Interior Paint Recommendations

Interior Paint Recommendations

When it comes to finishes, I am extremely picky.  There is nothing worse than spending time taping off a room and prepping it to paint or devoting hours to sanding down and refinishing a beautiful piece of furniture just to find out the paint is garbage.

Here are my favorites:

stenciled wall with chairrail

WALLS: I really don’t mind dutchboy duraclean or platinum plus.  It is a 2-coat paint though.  My favorite is Glidden Duo or Diamond Duo from home depot.(left below chair rail)  It has great one coat coverage and is only $25 a gallon.
Lowes Valspar paint does not have good adhesion. I removed an outlet cover once and it pulled a section of the paint off.  No, it did not have anything to do with the surface that was painted over, because the surface was primed.  I also used it on my kitchen cabinets once and it never hardened so I had peeling paint where the door touched the cabinet and even washing them years later I could scratch the paint off.  For this reason, I use Valspar Paint ONLY when I stencil because it peels off the stencil so easily.(left)

TRIM and CABINETS:  I love Sherwin Williams Proclassic Paint.  It has a very smooth, hard finish whether you are spraying, rolling, or brushing.  But it’s only available in light colors.  For dark colors, I use Sherwin Williams all surface enamel (right).  Yes, they are expensive but worth every penny.  Sometimes they have coupons available if you ask. If you are painting over something that has been stained, you will need to use a good bonding primer.  I HATE Zinsser oil based primer.  It scratches off.  Use Sherwin Williams. They will recommend what you need based on what you are painting over. And if you are wanting to distress what you are painting, the primer can be tinted close to the paint color so that you don’t have white underneath your paint.   DO NOT USE CHALK PAINT ON YOUR KITCHEN CABINETS!  If you are told otherwise by someone, ask them how long ago they painted them and how often they have to rewax.

painted cabinets
cabinet paint
chalk paint

Furniture:  Again, I will rave about Sherwin Williams Proclassic Paint and All Surface Enamel (above).  But Chalk Paint (left) is a lot of fun too.  The benefit to chalk paint is that you don’t have to prime first no matter what you are painting.  Prepping the surface is key though.  Make sure to clean the piece well and sand with 220 or 320 grit sandpaper to remove any rough spots.  If you want a distressed look, you can stain the piece first.  And after you paint it use 220 grit sandpaper to distress it.  Don’t skimp on the wax.

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