Young House Love

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When To Use Tinted Primer

As scheduled, our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore picked up our donation items yesterday. That, combined with us moving tons of frames and accessories into the future playroom (for now), meant the guest bedroom went from this:

Egads Angle 1

To this:

Primer Empty Room

Not exactly ready for the inlaws (who are arriving on Thursday – yikes) but at least it’s no longer a junkyard.

The reason that photo was taken after dark was because once Clara went to bed last night we decided to earn ourselves some brownie points and paint the room. Yup, we’re total suck ups who love extra credit. We figured it’d be easier to paint while it’s empty (the new bed is coming early next week- details on that soon) and with Clara asleep we figured we’d seize the day night.

So by morning the room was looking a bit more like this:

Primer On Walls

The color is sort of a stoney pale blue, that has hints of purple in some lights. We figured it was neutral enough to not offend any guests and if we ever had a baby boy down the road we’d already have the nursery walls ready. Gorgeous, right?

Okay, we’re totally joking. That’s not paint, it’s just tinted primer. Did we get you? Sorry, we just couldn’t resist the momentary fake out.

Primer Can

But as you’ve probably figured out already is that tinted primer = dark paint. We’ve been itching to try a dramatic dark color somewhere in the house so we figured we’d just go for it in this room. Why not be a bit adventurous for a guest, right? We figure a dark enveloping room would be nice to sleep in (some of our favorite hotel rooms have been deeply saturated), and thanks to having two walls with windows (plus another window in the adjoined bathroom) the room actually gets a fair amount of light.

Let’s just say the color is very dark and very outside of our comfort zone, but we’re geeky excited about it for some reason. Probably because it makes us want to wet our pants. Just a little. For now we’ll leave our choice a mystery (oooh, secrets) until we get the room painted this weekend and have pictures to share. Descriptions of colors can be tricky, so we’d rather just show it to you anyway.

Oh and this is actually our first time using tinted primer. With such a deep color on the agenda, we knew it would probably help with coverage and the richness of the color that we end up with, so we went for it. We chose Olympic Premium Primer because it’s 100% VOC free (and just $12 for a gallon). It was pretty easy to use – not nasty like the oil-based stuff, and not very smelly at all. But it was a little thin, so we had to be extra careful to avoid drips or wipe them up when they occurred (which might actually be the case with all water-based primers since we’re comparing it to our run-ins with the oil-based stuff from back in the day). Fingers crossed that it does the trick. You know, so we don’t find ourselves needing ten coats of paint to get the deep rich tone that we’re going for. We only got one gallon of paint so we’re hoping that’s all we need…

Comments

  6. Amanda E says

    Nice, can’t wait to see it!

    We just painted our bedroom grey with a purple accent wall and our primer was nearly the exact same color as the paint! It made it awfully difficult to see where we had painted and where we had skipped, but it did help us ease into the idea of grey walls since we primed a few days before we painted.

    Reply

  7. Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says

    Congrats, YHL for entering the dark saturated world!!!! We just painted a fairly dark tone on one of our walls (used Glidden paint in a deep navy) and were surprised that we only needed two coats of paint with no primer! We’ve used tinted primer in the past with mixed results. But I’ll say this – if we ever paint over those dark colors, we’ll definitely use primer then!! Can’t wait to see the new color!

    Reply

  8. RA says

    Love where you’re going with this. I trust your vision. If you decide you don’t like it — hey, it’s only paint.

    Not to rain on your parade but… I couldn’t help but notice you painted your air vents. I can tell you from up close and too personal experience that if those babies aren’t painted with a gloss, or at a minimum semi-gloss, finish they will be a bitch to keep clean, even in the most fastidious of households. Perhaps you’ve had a different experience and will tell your secrets.

    Reply

  9. Paige Jones says

    sooo…I totally thought that was the color of the walls. I thought to myself, “Well…it looks good in a calm-ish way, but it’s a little…um…dull.” Glad you’re going bold! Can’t wait to see the color.

    Reply

  10. jane andreassen says

    You got me! Actually I think you’ll get everyone… because the color isn’t thaaat bad. But I was thinking, “hmmm, that doesn’t seem to go with rest of house.”

    I’m guessing navy?

    Reply

  12. Erica says

    I painted the walls in my dining room a dark red, and I used a tinted primer for the first time. I did 2 coats and the walls look great! I hope your walls look great, and I can’t wait to see what color you guys choose!

    Reply

  14. Tracy J says

    What a tease! (I just know you are going to post pictures on the blog, then mention it on Facebook at a time when all I have is my slow Blackberry that won’t open the blog.)

    Reply

  15. Michelle G says

    oooh, cant’ wait to see what you choose!

    quick question (which you’ve probably already answered somewhere in the comment archives): the browninsh strip around the base of the trim by the wood floors, is that wooden quarter round? i don’t remember seeing that sort of set up in your last place. do you guys think you’ll remove it, paint it, or stain it to match the color you end up with on the floors? just curious, thanks youngsters and happy Saturday! :o)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, it’s wood quarter round, and we had it at our last house (also unpainted). We usually just go with the house on that decision (if it’s painted we leave it painted, and if it’s not we leave it not painted). Ironically at both houses it wasn’t, so in the name of keeping things cohesive we’ll leave it that way!

      xo,
      s

    • Katie says

      That is called “shoe molding” & is not the same as a quarter round… just a note in case it ever needs repair or replacing. :)

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Katie’s right, there is a difference between shoe molding and quarter round (you can read more here) so definitely figure out which you have before you go replacing or repairing anything, that way you’re matching what’s already in our home.

      -John

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, he claims he’s not as good at “remembering where things are from” and “answering decor related questions” so he reads quietly and lets me do the answering.

      xo,
      s

    • Lauren says

      I got John to comment when I asked a blog format related question. I guess that’s more his area of expertise :-)

    • Lindsay says

      I got him to comment once when I asked about where they find some of the music in their videos! haha :)

  18. Heather says

    Love that you’re going bold in there! We are pretty conservative with our painting too and just went with dark brown (almost black) in our family room. It’s such a statement and looks great. And if you do it right it almost looks neutral.

    Reply

  19. Jennifer says

    I’ve done a charcoal grey with a purple undertone before that was a beaut & your “going dramatic” direction had me reminiscing. (Question) How do you know what colour to tint your primer? I see the can came in white, so how do you decided what the petticoat layer should be in anticipation of the ball gown?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just ask the paint pros. Two of them agreed that they shouldn’t match it to the wall color we picked, and instead recommended dropping a few dots of black paint into the can for a medium gray tone that really helps with coverage and richness of any darker tones paint applied on top of it. Here’s hoping it works as well as they said it would!

      xo,
      s

  22. Holly Austin says

    Okay, so I didn’t think the primer looked bad at all, but I wasn’t liking the description of “hints of purple in some lights”!! I’m so excited you guys are going with a dark color, can’t wait to see how it turns out!!

    Reply

  28. Liz says

    Can’t wait to see it! The fiance and I just edged out a very large closet in our house that we’re turning into a nook office for me… in TURQUOISE. And when I say Turquoise, I mean, HEL-LO Bermuda waters!

    Bold is beautiful, baby!

    Reply

  30. Angela says

    Oooh I’m so excited to see the end result! Hurry up and finish painting so I can be entertained! (It’s a slow day a the office… yes, I’m working on a Saturday… and yes, I’m spending my time at work reading your blog… and no, I’m not ashamed to admit it)

    Reply

  33. Leasa says

    OK I’m officially a YHL groupie. I read up on some of your old posts on how to paint a room and tackled our half bathroom last night. I love the 2″ brush that you recommended. LOVE. Didn’t have to tape and edges look great (not to toot my own horn but toot toot – scratch that last line- sounded bad…forgive me). Buying more paint today to paint the living room. Thanks! So glad that AT pointed me in YHL direction :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw so glad my favorite brush did it for ya. I’ll definitely be breaking that baby out again for painting (used it for priming too). Just a little addicted.

      xo,
      s

  35. Barb says

    Excited to see the finished product. PLEASE don’t make us wait til Tuesday with Monday being President’s Day……Hope to be seeing the room color Monday……can’t wait. Know it will look great.

    Reply

  37. OMG-YHL says

    You got me– no wonder you worked in advertising; you could sell me on primer as the perfect room color! Can’t wait to see what color you pick and how you balance a room with dark walls! It’s a new challenge, that’s for sure, but I know you guys will make it work!

    Reply

  38. Beth@Just{Heart}It says

    Haha! My guest room just went from inhabited (for two months) to looking like yours looked before the Restore picked up! :-) And I’m painting today, too – master bedroom.

    For the first time I’m using an edger tool. Have you ever used them? I will NEVER go back to cutting in with a brush. They are so precise and easy and faster, even to a fairly steady hand like mine (and yours, Sherry). Even John could use it – promise!

    Have you ever used one?
    http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100070177/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

    Reply

    • Liz says

      I used an edger when painting my apartment, and it’s really a fast way to do all the ‘cutting’ of the room. BUT don’t load up the brush or it’s disasterous LOL

    • Rebecca says

      Beth, Did you use this on textured walls? Just curious. Some of the walls in our home are lightly textured. If an edger tool would work that would be awesome! Unlike Sherry…I have yet to develop a close relationship with any painting tools, so I would not technically be cheating…lol.

    • Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says

      Oooh, I used to swear by the little edger tool too, but it’s a disaster when you get paint in the little roller feet. I always ended up spending more time cleaning the rolling feet, or cleaning up where my little rolling feet got paint all over the ceiling or trim. I did, however, use it on our stairs recently so I wouldn’t dirty a roller and it worked like a charm.

    • April says

      I didn’t have a very pleasurable experience with the edger tool…I love my angled brush much better!!!

    • Beth@Just{Heart}It says

      Rebecca,
      Yes, I used it on textured walls. I think that’s why I loved it so much more than a brush. I was astounded at the difference it made, because it was so much easier for me to get a straight line on my textured walls with the edger than with a brush.

      I also agree with Felicity – you have to make sure you don’t press the edger into the paint so you don’t get paint on the rollers. I didn’t have much of a problem with paint on the rollers, but when it did happen toward the end of my paint job, I just used the other side of the edger. And the little bit of paint that went over the edge as a result of the rollers was still way easier/took less time to touch up than the difficulty of using a brush.

    • Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says

      I’ve used one when I had to paint a two-story area and it came in handy, that’s for sure!! Hooke it to a long pole and you’re good to go. However, if it’s something that I can just use with an angled edger brush (i.e. – at my height and easily reachable by a ladder), then I almost never use it. It has little wheels that can get paint stuck on them and then when you paint (if you’re not super careful about keeping the wheels clean), you’ll get a tell tale line of paint on the ceiling or what have you and it’s just a mess.

      But using it on a two story ceiling – ABSOLUTELY! Totally worth it!

    • Rebecca @ the lil house that could says

      I just painted yesterday and bought the edger since I heard so many great things about it on other blogs, but it didn’t do it for me :( I think my trim work is overly caulked and it couldn’t catch onto the little edges. So I went back to the good old angled brush! I didn’t try it to cut in the ceiling though, I’m thinking it may have worked for that!

    • Kelsey says

      Ahh! I agree. I have this tool and LOVE it. Changed my painting life for the better and I will never go back! Best $2.27 I ever spent!

  39. katy says

    I wish I had known about tinted primer when I painted the kitchen in my old condo. I was going for a really deep red color and it took SEVEN coats for it to actually look red instead of a magenta pink! Can’t wait to see the results!

    p.s. what do you guys think of Sarah’s House, on HGTV? I’ve been watching that show and I think a lot of her style is reminiscient of yours, especially with how she repurposes old items.

    Reply

    • Lindsay says

      If it makes you feel any better, katy, to get our kitchen a nice deep red we used a high quality grey primer and then… 4 coats of (also high quality) red paint. So it took 5 coats of painting (primer + color) for us anyway. (probably could have gotten away with one less coat, but I’m super picky). Something about how our kitchen (and most kitchens in general) just gets so much light any teeny tiny flaw was visible. It also didn’t help matters that we used semi gloss paint, I’m sure. Over two years later though, and I still LOVE it, so that makes me feel slightly better about all the crawling around on counters I did. heh. :)

      Red is a picky color though. I helped a friend do a dark blue paint job once. Two coats (no primer) and it looked great! Go figure.

    • Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says

      Ugh, red. I feel your pain! I painted a little dresser red and it took at least six coats to get past pink, even with a dark tinted primer! Now it has so much paint on it that the drawers stick. I think I’m going to have to use stripper to get the paint off to go not-red, but the chemicals in the stripper freak me out. Any not-as-harmful stripper recommendations?

    • Michelle says

      Felicity,
      We’ve used citristrip gel a number of times to remove paint from furniture. It works really well and doesn’t contain nasty chemicals.

    • Tamisha says

      I’m using a lot of stripper these days. My favorite is Citri-strip. It’s less harsh and has a more pleasant smell. The other one I like is Peel-Away, but it is much pricier.

  40. susan says

    And so the next project starts (guest room). I work best under a deadline. That’s why I said I could be a host house for the next progressive dinner in our neighborhood. I will finally have to hem my drapes!!!!!! susan

    Reply

  42. Leigh Anne says

    Just out of curiosity (although I may answer my own question), was the only reason you didn’t use a primer + paint like Behr’s because of the VOC issue? Or is it better to do them separately for coverage?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, VOCs are the only reason. We’ve heard that the primer plus paint stuff from Behr is amazing, but if there’s a no VOC alternative, we’d much rather use a separate primer to save the beanette from those fumes.

      xo,
      s

  43. Jennifer says

    It looks pretty so far :) With the bed arriving early next week, it’ll hopefully get there before the parents right? Can’t wait to see what you will do!

    Hey, John and Sherry, have you seen this table before?

    It’s a really cool expanding table (by twisting it)
    This video shows it with the base:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKE8rCYLh00

    This one shows you more on how it works with the knob underneath and its better quality:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh_qn62zny0

    Imagine if you guys found that one! I’m sure you would have had more than enough space with the expanded size! Enjoy :D

    Reply

  45. katie says

    we painted our guest room a dark color and i love it! can’t wait to see what color you pick. we went with a dark blue, and used a lot of white in the duvet, curtains, art, etc. here are a few photos if you’re interested:
    http://five2eight.blogspot.com/2009/04/room-for-our-guests.html
    http://five2eight.blogspot.com/2010/07/guest-room-photo-wall.html
    all of our guests have really liked it (at least that is what they’ve told me anyway). i’ve slept in there a few times (when we were working on our room) and the dark color does make it nice a cozy. happy painting!

    Reply

  46. Cindy says

    Zero VOC is the pits! I’ve never had good luck with it, especially working with high gloss paints.

    Behr makes a low-VOC paint that I love, and I really love their paints. I’ve never had an issue with color trueness or saturation. I’m curious how the tinted primer worked for you guys. I just redid our bathroom from chewed grape bubble gum (previous owner) to cerulean and didn’t use tinted primer but after the fact everyone recommended that I should have.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Really? Have you tried Olympic Premium No-VOC paint? We love it! So far we’ve painted every room of our new house with it and it’s totally on par with the Behr stuff that we used to use! Hope it helps.

      xo,
      s

  47. Megan S. says

    Aw! You guys are mean tricking us like that, lol! You really had me fooled there, that primer actually looked good! Either way, I’m sure whatever paint you guys decide on, it will look great.

    Can you share where you are getting your guest bed or is that saved for the next post as I am shopping around for a new bed. :) Thanks Youngsters.

    Reply

  48. Laura says

    I’m glad to hear that you thought the primer was a little runny. I just used the same primer on my closet last weekend (untinted) and I had the same reaction. However, my experience with primer is not extensive, so I thought maybe it was just me!

    Reply

  50. Megan says

    Yay for Habitat ReStore! I work, as an Americorps VISTA at my local ReStore in Appleton, Wisconsin. Its great to see ReStore support across the nation. Thanks for your donations!

    Reply

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