07/29/2005 Archived Entry: "The Red Room"

I had decided to paint my room red a while ago. Last month, I finally got around to it.

The adventure began at Home Depot where the paint person told me that I would need primer first. He suggests a half-tinted primer that would come out pink when applied. Whatever, I get a gallon of pink primer, a gallon of red paint, and a quart of beige (for the trim). Lots of hilarity ensues as we prime the room into a very very bright pink. The primer goes on very smoothy and evenly, painting is easy!

Once the primer's dry, I start with the red paint. Now this doesn't go well. Wherever I've run the roller over a spot a second time, the area is a lot darker, and where the roller first touches the wall is equally dark. So the first coat goes on quite unevenly. It's not a big deal yet, since I'm told that a second coat will even things out. Coat two...nope. So I go back to Home Depot and the woman whom I talk to says "oh, if I had been serving you the other day, I would have recommended another brand." So I'm like "OMGWTFBBQ!!!111!" She was right there when I bought the red paint! She was even the one who mixed the beige! So I get a second gallon of the paint, same brand. I wasn't keen on switching brands..what if I couldn't get the same colour? So at the end of gallon 2 and coat FIVE, the streaking continued.

continue reading

Mildly annoyed, I call a painter who's one of my parents' customers and he reiterates that CIL is teh suck when it comes to dark red. Okay. He tells me of horror stories involving red paints and people who've had to do 10 coats or so. Oh Boy. He tells me to go to this other store that he uses for paints. The next day, I'm at Glidden telling them my troubles and they drop the big one of me: HD did not give me the right primer. I was supposed to get a "deep tone" primer. One that starts out grey instead of white. Wildly annoyed now, I go to HD to bring this up with them but they won't listen to me, they insist they were right! So I say to call Glidden since I really have no idea what I'm talking about..but it takes me like 5 minutes to convince the guy to get on the phone. So they chat for a long bit and the guy comes back to me still totally unconvinced. ZOMG! Glidden sells NOTHING but CIL paint!! Finally, we agree that I will call CIL's customer service and see what they have to say and get back to him. Talking to the HD guy got me mildly frustrated since he seemed to be of the opinion that he knew the history of CIL paints and we didn't.

Turns out that CIL has an agent in the Ottawa area who visits all the stores and ensures all the CIL displays etc. are taken care of. I go see this guy and he agrees with the wrong primer story! He says I can either start over with the right primer or keep coating, so I decide to coat since he said it should only take 1 or 2 more (re-priming would be a total of 3). He gives me a gallon of what he calls their best product along with a couple of rollers. Long story short, I had to go back for another free gallon the following week and had a total of 9 coats on 3 of my walls, and 8 on the fourth.

I am never painting anything red again! In comparison, painting the trim was sooooooooooo easy. The paint just went on and had full coverage. Damnit.

In terms of decorating, I decided to have keep my bookshelf full of comics and install a pair of floating shelves for "stuff". But once everything was in place, I thought that I would eventually (soon!) need more space for my comics and that the floaters weren't very functional (11 lb max load!). So I removed them (holes still in wall) and got a second bookcase for comics (that space used to be occupied by a dresser, now stored in the basement). I painted the white border of a mirror to beige. And the moment I hung my diploma, I thought it looked tacky, but there it still is.

Here are some before and after pictures:
before after
before after
before after

Some other pictures:
my temp storage.
my new bed.

So, cost for all this?
150$ for paint and accessories
600$ for the new bed (compare how much taller and wider it is than the old)
50$ for 300 threadcount sheets
50$ for a bookcase I bought to replace the one I brought into my room
40$ for a new beige filing cabinet. I gave my black one to Phong to replace the night stand he had been shoving papers in
40 000$ for degree
90$ for degree frame

Replies: 9 comments

The lack of comments is terrible. Was it because of all the GAFs?

Posted by Rayne @ 08/02/2005 01:15 AM EST

Perhaps the lack of comments is due to people being busy during the long weekend?

The walls look nice, but now its time to get a desk that matches the new colour of your room...:P! Ok, fine...its ok...but that filing cabinet with the CPU on top really has to go.

Why a bigger bed? Its not like you're growing Thai...;)!

Posted by dAN @ 08/02/2005 11:55 AM EST

What's wrong with the filing cabinet?

I plan on getting really, really, really fat.

Posted by Rayne @ 08/02/2005 03:19 PM EST

I think your room looks good, I hope those sheets turn out to be a good investment for ya ;)

I just painted a kitchen and living room. I was also using CIL. I suppose I was lucky not to choose primary colors :P

Posted by Hyperion @ 08/03/2005 02:56 AM EST

why do you say that? 50$ expensive?

Posted by Rayne @ 08/03/2005 06:34 PM EST

$50 sheets aren't that expensive and they're sooooo worth it. i got 330 thread count sheets when i bought my new bed last year. i think i've spoiled myself though. anything under 250 now feels all scratchy and hurty. alas.

Posted by melpie @ 08/04/2005 05:19 PM EST

330!? why, that's just excessive! although, i was truly and honestly tempted by some 600s.

Posted by Rayne @ 08/06/2005 04:05 AM EST

i mostly got the 330s because they matched the duvet cover i was buying.

Posted by melpie @ 08/08/2005 12:42 PM EST

Yeah, I now have to find a duvet cover that'll match my sheets. Not to mention a bedskirt too. Won't be easy, I don't think.

Posted by Rayne @ 08/09/2005 12:58 AM EST