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

  3. georgia says

    The colour of the Primer is similar to the colour of my lounge.. we originally had it a Cookie dough brown, so for us the light bluey purple walls are a huge dramatic change..
    cant wait for a big reveal!

    Reply

  8. Ashley says

    My first thought on seeing that pic was “Wait, did they just re-use the paint from the living room?” lol.

    This is unrelated, but: I’m signed up for Home Depot’s emails, and I just got one that said 20% off area rugs and free shipping. The code is FEBRUG.

    Reply

  9. Garden office designer says

    I am commenting from England and the light is very different here but…. over years of decorating our own home and office we have found that dark colours work really well in dark rooms that don’t get a lot of natural daylight. You do have to make sure that you have got plenty of well positioned wall lights [and task lights if you are painting your office] but the final effect creates a much warmer,cosier room than using a white or a bright colour.
    I am really looking forward to seeing the colour you choose.

    Reply

  10. Stephanie says

    LOVE, LOVE your website! To say I am obsessed is an understatement! Just discovered you through a recommendation from Jen Lancaster (author extraordinaire) and I have been reading until my eyes hurt! Can’t wait to try some of your suggestions and send you my pictures of a very small, old house that I call home!

    Reply

  11. Holly says

    I skip primer all together if the walls are already light color and invest in a high quality paint. I recently found Duration by Sherwin Williams. It’s very low VOC (really I don’t smell much of anything while painting with it) and covers amazingly well. Just 2 coats of Brick Red in our hearth room…and the coverage is unbelieveable. I will never use anything else…so VERY worth the money. And, when they run their 40% of sale, I buy extra gallons of white and then bring it back later when we are ready to paint and choose the color for tint. Then, they tint it right there, no problem :) Oh, and they have great color names too. We used Biltmore Buff in the hearth room too…which sounds a bit regal. Anyway, just haven’t found the value in using primer unless going from dark wall to light color wall, but I’m thinking this paint might even be able to pull that off without a primer. I may be wrong, wrong, wrong though…we’ll soon find out in the bathroom.

    Can’t wait to see the color reveal. I love saturated colors….the mood they create is so fun. And I love mixing them in a room too. Interested to see what you think about stepping out of your comfort zone when you are done with it. Will it be love or something less?

    Reply

  12. Kristine says

    I’m gonna guess a dark purple/eggplant color on the walls b/c I don’t remember you using purple in your first house, and that color was in the color scheme post you showed us a while back. Also, w/the dark walls, I’ll also predict that you will have a white bed frame, white flowy curtains, and maybe even silver or gray accents. What do I win if I’m right? Hehe!

    Reply

  13. Adriana says

    Wow, I love your blog. I found it last week when looking for tips on painting and old dresser. everything u guys do looks so beautiful. I just got a gallon of gray paint to do my bedroom. and I can’t wait to see the results of your guest bedroom. nice work.

    Reply

  15. Kelly says

    Oooh…is it teal? I hope it’s teal. I’m sorta obsessed. I want to change my living room from its current dusky gray/blue, to teal. Can’t wait!

    Reply

  16. Cori @WhereYouHangYourHeart.com says

    I’m painting a light color over a dark color in my dining room right now. I used primer (also water-based, which I agree is a lot less stinky!) but the paint is still turning out all stripey and the dark is bleeding through. What brand of paint do you like using for this kind of application? I’m using Behr. Can’t wait to see what color you’ve selected!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You might just need a few more coats. Not really sure how paint could bleed through after sufficient coats of paint and primer unless it’s oil-based paint and you’re going over it with latex (which usually results in bubbles and cracking, not bleed-through… so I hope it’s just a case of needing a few more coats). Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  17. jodi says

    I love it! I can’t wait to see what color you choose. And hey, thanks for sharing about the tinted primer…I will keep it in mind next time we paint.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We usually use classic high quality Purdy rollers for flat surfaces from Home Depot (not foam) which we sometimes wash and reuse and sometimes toss (depending on how well they hold up).

      xo,
      s

  24. Roshni says

    I admit you totally got me. I was looking at the wall color and feeling disappointed that you did not go for any deep saturated color. Can’t wait to see what you chose!

    Reply

  32. Iraida says

    Sorry, if you’ve already answered this before- but why do you prime if the color on the wall is light- almost white one?
    I thought we only need to prime if the color on the walls were dark…
    Thanks.-

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      When going with a dark color (like deep red, blue, green, etc) tinted primer can help cut down on the number of coats that you need (we’ve heard horror stories about people who need three gallons and five coats of paint to get their deep color to look right). And we figured it would save money to use $12 primer to get the painting done with just one gallon of $22 paint (instead of two). The reason tinted primer isn’t that dark is because it’s found to be most effective at that level (the actual stuff in the primer helps paint grab on and cover better, and the slight gray tint helps deep colors “read” better). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  33. Em says

    That’s it! That’s the color! We’re moving in about a month and my plan is to paint the dining room and the master bedroom. The guest room is EXACTLY the color I’ve been thinking about! YAY!

    (Now to go find it myself!)

    Reply

  34. Krista says

    (Not sure if you guys look at past post comments!)

    I’m painting my guest bedroom this same exact color! I already applied the primer – just one coat – and it looks mostly covered but not perfect. Should I apply another coat? Or does it not have to be perfect before applying my actual paint. There are some minor streaks and marks that could use more paint but I’m not sure I need to do that if the plumage will cover it up.

    Reply

  35. Krista says

    Thanks!!! :) My heart sped up a little when I saw that you responded, haha. Alright – on to painting!

    Reply

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