Never say never...but...never again!

Ralph Lauren's River Rock sucks. Don't believe me? Go google "Ralph Lauren River Rock Problems" and start reading. All the bad things they say? Streaks from hell, uneven finish, brazillions of coats? True. Oh, so true.

How do I know this? Well, I decided to turn a dining alcove that we never use for dining into a reading nook -- and also de-beige another room in the process. See, when the previous owners put this house up for sale, they beiged the entire thing first. Now Pete likes all the shades of beige and white, but me? I need some color. Plus, our last house had been beiged before we bought it, and what with having twins six months after we moved in, we never did get around to de-beiging it. Two beige houses in a row are two too many. But it's a slow process, this de-beiging thing. We negotiate neutrals v. colors, kind of

[him: how about cream?
me: ewwww!
me: how about bright red?
him: ewww!]

and after 7 months or so I get impatient with the negotiation process and just go out and get the paint and start painting. The orange bathroom notwithstanding (as promised, I did repaint it when his dislike of that finished project lasted the obligatory 3 months and then some), he does like and even approve of the results. Like I said, it's a slow process -- in the 3 and 1/2 years since we moved in, we've managed to de-beige 4 rooms -- but gradually, the beige is disappearing.

So I decided that the next project was this area formerly known as the dining alcove, as well as the adjacent living room. I've used Ralph Lauren paints before, both flat and Suede, and have loved the results. We've also got this great stone fireplace in the living room, and a view of the Minnesota River. After studying various paint chips, I decided that RL's River Rock, which claims to capture "the worn look of rocks awash in a turbulent stream with subtle sophistication," would be a perfect fit for those rooms.

Well, it is a perfect fit, but it's hell to get there!

I started small, with that dining alcove...and today, after 7 coats (actually, it might be 8 coats or even 9 coats; I lost count) of streaky walls, lots of frustration, far too many gallons of paint for 2 & 1/3 small walls, and multiple visits to various help sites, I finally figured out a technique that works. But, man! What a pain in the arse this project turned into. And I swear, once the living room is done, I will never, ever use this particular paint again.

I'll post more on this later, specifically (for perhaps I can save some other poor fool some time and frustration), the technique I finally hit on to make this work. But right now I'm going to go swill some gin, stare at my hard-won streak-free walls, and consider taking up smoking again. Kidding about that smoking thing! But the gin...hmm....

I also have a camera full of pictures that need to be processed and posted. It's on my to-do list.