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How to paint your wall by yourself + The shade of white in my home

Much to my husband’s disappointment, I have done away with the grey wall in our living room and I am digging this back to white, sunshine-y, farm house splendor in the house. Now, I won’t lie, I quite loved the grey. As a matter of fact I kind of felt sad to do away with it. Grey is one of my fav colors of all time but it was everywhere. I was starting to get a little tired of seeing it so much- specially because I dabble with interiors and quite impulsively painted it over with white. I was still very much in half mind when I painted it (very unlike me) but I love it now. Straight from the Scandinavian countries to an airy, breezy house with lots farmhouse style. Love totes. Or however they say these days.

And that also brings me to the shade of white

I have forever used Asian Paints Royale Radiant white and I love the luminosity it lends to my space. It lends a lovely glow, dries super quickly, smells not half as bad as oil paint and gives a lovely soft-sheen finish. Best ever. If you have paint left, you can color your furniture with these too. Or pet bottles for DIY project as I have done.

Now, as for painting my own walls, I do it myself. It was bit of a learning curve because there are a few things to learn and I solely believe that you can only learn these as you experience the process but its not rocket science. As a matter of fact, unless you have vertigo or spondylitis, you should paint your own walls because the painters just make it sound very difficult.

Madam kapda do, bucket do, ladder do, chai do. On the other hand, I step up a stool and finish a wall within half an hour and you wouldn’t know. I get it that is the perfect way of painting a wall but I can do with some imperfections in the process as long as my result is perfect.

So, here is what I typically do and this is..

How to paint your wall on your own

Start with sponging the wall. This is specially important if you stay in a dust bowl like Bombay. Take a soft sponge, soak it in water and a few drops of mild liquid detergent or dish washing liquid and wipe the wall. Let dry.

Next, tape the areas you don’t want paint to get in. TRUST ME. DO THIS. Because no matter how steady your hand is, paint and the paint brush have minds of their own. You get blue painters tape in any paint store.

If you are using a primer, this is when you add it. I am way too lazy to prime walls and rather give my walls 3 coats of paint. But ofcourse, if you have a textured wall, you will need to sand the wall, then sponge the wall the primer and paint. For a plain wall, you can skip it. This is the cheat’s guide 🙂

Get a foam roller. There are felt rollers and expensive ones too but I have found a foam roller works best.

Pour paint in a tray and add 1 part of water to 4 parts of paint. Or else the paint will be too thick. Now this is assuming that you are using a water based paint. Royale is water based. Mix well and let it stand for 5 minutes.

Next, roll the foam roller in your paint and start painting. Wait about 40 to 50 minutes in between coats. I gave 3 coats to my wall.

Peel the tape off and voila. New wall minus ladder, chai, kapda, makaan!

Now to add lots and lots of rustic farmhouse whites and enjoy the summer.

Somewhere I do miss the novelty of the grey wall but I also am loving this ghar wapsi (back to roots) at this point in time. I cannot tell you how strongly I am feeling the romantic farmhouse vibes again. I am not feeling the modern and the Scandi and the minimal and the novel. Rather, I am feeling the old, the charm of a creeping rose, the endearing wrinkles of freshly washed linen, a bunch of foraged flowers, chintz, little prints, big enamel jugs, small joys and gratitude. A yearning for the good old days perhaps? Where brooches were fashionable? And pressed flower art was in vogue? But I am a hopeless romantic. What do I know.

As for you, here’s how to paint your wall and all other info on the shade of white I use.

Bom dia.

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