I 'MAY' Try This - No. 2 (Paint Roller/Brushes in Fridge, Sponge Spackling & Other Tips)

There are few household chores/projects that I dislike more.  But, when you plan on putting your house on the market, it's inevitable that one of the pre-sale To-Dos is going to be refreshing/neutralizing paint.  A few years back we enlarged and updated the closets in the master and eldest's bedrooms.  In doing this, we installed Rubbermaid's adjustable systems and love their versatility.  Along the "getting it ready for the market" mentality, the closets we did not do back then, stick out like a sore thumb and to keep things looking cohesive...it's time to update our foyer, hall bath and pantry closets.

So, what a great opportunity to try out a few painting Pins from Pinterest, right?!?!

To start, I had to tare out the old closet bar & shelf (wood).  And boy, were THEY attached well!  So, needless to say, I had to spackle, sand and prep.  I'd actually also pinned some "wallboard repair" Pins and here is my two cents...

The awesome product that goes on pink and when dry, turns white, did work.  Is totally worth the extra few bucks per container.  When you have deeper gouges, it's nice to see when things have dried thoroughly.  Had I not had this product, I'd have prematurely sanded and caused the compound to have negative puckering.  I am not a fan of all the sanding dust so was totally up for a different method of getting things smooth.  Using a damp sponge to level out the compound did not work.  Maybe it was my technique, but I wound up with sand paper EVEN AFTER this method.  Sanding sponge blocks did work.  I actually would like to shake the hand of the person who thought this one up.  It produced even, professional quality end results without tons of work.  I purchased all grits (medium, fine and extra fine) and wound up just using medium.  Love them!
 

As for the next step, painting...
Cutting in, really wasn't too bad this go round all things considered.  Since it's a closet, both the ceiling and walls are the same white color.  However, to keep paint off the trim, there is no substitution for a good tape (I love Frog Tape brand).  A Pin I'll be un-pinning is the suggestion to use a spackling knife as a blocker, did not work.  No matter how firmly I pressed it against the wall, there was always seepage. :(  I do have to say, you should Pin this idea and that is to use one of these:

 

as a paint remover.  Diaper wipes do remove paint thoroughly.  They work like a charm doing double-duty.  Hahaha, pun intended!  Any little blobs that did wind up on the trim, wiped off fairly easily with a diaper-wipe.

Next up, and in between coats I tried out the paint roller/brush in fridge, which does work.  I actually have kept it in there to see how long it'll stay moist - I'm thinking it may push the Pin suggestion of 4 days.

I also have to give a shout out to the Pins that suggest writing paint colors and amount of cans needed to paint the room on back of light switches, which works.  I can't tell you how invaluable this has been...