida road trip, so we’re doing our best just to soak up the sun before our 14 hour drive back to Richmond. But I’m not going to lie… remembering that we’re not returning to a pink living room is definitely making us more excited to mosey on home.

It always feels crazy to eke out a last minute project before leaving (kinda like the kitchen flooring that we half-laid before our trip to Hawaii a year and a half ago) but it’s so much fun to come back to enjoy it since we barely had a second to soak it up before hightailing it outta town. Can’t wait to write up all the details for you guys.

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As a little Friday bonus, here are four fun projects, chats, or questions going on over on the Forums. We also announced this week’s giveaway winner, so you can click here (and scroll down to the Rafflecopter box) to see if it’s you.

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by courtmcg8 by BurlapandLace by karents by DIYPlaybook
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Comments

  2. Jen says

    My house is all flat paint- it’s awful. We love the color and have purchased the same color in washable finish. I’ve been putting off painting because it seems daunting to move all the furniture. Looking at your photo above gives me hope. You make it look so easy peasy- can’t wait to hear more about the process!

    Reply

  3. Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says

    I don’t know why but that totally gave me anxiety about painting our living room! LOL I guess I sometimes forget about the primer coat because I’ve always had white walls…until I went medium green. The Mr will sometimes look at it, sigh and grumble “I dread having to paint this again.” I’ll have to remind him…”Prime! Don’t forget the primer too!” Then I’ll run away. :-)

    Reply

    • Leah says

      Primer saves time! Don’t dread the primer. We had a pea soup green living room and a mustard yellow kitchen. We primed the kitchen (because the people there had painted a door and trim yellow too, so we had to prime that) but didn’t prime the living room.

      Paint covered *much* better in the kitchen — one coat with some touch ups in a few areas is all we needed. We’re going on coat three for the living room to completely cover the green with the creamy beige we picked. Totally picking up more primer next time.

    • Linda says

      I had a Pepto pink bathroom – I used BM Aura (which claims both built in primer and two coat coverage) in a light lavender-grey, and those two coats did the trick. Actually, one coat was pretty darn good, but I still had paint left and went for the two coats.

      I did like that salmon color, honestly, but maybe not with the bricks in there. But the salmon was well loved in its day, and now it’s time for a change!

    • Kathryn says

      I know! Even the primer looks pretty sweet. I mean, perhaps somewhere, somehow someone is making that salmon work, but not this room! Massive improvement already!

      Safe travels, Petersiks!

  9. Tracie says

    Oh, it looks really lovely with the white walls and the stained wood. You could just cheat and not paint, only whitewash the brick, and live like that for a while. It would be very Old World.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Right now we are leaning towards glossy white paint like the trim/crown in our foyer. We also want to turn the beams into a coffered ceiling eventually (our to-do list posts have more info about our plans).

      xo
      s

    • minabey says

      Can’t wait to see you tackle coffered ceilings because the ones i’ve seen were light suckers (actual scientific term).

      Have a safe trip y’all!

  13. Julianne says

    Looking forward to it! Have a safe drive home. :0)

    *BTW, we are considering an East Coast drive down to Florida next winter and was wondering if you can recommend any favourite historical or educational stops along the way?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We generally just stop at state rest stops to let Clara and Burger run around and stretch their legs. Anyone else have recommendations for Julianne?

      xo
      s

    • Leah says

      We did a drive from Omaha to Florida when I was a kid, so some of the stuff we saw may be different, but here’s what we did:

      – St. Louis Arch
      – Incline railroad in Chattanooga
      – Andrew Jackson’s hermitage
      – Stephen Foster’s home (Swanee River in Florida)
      – Battlefield in Georgia
      – Cyclorama (a museum in the round in Atlanta)

      Other things I’ve done include visiting battleships in North and South Carolina, visiting lots of civil war sites in Virginia (Fredricksburg is pretty cool), hitting up Boston for their revolutionary history if you live up north, etc. There are lots of historical sites to see along the way. Try Roadside America for the more kitschy ones, and just look at some detailed maps (state maps or a good atlas) along your ideal route to see what other possibilities might be — a lot of things are marked on maps these days if you get the right map.

    • Julianne says

      Thanks, Sherry & Leah! We do often buy travels guides for these types of drives, but I’ve found that the best rec’s come from those who live in the area, or have done the same route themselves. I appreciate your tips & everyone else who cares to share. Thank you! :0)

  16. Laurie says

    I confess, the salmon walls would have driven me more crazy than all the blue trim.

    That space is going to be so pretty with the color you pick and white washed brick. This room is a great example of looking past the current decor to what it can be.

    Can’t wait to see the reveal!

    Reply

  17. Amanda says

    I can’t wait to see the fireplace makeover. We have been living with a very similar fireplace since purchasing our house 8 years ago. It’s the only thing we haven’t changed in the house. Need some inspiration!!!

    Reply

  21. Erica says

    We had a very similar salmon color in our house when we bought it, three and half years ago. I hated it.

    It was in our dining room, living room [which were open to each other and shared a vaulted ceiling] and hallway down to the master bedroom.

    It was one of the first things we changed and now it’s a cool grey color.

    Love how much different yours looks just in the primer stage – it will be beautiful when complete, I just know it!

    Reply

  22. candicemcc says

    Yes, I think this would have been my first room to paint. Very excited! Also, I just started painting our living room this morning. Excited about that, too. :)

    Reply

  26. Eri says

    Looking forward to your Monday post. Re the brick, we have a brick fireplace and our plan is to first try lime and salt. Have read both success and failure stories when the method is used interior, so we’ll see… looking forward to reading your decision about the brick too.

    Travel back safe!

    Reply

  27. Susan says

    Anything will be better than that 1980s Salmon LOL

    I whitewashed our brick FP-funny enough, it was PEACHY/SALMON-and I just used a paint/water mix.

    It made a HUGE difference in the room-will be fun to see how your updates look when they are all finished.

    Reply

  28. Rhiannon says

    This brings up a question I’ve had:
    Most paint these days come with primer in it. But I’ve often wondered if I should still use a separate primer anyway. Thoughts?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Our decision was just based on what we already had around, but for walls a two in one is probably fine. For furniture or wood cabinets I still think separate products are superior though.

      xo,
      s

  32. Christina says

    So exciting!! Can’t wait to see the big reveal!

    Random question — for these Friday posts, would it be possible to make the forum foursome graphic render proportionately (like with a percentage in the width attribute)? When I read these posts in my RSS reader on my phone, it’s nearly impossible to scroll down, because it keeps wanting to scroll left or right (since the graphic is wider than the text column in a reader). And that’s just annoying with long posts. I slog my way painstakingly through because I don’t want to miss any of your scintillating wit (in all seriousness!), but I thought I’d ask since that’s been driving me crazy the last several Fridays. :)

    /end whiny complaint

    Thanks for all the wonderful content you put out every day!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So sorry! That does sound annoying! Is this happening to anyone else? In Feedly I don’t seem to have this issue but I don’t read on my phone (the width of the four boxes is the same width as all of our horizontal images). What reader are you in?

      xo
      s

    • Christina K says

      I should have specified — I’m in Feedly on my phone. Thanks for the response!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks Christina! We’ll see if there’s a quick fix we can implement from here on out. It’s so funny to me that there’s an issue since it’s the same width as our horizontal pics.

      xo
      s

  33. Sarah says

    Yay, something to look forward to on a Monday! I thought you guys would be proud to know, that 1. I discovered, and then developed a love for, Danish mid-century pieces from your TV stand find, and 2. have since kept an eye out for a dresser to use as a nightstand, and found TWO on craigslist $30 each through an estate sale!! One is a regular 3 drawer dresser and the other a matching double dresser (that I will use in my entry way). Will definitely use your tips to polish it up too! So excited!

    Reply

  34. Steph says

    Hi guys!

    This post is awesome but I want to see is a post on how you survive a 14 hour road trip with a three year old?!? My husband and I want to do a road trip with our little one and have yet to be brave enough to try! haha!

    I hope your vacation was as amazing as it sounded.

    Thanks so much!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have just been driving long distances with Clara pretty much since she was born (there were lots of nursing stops in the beginning, haha) so I think she’s used to it. We just pack some favorite games and toys and snacks and play her favorite songs (we put them on our iPod and play that through the car’s speakers).

      xo
      s

    • Blaze says

      Don’t wait. Start them young. If they grow up doing long drives they think it’s perfectly normal and don’t realize they have the option to behave badly! Ours did their first 6+hr drives at 6-8 weeks old to visit my inlaws. There were stops for feedings but otherwise it was really no different than before we had kids. Before the days of in-car DVDs etc when our son was not quite 4, we drove a small camper van from Ottawa (between Montreasl and Ottawa) all the way to Colorado. We tool a leisurely 5 days each way so we could do some sightseeing each day in addition to covering the miles. We’ve driven down to Florida with the kids (blasted through in two long 12+ hr days.

      Suggestions for sights to see on the way to Florida (depending where you are coming from): Savannah Georgia, Charleston, SC, and if you pass through St Louis and go to see the arch, don’t miss the museum at the foot of the arch.

    • Nancy50 says

      The public library has children’s books on tape – they’ve always been a lifesaver when stuck in a car with two kids on one of our many long summer road trips. Our boys are 7 years apart and we would pick out books geared more toward the older son’s reading level but the younger son loved hearing them too. One summer we listened to one of the Harry Potter books the entire trip from Montgomery County MD to Boston. The little one was around 4 and he hurried us back in the car when we stopped for lunch because he wanted to hear what happened to Harry. I bet the Maggie series by Courtney Ruffalo would be a hit with Clara.

  35. Colleen says

    Ahhh! I had been looking forward to the day when I’d open my reader to see y’all had dealt with the salmon walls and that day has arrived! Can’t wait to see your “afters”!

    Reply

  36. Jenn@NearandFarMontana says

    I’m so excited to see what you do with this room! We’ve got a oddly positioned, super dated brick fireplace in the living room and awful paneling and I’m not sure what we’ll do with it yet.
    Safe travels! I remember making that drive from ‘bama to Virginia, have fun!

    Reply

  38. Liz says

    What a teaser! Hope you guys enjoy your last day. Just tried your “cutting in” method for a painting project and LOVED it! So much better than taping. Thanks:)

    Reply

  39. Susanna B. says

    Can I just say that you guys rock?! Reading your blog is the highlight of my workday. To see how you work yourself throught this new (to you) house is just so inspiring and fun. I have read your blog for a couple of years and the energy and can-do attitude just shines and makes me want to do more with my home – which doesn’t always happen but still – keep up the awesomeness!!

    Reply

  40. Peggy McKee says

    You say you are planning to whitewash the red brick fireplace. I’m not sure what you mean by “whitewash” but if it’s the same as calcimine paint, you will be making an enormous amount of trouble for yourself.

    Calcimine paint makes any other paint you put over it, peel off. Calcimine paint is a mixture of zinc oxide and glue. I’m not sure if it’s the glue or the zinc oxide that causes the peeling problem.

    Just out of interest, why are you going to use whitewash–instead of ordinary latex paint?

    Reply

  41. Tirsa says

    How exciting! Can’t wait to see how much better it looks now. That salmon sure was um, yucky. :)

    Have a safe drive home, guys!

    Reply

  42. Carrie Lea says

    Oh the brick already looks so much better without that pink (“It’s SALMON!” Sorry FRIENDS reference!)against it! So glad you painted! As are your retina’s I’m sure.

    Reply

  43. Suzanne says

    I am excited to see what you will do with your fireplace. Ours is very similar and have been trying to figure out what to do with it for 2 years!

    Reply

  44. Celena says

    I love how much brighter, airyer(? Lol), and larger the room feels even with just primer on the walls. I lived with white/neutral walls for soooo long that when I was allowed to paint, I refused to live with one single white wall. Now, I’m wanting to paint because everything feels so heavy and closed in (even tho the colors themselves, I love). So I’m considering going for a cool, pewter color over my current deep pumpkin color. Will be a big difference, but I’m tired of feeling closed in and paint is easier and cheaper to buy than a new, bright colored sectional. So thanks for the inspiration. What’s funny is that the pink, while not beautiful per se, wasn’t a dark color at all, but it still made the room feel heavy. Can’t wait to see it.

    Reply

  45. Erin says

    ????Are you guys buying another house? as, at the rate that you are going, you are going to be finished this one ASAP !!!!!!
    Your place is really starting to come together!

    ????Feel free to come to Trinidad W.I. in the next 3 years as we put together the house we are building there ????. We have been Kijiji Surfing (same as Craig’s list) assembling pieces here and there to ship and ” Pinning” like crazy ( well, I have, not my husband lol ).

    Reply

  46. qs777 says

    How about a hint as to the color? A weekend is a very long time for some of us who are color-challenged. :)

    BTW, the primer looks so much better. I am really stumped as to which way you may go. It looks like you get a lot of light in that room. Have a safe trip back!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks! A hint might be that we mentioned it in our paint colors we love post a few weeks back – so those are a nice place to start if you want to grab some swatches and see which ones you like!

      xo
      s

  48. Emily says

    Hi-ya!
    I’ve been following y’all for about a year now and realized even after a year, I missed a lot! So for the last two weeks (along with my full-time job) I’ve been reading your 878 pages of posts…do I qualify for Creeper status now? I’ve even got my husband hooked. I love your little fam and style. Keep on keepin’ on cause y’all are amazing!

    P.S. Sherry…the hubs and I think you look like Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). =]

    Reply

  50. Melanie says

    Great to read about somebody else doing all this…we ripped the back off our house in January as the coldest months of the year set in and are just slowing to a stop….though not a finish….31 weeks later….
    Good luck! I’ll enjoy reading about it….

    Reply

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