62 Years... 1 Coat Of Paint?

If I told you there existed a room, in a house built in 1946, that only ever had 1 cost of paint in 62 years, would you believe me? I mean, talk about vintage, right? 1946 paint? Come on... yeah right.

I wouldn't believe me.

But... it is true.

Here is how my past 48 hours have played out.


Around 2:00pm Wednesday afternoon... location: Jacob's new room!

The starting color is kind of a straw yellow. Not a bad color, per say. But my brooding pre-teen wants it dark navy blue. We talk about it and decide that a focal wall can be navy, but the rest should be light blue. I pick up all the paint at Home Depot and tape my edges to ready for paint.

Around 2:30pm Wednesday afternoon...

Figures... the blue is really dark and it'll need two coats. But I knew that so no big deal. I can handle two coats. Two coats will look AWESOME! Can you see that grainy texture to the wall? It is kind of a cross hatching. No, it isn't wall paper. It is just plaster texture under the old paint. Definitely not wall paper. By 3:00pm I have the first coat on the dark wall and grab a second paint tray to start the first coat of light blue on the other walls.

Around 3:30pm Wednesday afternoon...

What the hell is that? A drip? No. That is a bubble! Why are there bubbles? (insert touching the bubble here) OMG... the bubble stuck to my finger and pealed the paint off the wall... hold on a second... it is pealing down to the plaster!! OMG... there are more bubbles!! What the hell?!?

Around 4:00pm Wednesday afternoon...

Yeah, it happened to both walls. I frantically call my friend Lindsey who's husband Lucas did a stint as a professional house painter in college. The dude has cutting in skills from what I hear. He has never heard of such a thing. I call my Dad... he thinks it is weird too. I call Ron... he says I should just clean the paint up and take a few days brake then come back to it. Yeah, right... like Carrie is going to let a project go unfinished. HA! One by one, all the people I called showed up at the house. Lindsey and Lucas pealed paint with me, all the while wondering what the chalky stuff was behind the paint. My Dad came... he thought is was probably a chemical reaction and said to call Home Depot.

Around 2:00 Thursday afternoon...

Thank heaven for smart, old, Home Depot, paint dudes. Back in the 40's when my old house was built... the plaster guys would throw in a few extra handfulls of lime in the plaster to quicken the drying process. What should have happened after that was a coat of primer and then a coat of paint. However, according to the HD Dudes, people didn't know what primer was back then. So, they just painted the plaster. That is fine. You would think some time in the next 60 years someone would decide that it was time for a new color. I mean, I paint 2-3 times a year, doesn't everybody? Not in my old house. I was the first since 1946. When I rolled on my paint, it soaked through the old layer of paint and the moisture in the paint activated the lime in the plaster. The reaction of the activation... heat. The heat separated the old layer of paint from the plaster and thus the peeling. And that chalky stuff everyone was feeling... lime.

So, I spent today sanding the edges of the peeling... then primed the whole room with an oil based primer. Finally! The lime has been "neutralized"!! LOL... sounds like some kind of war fair doesn't it... "the lime has been activated... we need to neutralize it". The primer needed to dry over night. Or at least, I think it should dry overnight... even though the can says "fast drying". So, I'll work on the final coats later today.

See... I told you it was a MAJOR crisis!! And just to prove I actually know how to paint. Lauren's room, the "after" shot!! Scroll down HERE for the "before".

The rocker... I dragged it home from the side of the road when I was about 5 years old, living in Texas. It was red leather and had a broken leg. My Dad fixed the leg, and my Mom recovered it. It is just the right size for a 5 year old little girl butt, wouldn't ya say? And isn't that the prettiest purple ever? Is it wrong to covet your daughter's bedroom for studio space?