So a good rule of thumb is to give yourself a little time to get used to the new color.  In my experience customers almost always end up liking the color they have chosen.  And if you can’t stomach the color – it’s only paint – you can put another color over it.

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When you replace wallboard you’ll need to remove any trim.   Door and window casings will have to come off, along with any base or crown molding.   Baseboard heating or radiators will need to be removed, the same goes for any light fixtures mounted on walls or ceilings.   After you remove all the stuff, then comes the demolition.   Breaking up and disposing of drywall is a dirty,  labor intensive job. And that’s the easy part.

After removing all the old drywall along with any screws or nails left in the framing,  you now need to purchase and transport full sheets of dry wall into the room where you are working.   You’ll need to cut and screw pieces into place, tape and spackle the new boards and then replace all that stuff you removed before you took down the old wallboard.   Even if you managed to get your moldings off in one piece, you’re still going to need to nail them back in place, putty the nail holes, caulk the gaps and paint.

Removing wallcovering, even when done by an expert may damage the face paper on wallboard.   Sometimes pulling off strippable wallcoverings will also pull up the facing.   Wet stripping wallcovering can make the underlying wallboard soft.   If the walls are too wet, you may wind up scraping or pulling paint off the wall or putting nicks or small gouges in the wallboard.  Taking down paneling can also leave you with a less than desirable surface to work with.  Fear not.  This stuff can be repaired.

The first thing you need to do is to stabilize the surface.  If you have taken down paneling and are left with peeling face paper and adhesive on the wall you need to clean it up.  If you take a razor knife and outline the glombs of adhesive you can scrape or pull off the glue and limit the damage.  Do the same thing with loose face paper.  Don’t worry if there’s still some tattered and loose areas, that’s what the primer is for.  We use Zinsser Gardz primer.  This product is designed to reglue loose face paper back to the wallboard.  Follow directions and let it dry thoroughly.  You might need to go back and remove some more of the loose paper and spot prime some areas where the paper is not laying down.  After the surface is good and dry, give the walls a light sanding and you’re ready to skim coat.

Skim coating might best be left to a professional, but if you want to give it a try, my advice is to put your joint compound on very thin.  Thin coats eliminate ridges and tool marks.  The compound will dry quicker so you can go over it sooner and when you’re done you’ll have less to sand.

I?m extremely familiar with customers agonizing over choosing the right color.  First Point: If you’re having real difficulty choosing between two colors, particularly if there is just a shade or two difference between them, it’s not about the color.  It has to do with you’re your inability to be decisive and to commit.  People in a quandary over color probably have a similar problem ordering off the menu in a restaurant.  Do I get the Chicken Marsalis or the Chicken Francaise?

Second Point:  It’s only paint.  If you decide on a color and it turns out you can’t live with it, you can always paint over it with another color.  It’s not like installing new kitchen cabinets and counter tops then finding out you don’t like them.  If you make a wrong decision there, changing your mind has real consequences.

Third Point: You’ll never look this hard again.  Suppose you are again, trying to choose between three shades of the same basic color.  I can put the lightest of the three on one wall and go to the opposite wall in the room and apply the darkest shade and if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know they were different.  I could apply the lightest color on one wall and apply the middle tone on the adjacent wall and again if I didn’t tell you…  Sure, if you look closely you might see the difference.? But a week after the painting project is completed you are not going to enter your bedroom and scrutinize the color.  You’ll be going into the bedroom to sleep or get dressed or to hang something up in your closet; you won’t be thinking to yourself  “Gee, if I only went a shade lighter”.  If you are thinking that, see “First Point” above.

Final Point (I could go on):  It’s your house and you have to live with it.  There are two basic choices in color selection, neutral and bold.  Granted, you do have to decide if you want to bring out a certain color in your scheme (ROY G BIV).  If you want to keep the room neutral, think of the color as a background, not as a focal point.  Look for your color in washed out or muted tones.

If you want to go bold, well then, bold is just that. I once had a customer who had her hall bathroom painted red.  Not “autumn red” or “sunset red” I mean fire engine red.  She had the right fixtures and tile to go with the color.  It was bold, it was different, it was definitely a statement and she loved it.  I’ve also painted a kitchen ceiling black.  Same thing -with the right wallcovering and cabinets, it was very stylish.

I use particular products because through the process of elimination they’ve become my favorites.  I’ve become comfortable using certain items over the years mainly because I’m familiar with how they perform.  When I open a can of Benjamin Moore paint or a can of Sherwin Williams stain I understand from experience, the best way to apply them; I know what’s needed in the way of surface preparation.  I know first hand the dry time and the re-coat time.

If you’re reading this post, you’re doing so to gain from my experience.  My experience consists not only of how I’ve been doing things over the years but also the reasons why I do things a certain way.  In my line of work, what you’re using is as important as how you’re using it.