It is week 2 of the One Room Challenge, and I’m here to show you how to easily and quickly paint a room following these steps and tricks! Whether you are using a paint sprayer, a roller, or a paintbrush, here are my recommendations on how to paint a room like a pro in no time at all!

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How to Easily and Quickly Paint a Room: Walls, Trim, and Furniture

This week in the one room challenge was all about paint! Wall paint, trim paint, and furniture paint! I cannot talk about paint without thanking Wagner, HANDy Paint products, and Annie Sloan chalk paint! All of these sponsors made painting my master bedroom and furniture much easier! Although I was provided with these items for free, all of my opinions are my own. Read on to find out how I used each of their products below!

Wall Paint

Ten years ago we painted the walls Peaceful Breeze by Benjamin Moore. It was a neutral greige paint that had a bit of a lavender tint a different times through the day. I actually liked it a lot, but wanted something lighter and more refreshing. That is why I chose Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore!

Before

It is a very cool white paint. Not like a “dope” white paint, but it has blue undertones in it. 😉

I have made the mistake of choosing a white paint with too much yellow, so I made sure I chose one with blue undertones. I also chose that paint because I had a lot left over from my living room! That certainly helped my $500 budget! You can see Chantilly Lace on the walls in the picture below! I ended up having to buy another can and went with the Ben interior paint. It is the cheapest in their line and still amazing paint!

After

I used to be afraid to use a paint sprayer. I was stuck in the mindset of years ago when paint sprayers were a complete disaster! Now, it’s a whole new ball game! The Wagner FLEXiO 3000 paint sprayer is amazing! It comes with two different size containers and nozzles to allow you to chose how much paint you would like in the canister and how much spray you need. The larger one is great because it holds more paint, which means that you don’t have to refill it as much. It also produces a wider spray. This is the one I used for the walls! It allowed me to easily and quickly paint a room, but I will say that I need to do a little more upper body workouts! It gets heavy with a full canister of paint!

You will want to put down a drop cloth and tape off any areas that you don’t want to get paint on. Although the spray on the paint sprayer is fine, it still does travel. If you use latex paint, and some spray gets on the floor, all you need to do is use some soap and water to scrape it off.

There were some smaller areas, like behind the radiator and above the door trim where I used a roller to apply the paint. Using the HANDy paint tray was great for this, because I the higher sides prevents paint splatter and you easily can change out the tray inserts for easy clean-up! If I didn’t have a sprayer, I would just use a roller with a fine nap like I’ve always done.

You are able to control the amount of paint that comes out of the paint spray by adjusting the nozzle setting. I set it at the recommended controls for interior painting. About halfway through the job, the paint spray started coming out a little wildly. I stopped at that point and checked the manual for troubleshooting. Right away it was resolved when it suggested clearing out the nozzle. All I did was wipe away some paint build up and it went pack to normal!

Let’s talk about clean up. I was a little nervous for this part, but I can assure you that it is totally easy to clean and just as easy to put back together! It took me about fifteen minutes the first time I cleaned it and about ten the second time! You can’t beat that!

Trim Paint

I always use semi-gloss on the trim. It gives a bit of sheen and it’s especially important when using the same wall and trim paint color like I did in my master bedroom. I used a paintbrush, a small roller, and my HANDy paint pail to brush the paint on the trim. I recommend using a small roller (about 6 inches) to paint the baseboards, doors, and window casings. You can always use your paintbrush to smooth out any areas that might need smoothing. It just a major way I easily and quickly paint a room!

I can’t tell you the number of times that I have spilled my trim paint, because I use a plastic solo cup! Having the sturdy HANDy paint pail is a lifesaver! It has an easy handle to hold it, and you can rest your paintbrush in the pail without having the whole thing tip over!

I don’t usually use painter’s tape when painting a room, because it takes up too much time to prep the space. I find that using a good angled 2 inch brush allows me to be precise. By all means use some painter’s tape if you like to do that, but it’s an added step that if cut out, can help you easily and quickly paint a room!

Furniture Paint

I also used the Wagner FLEXiO 3000 paint sprayer on my dressers! This paint sprayer is AMAZING for painting furniture! I was a little intimidated at first, because I had never used a sprayer to paint furniture, but I will never use anything else! The smaller canister and nozzle works best for the furniture. I adjusted it to the “furniture” setting and the paint came out beautifully! I’m actually looking forward to using the Wagner paint sprayer more often! It’s made me an addict!

I used Annie Sloan’s Chicago gray to paint the dressers. This chalk paint is exactly what you are looking for in furniture paint! You really cannot mess up by using this chalk paint. I added some water to the paint to thin it down a little. This allowed the paint to go on very smoothly. I would definitely recommend using a paint sprayer if you have one, because the paint will go on more smoothly than a paintbrush or roller. However, if you use a brush or roller, you can still achieve a smooth look by sanding and waxing a few times! In fact, I did that anyway to make sure I had an extremely smooth finish!

This was my first time using Annie Sloan chalk paint on a piece so large and the Wagner FLEXiO 3000 paint sprayer, so there are a few areas where my novice skills may have affected the outcome, but I’m very pleased overall!!!

I’ll be writing up a detailed blog post on how to paint furniture with chalk paint soon, and I will give you all of the details to a well painted piece of furniture then! In the meantime, here is a before and after sneak peek of the dressers I painted.

Before

After

I can’t wait to add some acrylic and gold hardware to the painted dressers! They will really pop against the gray paint. I have found three knobs that I really like! The first two were 50% off when I purchased them! Which ones do you like the best? Knob number one: clamped tube knob  Knob number two: glass and antique gold cylinder pull knob Knob number three: acrylic cabinet pulls (the smallest ones)

The Plan

Here is the plan for week 2! I had to switch painting the dressers with hanging the drapery rod and curtains, because the rod did not arrive in time! It worked out though, because I was able to discuss all of my painting tips and tricks this week!

Week 2:

• Hang these bamboo blinds from Overstock
• Hang this gold drapery rod from Bed, Bath, and Beyond
• Hang these gray drapes from Ikea

Cost to Date

If you remember, I’m trying to update my master bedroom while only spending $500!

Do you think I can do it!?

I have stayed on track for budget so far. I did purchase three different sets of dresser knobs, because I wanted to see them in person! However, I’ll just return the sets that don’t work and get a full refund.

Here is the cost breakdown so far:

1. WALL PAINT– $32 (I had some matte paint left over from my living room, but I ran out! I decided to buy a gallon because I plan on using it to paint my son’s room in the next couple of months.)
2. TRIM PAINT-$0 (I had paint left over from my living room and was able to use that! I actually only did one coat on the trim. Normally I’d do two coats, but the trim was a linen white and the Chantilly Lace covered it perfectly with one coat. This also saved me from having to buy more!)
3. FURNITURE PAINT– $0 (This summer I attended a DIY workshop on using Annie Sloan chalk paint at Solider 58, a vintage home decor store and paint studio. I was very lucky to have been gifted the Chicago gray chalk paint and clear wax, which is what I used for both dressers! You can read all about it in my post, “The Best Chalk Paint.” You can find Annie Sloan chalk paint at your local stockist!)

Head on over to the One Room Challenge blog page to see how everyone is doing in the second week of the challenge!

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