How to paint over dark walls without primer. That is the very topic of this blog but I assure you I will get in digressions and epiphanic episodes in this blog post just to mess with people who likes to “get to the point”. If you don’t like it, you are in trouble! Haha, this is my blog. My refuge. My money on the hosting website. My effort and time so unfortunately, you have to deal with that time I spoke to God.

But in all sincerity, I do wonder what do people do with the 34 seconds they save from not reading a bit? Always have!

Anywho, I know most of you like reading me so I won’t bother with all this but tell you how to paint over dark walls without primer and YES, it works!

Although I did buy a primer because I wasn’t sure myself about whether or not the dark walls will show through but it didn’t. Basically you need a good, pigmented paint and while painting add very little water. Here’s a swatch test we did before embarking on it.

I had to scrape a few areas with a tin scraper because that particular area absorbs moisture for some reason but barring that, no hassle!

A great Tip to paint walls

If you are painting a wall on your own, it’s best to add painters tape around the edges. But if you think you have a steady hand, start with a medium brush and paint the edges. Hold it at an angle and run clean, smooth lines.

Next, fill the rest of the wall with paint – brush the colour first and then run a foam roller. Do it in sections. Like we have.

Once you have given a coat, wait for an hour before roller-brushing another. Oh, and it’s totally normal to feel that you have ruined your wall after the first coat. You haven’t. Wait and add the second coat to see how beautiful it all looks! And! Please cover your things with a drop cloth or a plastic sheet so it doesn’t stain. Also, you can see the area we had to scrape here.

Details of paint and brush

We used Asian Paints Royale Ice Age 8299 in matte and it’s a gorgeous warm light shade of grey that’s so evocative of fresh summer mornings. Paired with white, it creates a seamless flow as you move your eyes from wall to wall and becomes a perfect backdrop for shabby chic or farmhouse decor. Though I do reckon that it’ll fit pretty swell with sleek, modern interiors too but you’ll need a lot more monochrome in that case. Here is the shade and you can find it here

It’s a gorgeous beige-y grey and screams country!

As for the brush, we used a large 100mm brush and a foam roller. I know the felt ones are touted as good but I am telling you foam is the way to go.

Let it dry a day and you are done!

Two Other Grey options

If you are to choose any other grey than the Ice Age, I would recommend Country Chic- N, K282. It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous warm grey and would look lovely in your living or bedroom with all its linen-ish feels.

The other grey is called Quiet Dawn- k101 and is also a lovely colour. Very very minute difference in all 3 but different alright! I am particularly not fond of cool greys because it makes spaces look very austere, unless ofcourse you have dark greens and lots of white but it’s definitely too austere for me.

Here’s a quick snapshot of how cool greys look as opposed to warm greys.

Source

And I think this is a mistake I had personally made when painting the wall in our bedroom. Two actually. I should have painted the wall where our study table is. And the second is I chose a cool grey which lent a very sickly cool light in our room. I also think I had a warm white light which made things worse.

But we live and learn yeah?

For now however, I am incredibly happy with the shade and plan to get the same shade going in our bedroom wall too. Or should we do country chic? Let’s see.

Tell me, do you have a wall you’d love to paint over? Share with me! I’d love to hear.

Rukmini

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