I painted my living room!

You can read previous post about my living room here.

I had wanted to try going/staying neutral with my walls in this house.  I was trying for a "Joanna Gaines look".  However, heading into the bland months of winter, my husband and I decided we had had enough of the beige walls.  We both found it a bit depressing.  So.  I decided to play off the colors in the mural and go with a cheery green.  I chose Dulux Limey.

If you know me, you know what a diehard fan of Benjamin Moore paints I have been.  Having worked at a Benjamin Moore store for 2.5 years, I know their paint very well.  Their Aura in a matte finish is my absolute favourite paint EVER!  It is guaranteed to cover in 2 coats, no matter the color.  It is scrubbable in a matte finish.  You can start and finish a room in just a couple hours as there is no long dry time in between coats.  

This summer I have worked with Dulux exterior paints and stains and have found the products to be as good as Benjamin Moore.  The even better news is that Dulux has several sales per year.  One particular sale they have at least 2 times per year is their buy 1 get 1 free!!  So, during their last buy 1 get 1 free sale (that lasted a couple weeks!), I purchased their top-of-the-line interior paint.  Its called Diamond.  Gotta love a name like that, right?  Dulux Diamond is also scrubbable in a matte finish and also retails close to $75 per gallon.  However, during the buy 1 get 1 free sale . . . well, you just can't beat that price!!

One thing I will note here before I tell you my pros and cons list of this paint is that colors such as most reds and vivid oranges/yellows/greens, take a lot of tint and therefore tend to be more thin and require more coats.  With BM's Aura, with such colors, you need to buy the Aura custom primer and then the Aura paint and do one coat of each to get the coverage in two coats.  It is entirely possible in my case with Dulux Diamond in the color I chose, Limey, that had I got their customized primer, I may have experienced the same thing . . . two coats.  However, being cheap, I simply bought the paint.

Pros:
*   scrubs VERY well
*   the matte finish is truly matte and has a  quality feel to it
*   covered very well

Cons:
*   water-like consistency thus splattering easily ​​

While I was doing the first coat of cutting in, I discovered a spot I obviously had missed when washing my walls and trim down ahead of time.  I got some dust in my paint on the wall.  It was a few minutes before I discovered it so it had already started to dry.  I grabbed my damp cloth and scrubbed.  Much to my surprise, the paint stayed on the wall and I only scrubbed off the dirt!  I was amazed!

Overall, it only took 3 coats of rolling the paint on and 4 coats of cutting in.  It went much better than I expected, due to the color and how transparent the paint seemed when I was applying it.  I look forward to painting with a 'regular' color!  I will certainly put up with having to be more careful in applying the paint due to its thin consistency and having a longer dry time between coats just to save that kind of money.  Because, in the end, it still gives me what I want . . . smooth, matte finish that is scrubbable!

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Next to come will be window coverings, toss cushions, and possibly a rug!  And then its Christmas, so those two may very well blend together on the next post.

Next year, I will work on refinishing my end tables, fireplace, 'tv trays', and piano.  They are all currently a different stain color and that stuff drives me crazy.  For me, it has to flow together right . . . either be the same stain color or a contrast color . . . not every stain color on the chart!  I may restain or I may paint.  I haven't nailed that down yet.  

I'm taking it one step at a time and just going to enjoy the process!