"GUEST ROOM PAINTING"

"When washing the wall isn't enough... Read about Mari-Anne and Janne's guest room renovation."

"The journey from planning a room renovation and choosing the right paint shade to a finished room is nerve-wrackingly long – at least, if you ask me," says Mari-Anne.

It is certainly rewarding to see, as a "knowledge worker," what can be achieved with your hands and how the work progresses. Before getting to paint, I too had to be patient for a moment. Preparation work had to be done carefully to achieve a good, even paint surface.

The walls of our small bedroom were a good example of how different and time-consuming preparation tasks walls can require before painting.

Washing, rinsing, and drying were enough for two walls. If the walls are not very dirty, just washing with water is sufficient.

However, I prefer using Sugar Soap because around the ventilation duct, window, and light switches at least in our home, grease and other dirt accumulate that do not come off with just water.

One wall was like Swiss cheese after my interior enthusiasm. It had hosted all kinds of pictures, shelves, and lamps according to current tastes and a bit of trend. There was a disturbing crack in the joint of the boards on the window wall.

It would have been pointless to just apply filler on top. The crack would have immediately reappeared due to temperature changes.

The surface had to be cut away from the boards and a reinforcing mesh plastered over the crack.

I hoped that filling the holes and cracks would be enough, but no. This time it was my husband’s head turning, thinking it wouldn’t look good like this.

Usually, I am the one with high quality standards. With a wide spatula, he then applied a thin layer of filler evenly over these two walls. Again, the walls had to dry before we could start sanding.

For this task, my husband found a machine - a sanding support with 180 grit sanding mesh, to which a vacuum hose could be attached so that dust would not settle all over the room. After sanding, the dust residues had to be wiped off the walls.

Finally, we got to paint with the help of two rollers

This time, the paint chosen was chalk wall paint and the shades Whiter than white and Swayed. This has become our trusted paint since it does not require priming.

The surface becomes velvety as long as there is enough paint on the roller and the roller is at least medium nap.

The second coat can be painted in less than a couple of hours. It is also important to me that the paint does not smell or cause allergy symptoms.

The color choice was successful, and we are more than satisfied with the final result.

More pictures of the project can be found on IG @Koti_kolmessa_kerroksessa

Best regards, Mari-Anne and Janne