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Pink Isn’t Just for Girls: Color Changing DIY Products

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Have you noticed the number of color changing DIY products that have hit the shelves in your local home improvement store?  The concept is that the color of the product is pink when it is applied, but it changes to white as it dries.  The formula that creates the color change is a closely held trade secret, but I assume that there must be a chemical in the product that evaporates and causes the color change.

As I was repainting our half bath, I thought it would be fun to try out some of these products so I picked some up during one of my many visits to The Home Depot.  No one asked me to do so, but I’m a former science nerd who just loves this kind of stuff!  The first one that I tested was the DAP DryDex Spackling.  I will be replacing the accessories in the bathroom, such as the towel ring and toilet paper holder, so I went ahead and spackled over those holes before I painted.  As you can see, the spackle went onto my wall bright pink.

This product dried pretty quickly.  It probably took it about 30 minutes to turn from pink to completely white.  The below photo shows it almost dry.  I apologize for the poorly lit photo, but I had already taken down the light fixture in the room to prep the ceiling for painting when I took this shot.

Speaking of the ceiling, I wanted to change it from builder’s beige to bright white.  I primed it with Kilz primer (because I always prime), and then I used the Glidden Pink to White Ceiling Paint.  The ceiling paint works the same way as the DryDex Spackling did.  It wasn’t quite as pink when it was applied, but it definitely had a pink hue to me.  It was nice that I could tell if there were any spots I missed while painting.

The Pink to White Ceiling Paint took longer to dry (i.e. turn white) than I figured it would.  I can normally count on latex paint in my house being ready to be re-coated in about 30 minutes.  Instead, this ceiling paint took about 2 hours to dry.  Even with priming, I still put on 2 coats of the ceiling paint – I’m also always a 2 coat painter.  The finished product is a beautiful bright white.

It’s worth noting that these products may not work great for all DIYers.  My husband is red/green colorblind, and he couldn’t see a color difference in the Pink to White Ceiling Paint.  I think it’s because the pink in this product isn’t all that bright.  He had an easier time seeing the pink in the DryDex Spackling.

Have you tried any of the pink to white products?  What did you think?

How to Stencil on a Textured Wall

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When you walk through the front door of my house, you are greeted by a nice entry way, a nice dining room, and this.

Yep.  There’s a very functional, yet eye sore of a half bath right there in my entry way.  It’s in the middle of the house, so there is no natural light whatsoever – just the two measly light bulbs in the builder installed fixture.  I try to keep the door shut as much as possible, but with two kids in the house, it gets left open more often than I would like.

I have been wanting to redo that bathroom for sometime, but it hasn’t ranked high in the list of rooms I need to redo.  I knew that I wanted to do something dramatic with the wall that faces the front hallway (the one with the framed artwork in the photo above), replace the pedestal sink, hang a new mirror and install a new light fixture.  When the Royal Design Studio offered me a complementary stencil to review, I knew that the bathroom had to be moved to the front of my list.

After I removed everything from the walls, I painted the ceiling white using Glidden’s EZ Track Ceiling Paint.  I then painted the walls in Behr Ultra’s English Channel.  Yes, the walls are very dark, but it helps this small room make a big impact.

I had selected the Moorish Circles stencil from the Royal Design Studio, and I set to work placing the first stencil.  I measured the walls and centered the large stencil on the center/top of my wall. {Sorry for the poor lighting in these photos – I was working with a clamp-on work light!}

When it was ready, I loaded my paint roller with my favorite color – Smoked Turquoise by Glidden – and got to work.  When I removed the stencil, my wall was a mess.  I had to paint over it with the darker wall color and start again.

While the wall paint was drying, I practiced with the stencil and came up with the best way to stencil on a textured wall.  It ended up working better than I could have hoped for.

I put together a video tutorial of me stenciling a portion of my wall.  I had on my paint clothes, wore no make up, my hair was in a pony tail, the lighting left a lot to be desired, I had a sinus infection, and I had to be my own videographer.  Even with all of that on the table, it’s still an excellent way to see exactly what I’m describing in the steps I lay out below.

 

Tips for Stenciling on a Textured Wall

  • Spray the back of your stencil with spray adhesive before you apply it to the wall each time.  It will stick closer to the wall and reduce the amount of paint that seeps under the stencil.  I used a stencil adhesive that I bought at Hobby Lobby, but probably any temporary spray adhesive would work.  Rub your hand over the entire stencil to make sure that none of the design lifts off the wall.  The Royal Design Studio stencils are nice and thick, but even they need a little help not lifting off of a textured wall.

  • Use less paint that you think you should.  I dipped one side of my mini roller into the paint and then rolled it in the tray until the roller no longer looked wet and shinny.  Then, I rolled it 6 or 7 times on a folded up paper towel.  It will take 4 or 5 passes on the stencil to get the coverage you want, but you will have very few bleeds or fuzzy edges when you remove the stencil.  Watch the video tutorial I posted above if that doesn’t make much sense.

  • Remember that you WILL have a few bleeds.  There is simply no way around this on a textured wall.  Once your wall is dry, take a small paintbrush (I like to use a small, flat artist’s brush from the craft store) and touch up the bleeds with extra wall paint.  Stand a few feet back from your wall to see the areas that need to be touched up.  If you stand too close to the wall, you will drive yourself crazy touching up everything in sight.

I’m very happy with the way my stenciled wall turned out.  Once I have the rest of the changes made in this bathroom, I will no longer be embarrassed for guests to use it!  Just adding that dramatic wall has made a world of difference.

Have you ever tried to stencil on a textured wall?  What was the outcome?

Disclosure: Royal Design Studio supplied me with a stencil with the understanding that I would write about my experience with it.  No money exchanged hands, and there was no encouragement to review the product in a positive fashion.