Tag: Glidden

Glidden Paint Review & A Giveaway

I write for Glidden^® over at My Colortopia and I’ve been using their paint for a few projects around the house recently, so today I’m sharing my experiences with it. I’m also hosting a giveaway for a $100 gift card to Home Depot — details are at the end of the post!

So. First impressions with the paint? You don’t get a lot of that classic strong paint smell, since it’s a no-VOC formula (most brands have moved toward a low or no-VOC option these days). The consistency is good, average compared to other brands (not too thick, but not too thin either). There’s a nice range of options in the color palette, but not so many that it gets overwhelming for the average person. Sometimes I find myself wishing that they offered more subtleties in color, but I think I’m in the minority there. I go in thinking ‘show me all 796 shades of icy blue with a hint of gray’ and other people want to see the best three or four options for light blue and go from there. If you get confused when there are way too many versions of red, or blue, or whatever, you’ll probably like the smaller palette — there are still hundred of colors to choose from.

I went with Crisp Linen White for Calvin’s nursery. I wanted the light and bright feeling that white gives a room with plenty of natural daylight (which the nursery has), but nothing too stark because of our home’s unpainted trim and woodwork.

We remodeled that part of the second floor to create the nursery, closing off openings, adding new ones, and moving the door. We also stripped wallpaper from the walls and cleaned up the residue, leaving clean, smooth walls that seemed to be in pretty good condition. Normally, if you’re painting a light color over another light color, you can get away without priming first. We did prime the new areas of drywall , but since we were painting over previously papered walls for the majority of the room, I thought it might be a good idea to use a primer everywhere else too. I picked up a gallon of Glidden^® Premium Collection Interior House Paint (a paint and primer in one) and we were able to skip another separate step.

The paint gave great coverage, went on well, and has held up just fine. One coat covered nicely with lighter colors, but I’d count on two for dark or really bold paint jobs. And the best part is that it’s super affordable, so you can pick up a gallon for about $25 instead of $50 or $60 (or even $100, if you like a certain fancy European brand)! Here’s another project done in Glidden^®, this time a deeper, darker color (Shaded Fern). The paint updated that old thrifted armoire perfectly.

Glidden^® has enabled ratings and reviews for all of their products, so you can read other peoples’ experiences with their paint. If you’ve used it yourself, you can rate and review it too. And if you haven’t used it yet, well… I’m giving away a $100 gift card to Home Depot! That’s plenty to cover a gallon or two of Glidden^®, plus any supplies you may need (and if you’re in need of tips and tricks, check out my posts for My Colortopia). Leave a comment on this post by midnight, August 25 to enter, and a winner will be randomly chosen. Open to US residents only. Good luck!

I have been sponsored by the Glidden^® brand paint for PPG to write this post but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

August 20, 2015
The Playroom’s Accent Wall (Featured in HGTV Magazine)

The playroom is sporting a different look from the last time you saw it! I showed a couple of shots while the wall was in progress a couple of months ago, but then I couldn’t show any more until the feature with Glidden ran in HGTV magazine this month.

I write for Glidden, so when they asked if I had any painting projects coming up that they could share, I told them about my plans for the playroom. Typically, I’m not one to do an accent wall, as they can seem kind of arbitrary. In this case though, I really liked the white walls on the third floor for the most part, but wanted to bring some of the color over from the curtains on the other side of the playroom. A big block of color (like a traditional accent wall) could have worked, but I thought this would be a good place to try something a bit more playful.

The feature is inside a peel-back front cover in the June 2014 issue of HGTV magazine, along with projects by Kate and Eduardo, who also write for Glidden over at My Colortopia.

Initially, I thought about creating a more orderly polka dot wall, but I changed my mind the day before I started painting and went with a bunch of falling bubbles instead. The walls on the third floor are textured, so the design couldn’t be too intricate. I started with the quick marker sketch you see at the beginning of the post, and then drew large circles for the design on the wall, freehand with a pencil. I used an inexpensive art/craft paintbrush to outline some of the smaller circles, and used a 2″ angled paintbrush for the rest, and to fill everything in.

The other side of the playroom has those floral curtains that I made years ago from Moda’s “Mom’s Couch” fabric. They hung in my stationery studio initially, and were also used in Eleanor’s bedroom in the last house.

I chose Glidden’s Red Geranium because I wanted to pull in that bright orangey-red color and bring it to the other side of the room.

There are bookshelves for toys to the right of the easel, and along the left side, I hung cubbies to keep art supplies within reach, and also put up three large wall clips to use for rotating artwork on display from the kids.

I’m glad I’m finally able to share this updated space with you! We spend a lot of time in the playroom, and the added color has made it even more fun for the kids. And thank you, Glidden and HGTV magazine for featuring the project!

May 20, 2014
A New Video Series with Painting Tips

I’m so eager to get some paint on the walls of the new house. I’m fine with taking my time to make decorating decisions, to place everything and unpack all of the boxes… but come on. I want to pick up a paint brush already! Eleanor’s room is on the docket and I’ll share her color choices later today, but first I have some how-to videos to share that might be helpful for those of you about to paint.

Lindsay Ballard of Makely Home writes for Glidden on My Colortopia (as do I), and they put together a video series of helpful painting tips. The trickiest thing, I think, is to cut in without using painter’s tape.

I’ve tried to explain a lot of this before in writing, but a video is much easier to learn from! There are tips for using painter’s tape in Lindsay’s series too, along with prepping, cleaning up, painting trim, and more. You can check out all of the videos right here, on YouTube.

I have been sponsored by Glidden® brand paint to write this post but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

October 9, 2013
Orange You Glad
This post is in partnership with Glidden.

I’ve used orange a lot in my home (like in August’s nursery and the original dining/living room setup), and I thought I’d revisit the color by putting together a dining room featuring the color. The plan below uses strong hits of orange in the chairs and other details, and I chose a pretty coral for the paint. I love the addition of the pink bowls too, and I imagine big fluffy pink flowers in those vases.
I write for My Colortopia, which is part of Glidden. Right now, they’re taking submissions for their Glidden #MyColorfulLife Project. You can upload colorful photos to their Facebook page or tag your photos on Pinterest with the hashtag #mycolorfullife, and they’ll then compile the images they receive into a large mosaic. You can learn more about it at Glidden.com.

I have partnered with Glidden/ Akzo Nobel Paints to participate in the My Colortopia program but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
October 9, 2012
Three Apartment Makeovers

I write for Glidden over at MyColortopia, and a while back I was discussing a few ideas with them that I had for projects. I was already answering advice column questions and recommending paint colors, and I wanted to take it a step further and actually help someone with a makeover. I had no idea that my little idea would lead to me flying to New York and spending three crazy long days painting three different apartments while being filmed! Remember this sneak peek of what I was up to last month? Well, the videos are ready and I can finally share them with you.

I had a very small budget for each of the makeovers, a five-minute phone conversation with each of the renters beforehand, and only three photos to go off of before choosing paint colors and accessories for each of them. First up is Lisa. She loved hot pink, so I was excited about helping her find a good shade of it for her entryway. She went with Very Berry, and I brought in some red-orange to liven it up a little further with a ceramic lamp and a bar stool. I also gave her a black and white hook to bring in all of the black and white accents, but it didn’t make it into the video.

Here’s Lisa’s makeover.

So fun, right? I love that she picked such a vibrant color, and the entryway was the perfect place to do something so bold. Her black and white art looked great against the new color, and I love the hits of orange in the space. Lisa loved it too, and I think it really suited her!

The next video features Cassandra. She wanted to repaint her bedroom because she was tired of the yellow that had been on the walls since she moved in. She had red curtains (that she’d made herself), vintage dressers, and brown, white, and teal bedding with an overscale graphic pattern. She mentioned that she liked gray in our phone conversation, so I selected three shades for her to choose from and she went with Dolphin Gray. I also chose a giant multi-colored wall art piece, a small glass lamp, and a pillow with subtle red dots.

Here’s how her makeover turned out.

I don’t think she realized that the gray she chose had some purple in it, but I thought it looked great! She hated that art though, yo. She was a good sport about it and she tried to live with it, but I knew she wasn’t going to keep it. Even though the scale of it was perfect, and it tied all of the colors in the room together, it just wasn’t her taste (I thought she’d go for it, based on her bedding and fabric choices, but no). I also grabbed that fantastic yellow lamp from her living room, and she has since moved it back. She wrote all about her side of the story on her blog.

The last video features Eliza. Her living room walls and trim were all the same shade of white. Eliza hates clutter and wanted to keep an open, airy feeling, but she was having a really hard time choosing a color for the room. I helped her select Sea Spray, a blue/green/gray hue. I gave her a new nesting coffee table (I fought hard to get that in the room, by the way), a beautiful new pillow on the couch, and an adjustable floor lamp.

This is Eliza’s makeover.

I don’t normally do accent walls, but it works in her apartment because we did the two long walls opposite each other and the architecture had recessed areas that lent themselves to the look. The white wall of windows feels like a wall of molding now, and the other white wall had a large doorway in it and a bookshelf. I did want to hang larger art over the sofa (Eliza had a great collection of art, just sitting in boxes), but we didn’t have the proper hardware. Still, I think the new color added so much to the space, and the blue is gorgeous and changes depending on the light.

My short New York trip was a whirlwind, but it was a great experience. The Newfangled video crew, Apartment Therapy team, Glidden people, and renters were all fantastic to work with, and I’m proud of the work we did! I hope Lisa, Cassandra, and Eliza will enjoy their rooms, and I hope you all enjoyed following along.

August 23, 2012
My Colortopia

One of my favorite things to do is to choose paint colors. One of my other favorite things to do is to talk about do so. Clearly it’s a good fit that I’m now writing over at the new blog, My Colortopia.

I’m happy to be in such good company too! There are some great bloggers contributing. I’ll be adding a new article every month, and my first is already up: Tips for Choosing Paint Colors. Take a look if you’ve ever wondered about the nuances of picking the perfect shade.

I have partnered with Glidden/ Akzo Nobel Paints to participate in the My Colortopia program but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

December 2, 2011