J & A Master Bedroom, Day 4:: Painted Board & Batten (and a Case of Live & Learn)

Yesterday, I primed all of the board and batten walls in John & Alice’s bedroom, and then painted one full wall, and then parts of two other walls.

The color I chose is Alabaster from Sherwin Williams.

I really do love the color (although the blue on the upper wall still throws me a bit–it’ll eventually be painted a neutral color and then wallpapered.) But what I’m not sold on just yet is Sherwin Williams paint.

I know this is the brand of choice for many, many designers, but this is my first time to use it. I’m pretty loyal to Behr for latex paint for walls, and Kelly Moore for oil-based paint for cabinets and trim.

However, for this particular application, I was conflicted. Do I treat this as “trim” or “walls”? Of course, there’s plenty of trim work, but between the trim, there’s lots of wall.

I weighed my options.

If I used oil-based paint, I knew the finish would be gorgeous, but I would have to hand-paint everything–even the wall portions between the battens–as rolling oil-based paint is pretty messy. And over time, the paint would yellow a bit, as oil-based paint naturally does, and since I was using a light color, that might be an issue. There’s also just the pain of the smell and the clean-up.

If I used latex paint, of course clean-up and smell wouldn’t be a problem, and I could roll the wall sections between the battens, but latex paint is less durable, shows brush strokes more, and is just more difficult to get a smooth, beautiful finish with.

I thought my problems had been solved. When I was in Sherwin Williams the other day looking at wallpaper, the little sales girl came over and I shared with her about the board & batten paint conundrum. She said something like, “Oh, well we have a product that is great! It’s latex, but it works exactly like an oil-based paint!”

I bought it. I should say, I bought them–both her line about it being “exactly” the same, and the product, which is called Pro Classic.

Let me just say, this is nothing…NOTHING…like oil-based paint.

This is not the first time I’ve had a chipper, young little sales person tell me they have a latex paint product that’s “just as good as oil-based paint.”

The last one that told me that at Home Depot got an earful from me. I have no idea why I fell for this one. I would be willing to bet money that these young, fresh-out-of-high-school sales people have probably never, EVER, even painted a darned thing with oil-based paint. And I can’t help but wonder if they’ve ever painted anything at all.

Here are my two issues with this product: (1) I see brush strokes. Sure, it’s not quite as bad as with a regular ‘ole latex paint, but they’re there. (2) It will require two coats…AT LEAST. I have never, ever, EVER had to use two coats of paint with Kelly Moore oil-based paint.

So basically, by using this product, I’ve just created a lot more work for myself. I’m a little bummed.

Not only is this a case of “live and learn,” but also…

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!!

EDIT: Okay, it’s possible that I judged the Pro Classic paint a little too hastily. I went today to Alice & John’s house to put a second coat of paint on one wall. I just needed to see what it was going to look like.

I will say this…the Pro Classic really does do a fantastic job at hiding brush strokes, so in that way, it’s very much like oil-based paint. I am still disappointed that it took two coats of paint, and I’ll have to see what it looks like when I go back on Tuesday, but there’s a possibility that the wall sections between the battens may even need a third coat.

There’s just something that’s not looking right to me, though, and I think it’s the sheen. Because I had never used Sherwin Williams paint before, and I absolutely didn’t want the paint to be too glossy, I selected the satin finish. But honestly, it looks more like flat paint. It just has a very dull look to it. I may end up going back over it with a semi-gloss. I’ll make that decision on Tuesday.