Doing Chores

David Bromstad always asks clients for their color inspiration, so I had mine held tightly in my hand as I headed to the paint department early this morning. My inspiration is an eggplant memo pad given to me by a friend that has all the colors I love: that rich, deep purple, a spring green, light violet, and deep, dark rose accents. My guest room is the latest target of the do-over phase I’m in, waiting for the window to be replaced with a glass door to the backyard, complete with a mini-redwood deck. The door will open the space, as well as add light to the room, which has a solid wall of closet covered by those plain off-white sliding doors.

The first step was tough: I removed one of the mirror doors from my bedroom and swapped it out with the center slider in the guest room closet. Adding the mirror door to the wall of sliding doors helped break up that solid sea of terminal beigeness and will reflect the new color off the walls onto that side of the room as well. I removed all my knick-knacks from the wall, patched all the holes, striped the molding with removable tape, pulled the furniture away from the walls, took my shower, and headed out to buy paint. I had narrowed my choices to two color cards, but simply could not figure out which color(s) to buy.

I like Kilz Kolors as the paint really covers in one coat, a big plus when you are old and have arthritis from head-to-toe: once really is enough! The lady at the counter, however, just wanted me to make a decision so she could move on. It was obvious that she was filling in for someone else, and she didn’t want to be in the paint department this morning. When I asked her why she sells a roller frame for which she does not stock the correct paint roller, she rolled her eyes and told me to take my time: she’d be back. That may be, but I know when I’m not wanted. I left.

Big mistake.

I crossed the street to Lowe’s, where I found lots of helpful sales staff this morning, including the guru of the paint department. I told him that I knew the colors I wanted, just not which shade to complement my color inspiration. He made two suggestions, I selected one, then I asked for Kilz Kolors, which he told me they do not stock because it’s an “inferior” brand of paint. He recommended what he told me was a Consumer’s Best Buy, Valspar, and I told him to mix the colors we had selected. It took forever because when he lifted out a can of paint from the mixer, the seam had split and my, oh my, what a mell of a hess that was!!! He told me he’s not supposed to reshake old paint cans, but he did it as a favor to a customer, and that’s what caused the problem. After helping with the cleanup, I loaded my purchase into the truck and headed back home to knock out the painting project before lunch.

That was the plan; however, I will NEVER buy Valspar paint again. As I rolled a coat of paint onto the wall, the downstroke removed it. I tried again; same result. Getting nowhere fast, I only finished one small little area behind the door to the guest room before getting totally pissed and deciding to drive back to Lowe’s, return the paint, and buy the Kilz at Wal-Mart.

Lowe’s doesn’t refund custom paints. It does not matter that the color is correct: I simply cannot use the paint. It’s the worst paint I have ever tried to apply to a wall, and I’ve done a lot of painting during my lifetime. I left the paint on the counter as I had no use for it and drove back across the street to Wal-Mart. I got another two gallons of paint, actually changing my color choice to a less red purple, drove back home, and restarted the project.

One coat and done. It even covered up the wall where I had applied the Valspar. I love the color, but I can’t finish the project as the door didn’t arrive, so the wall where it’s going will be cut, the door fitted, and then the drywall repaired before that part of the job is finished, at which time I’ll finish the painting project. I’m also going to paint the two beige closet doors, but I’m not sure what color I’ll be using. It may be a slightly different shade from what’s on the walls. Then, I have to decide what little touches to add to change the color palette to the new hues.

Bottom line: even unfinished, the room already looks better than it did when I got up this morning! But I’m still pissed about the Valspar as I paid $75 for two gallons of paint I left on the counter, and then had to buy another two gallons at Wal-Mart. Lesson learned, but one of the reasons I do all this work myself is to be able to afford it. For what I spent on paint today, I could have hired this done and sipped tea while someone else wore himself out painting the guest room!