how to paint a door.

well, as some of my stalkers would know, i recently painted my previously 'un-laura-like' green bedroom to a more familiar me color, which is pink.

pink is not a bimbo color. go away.

anyway, it is pink and gray. the trimmings on my wall and ceiling is white, from the previous paint job. which was also done by me. few years ago. hmm. i would say no less than 2006. how many of you have painted your own room twice in your lifetime at this age hmmmmmm?? :)

which leaves the door. which was brown. sigh. so i wanted to paint in white. it's white now. very pretty. but the process was borderline traumatizing. and. next time i want to paint a door, i will be more prepared! gas masks and all.

you see, wall paint and door paint is very different. wall paint, when not yet completely dry, is not waterproof. can be wiped off, washed off, or drained off. on the other hand, door paint (for wood and metal surfaces) is acrylic based. basically, waterproof.


i decided to do in a tuesday morning. and just so happened i had lunch plans with my mimi :)

i made mixing the paint a more complicated process than it should have been.

first coat of paint, no problem. just paint only lah. only i used the mini-roller. which absorbs paint. lots of it.

stains on the floor, and on my hands. i made a mistake of washing the brush with water and squeezing it with my fingers. guess where all the paint got stuck.

i couldnt find the thinner which made me panic. i cant go to lunch with smelly white hands! well charmaine pointed out the nail polish remover. which saved the day.


turns out, you cannot soak those brushes and roller in water.  but i didn't know :(
on...wednesday i started second coat. found the thinner.

dipped my brush in thinner. so much better. however thinner + skin? not good. hands were burning :O

and i don't know what sort of useless skills i had because the door still looked uneven and patchy :(

well. i thought i learned my lesson, remember to soak brush in thinner. i did! but in a thin plastic cup.

and more nail polish remover for hand stains.

i come home hours later to find the thinner melted my plastic cup into mush. and stained my toilet!

of couse i don't want my parents to know. well, i had to use more thinner to clean the toilet. and the sink. hands burning again.

third coat. however the brush was a secret hideout for some plastic flakes that were not melted, which explains now why there are white bits on my door :(

used thinner to clean my floor. personal experience has thought me that nail polish remover + floor are not good friends. i found out that thinner + floor not good friends either. as is thinner + metal and thinner + skin or thinner + weak plastics.

and all this time i've been inhaling paint fumes, thinner fumes, and remover fumes, which have specific warnings such as DO NOT INHALE and HAZARDOUS.

so, maybe 1/4 of my brain cells have died, but hey! my room looks so much better! :)\

ps: had to sleep in su-ann's room for a week too.