Using Paint to Take the Brown Out of the Man Cave

WEEK THREE has been all about painting. Literally and I am on a mission to eliminate the espresso stain from this space!

If this is your 3rd week on Porch Daydreamer for the One Room Challenge™, welcome back! If this is your first time here, please stop by the WEEK ONE kick-off detailing my massive 6 week makeover plans for the man cave. For your convenience, click here for other weeks: WEEK TWO | WEEK FOUR | WEEK FIVE

Week 3: All About That Paint!

Wow, I cannot believe that it’s already the mid point for the 6 week challenge!  It’s been a non-stop mission to complete these 3 spaces. The task that has taken ALL of my time? Painting!

The great news is that I have a NEW motivation to get the office portion done sooner than later 🙂

On Monday, I start a new sales job working from home so my office space has taken on a whole new meaning! 6 weeks? This space has to be completed in 4 weeks – yikes.

Luckily, Wagner is sponsoring this post for the One Room Challenge and provided me the most AMAZING sprayer called the Wagner Studio Pro Sprayer, an extra Control Finish Nozzle and a Spray Shelter.

Click the bold links or picture below to learn more about these products!

My experience and advice about the products used in this post are my own and unbiased. Truly I LOVE this sprayer as you will see from my experiences.

What Have I painted?

It feels like EVERYTHING! My Instagram stories have been filled with tales of painting and even dancing to the Rocky Theme song, when the last of the hand painting on the cabinets was completed 🙂

As a reminder the colors I am using throughout the makeover are from Valspar and can be purchased at Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores. Swiss Coffee is the BEST white! It’s a bright white, but not harsh.

The List of Items Hand Primed and Painted

1. Upper and Lower Office Cabinets – 4 coats
2. Small Side Table (primer only) – 1 coat
3. Kitchen Table – 3 coats
4. Office Walls – this was NEW! – 2 coats

Public service announcement on the wall paint – don’t apply old paint to your walls, without spot checking in a corner! A project I DIDN’T anticipate was painting the office walls, ugh.

Why? Well, the touch up paint in khaki was not my friend. After sitting for 7 years in my attic, the paint can lid was beyond impossible to open. I pried open the lid with a combination of tools and slapped that stuff on the walls where I’d spackled – BAD IDEA.

The paint had turned and the sheen had changed.  It looked awful.

Hand Painting Has Taken 7 Days of my Life!

The office wall is where I removed the drapes and rods requiring that the holes in the wall be patched.  This wall HAD to be painted.

At first, I was going to just repaint the one wall with the khaki, but my best friend who was in town said white would be better to brighten the space.  OH NO another paint project – what was I thinking? Theresa did help with the first coat and I so appreciated it!

Plus it’s a tight space and yep, my shoe ended up in the paint tray. This project has been filled with funny and frustrating moments.

It looks GREAT, sorry not the prettiest picture but wanted to show you how bright it looks. Upper cabinets and walls are all Swiss Coffee.

Look I got the roman shades installed too and assembled my office chair! It’s coming together beautifully.

Once the paint cures next week (it takes 7 days), I will apply the wallpaper on the back wall of the bookcase.

Paint Smarter Not Harder with a Paint Sprayer

Now it’s time to talk about the Wagner Studio Pro Paint  Sprayer that has been a LIFE SAVER. Last week I worked inside due to the humid and hot weather.

This week has been sunny, cool, and beautiful. Out to my garage I went!

The garage has become my amazing spraying station! All I needed to do was to set up my spray shelter and cover the floor.  Luckily, my garage has a sink so clean up has been convenient.

Items that Have Been Sprayed with Primer and Paint

1. Coffee Table – 2 coats
2. 6 Chairs – 2 Coats
3. Small Side Table – 1 Coat
4. 3 Cabinet Doors – 2 Coats
5. 3 Drawers – 2 Coats

The Wagner Studio Pro Paint Sprayer Got Better Results with ONE Coat of Paint!

Can you believe all that I’ve been able to accomplish over 3 weeks? 15 items sprayed! Crazy right and this was in addition to the hand painted items.

The paint sprayer applies such a fine coat of paint that I was able to eliminate the 2nd coat and got full coverage.

Here is what one coat of paint looks like hand applied…not good.

Here’s one coat sprayed on in 4 minutes…perfection!

Why a Wagner Sprayer May be for you?

• Do you want to cut application down to minutes versus hours?
• Is a fine smooth finish important to the project?
• The weekend is the only time you have to paint?
• Are the items you are spraying detailed like furniture?
• Do you have a lot of small items to paint?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, then a paint sprayer is a GREAT investment for you!

I’ve truly been blown away by how fast I’ve been able to paint so many items and how quickly the paint dries. Plus the finish is so smooth!

3 days of hand painting can be accomplished in 1.5 days of spraying 50% more time back in your life!

Are you scared to use a paint sprayer? Don’t be! I’m here to help 🙂

Because I love to teach and show you how things work I’ve recorded a couple of videos showing you how easy it is to use the paint sprayer, with tips and tricks imbedded. What is funny is the state of my “painting pants”.

Spraying is MUCH cleaner than hand painting.  That new mess on my pants is from the interior work I did!

Part 1: Priming

Part 2 – Painting

Next Week, Less Painting and More Pretty

The coffee table is officially finished and I wanted to share that too.  Between paint and a new fabric cover, it doesn’t look like the same piece of furniture.

Oh, I gave my son a heads up that his man cave is getting a makeover. His reaction? Not great, but there’s no stopping now!

While you are waiting for next week’s post, check out The One Room Challenge and all of the Week 3 Progress or the 20 Featured Designers

If you want to share what I’m up to, so others can watch my progress, please share on social media!

Here’s a little Pinterest or Facebook graphic for you…

Thanks so much for following along and seeing what one person can tackle in a week. Would love to hear your comments below and let me know what you think so far!

Maybe, just maybe you’ll start daydreaming about what room to update in your house next!

Until next time…

Porch Daydreamer

Tracey