Makely

I haven’t pulled an inflatable mattress into my bathroom so I could sleep underneath my new stenciled wall, but I’ve considered it. It’s the first thing I see when I walk into the house from the garage, and the crazy pattern somehow calms me down after I’ve been in the car with two kids who are “Hungry!” and “Thirsty!” and “Bored!” and all “Emma is looking at me!” Please tell me that doesn’t just happen at my house.

Anyway, I really love the allover wall stencil I used from Royal Design Studio, and I think you’d love one, too. The stencils offered range from traditional to graphic and mod, so I know there is one for every home. They are high quality and easy to use.

Zebra Stripes

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Elegancia Allover

Ready to stencil something in your own home? Good! The winner of this giveaway will receive his/her choice of a Royal Studio Design stencil (up to $50 value). Which one would you pick? Head over to their website, pick out your favorite, and come back here and let me know in a comment to be entered.

Good luck!

Giveaway rules: Giveaway open until midnight CST on 12/11/2011. No purchase necessary. Odds of winning are based on the number of entries. One entry per person. Open to US residents, 18 and older. Winners will be randomly selected using Random.org and notified by email. If winner doesn’t respond in one week, another winner may be randomly drawn.

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?

Giveaway: Royal Design Studio

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