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 Ralph Lauren Paint... maybe the scariest paint on the planet. It’s some pretty kewl paint but jeeze, it cost’s a fortune compared to “normal” paint. However, if you want a wall that gets attention, Ralph Lauren textures are fantastic.
- Hint #1 - BUY LOTS OF IT!
This stuff does NOT go a long way. If you get poor coverage with your expensive paint, it’s gonna look like $35 per gallon doo-doo. Figure your wall space and round UP. Remember, length times height gives you the square footage of a wall - if you have 9 foot ceilings, be sure to figure your coverage using that measurement and not the store’s estimate of a standard room, which has an 8 foot ceiling.
- Hint #2 - PRIME YOUR WALLS
Waste primer, not paint, especially if you’re painting new construction. While you’re at the paint store, tell them you want a few gallons of cheap primer tinted to match the Ralph Lauren paint you’re using. This will keep you from wasting that expensive stuff on walls that simply suck up the first coat of whatever you put up.
- Hint #3 - BUY THE Ralph Lauren ROLLERS
While it may sound like a ploy for more money, the fact is that you won’t get the finish you want if you don’t splurge on the accessories that are recommended. Not all the RL paints require them but there are special rollers that you have to use to get certain looks - if you are trying to match a photo in an ad or picture at the store, be sure to ask if the kind of paint you’re getting requires a special roller.
- Hint #4 - FINISH THE WALL BEFORE YOU DECIDE IF YOU LIKE IT OR NOT
These finishes really do look quite different when they’re dry. If you’re going for the River Rock or Suede look, you have to complete the process almost down to the last brush stroke before you see the desired result
- Hint #5 - HAVE FUN!
It’s only paint... if you screw up, paint it over. If you hate it, paint it over. If you like it, send photos!
If you have some decorating advice you’d like to share, drop us a line at tips@thefixchicks.com. If we publish your tip, we’ll send you a FixChicks coffee mug. ~ .\\
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Ralph Lauren River Rock Paint Notes
The Fix Chicks have got lots of mail about Ralph Lauren River Rock paint. In fact, that's the ONLY Ralph Lauren paint we get email about, even though we feature a room done using their Suede textured paint.
We've discovered a couple of useful things for those of you who have used, are using, or are planning to use River Rock texture paint:
First, take a biggo black marker and X out that bit on the back of the can about painting in 18 inch squares. Roll the paint on like you would any other paint - if you try to stick to the 18" square business, you're liable to end up with a room that looks like a checkerboard because of the roller lines.
Second, make sure your painting aresenal includes a good brush. We had lots of folks email us about how to deal with the overlapping roller lines near the interior corners and quite frankly, I didn't know what to tell them because I didn't have that problem. When I thought about it though, I realized that I didn't follow ALL the instructions on the can - I used a brush for the inside corners, not the small roller they recommend. This let me "drag" the paint out into the wall area so it blended more evenly.
The third tip is for repainting - if you have "spots" or small areas that you are unsatisfied with in your River Rock wall, repaint the WHOLE wall, and ideally, use a single can of paint per wall if possible. We get our Ralph Lauren paint from Home Depot (which is, I think, the only place you can get it) and twice we've had color mixing mishaps without any apparent reason, so it's better if you can "assign" a can of paint to the project. If you know your room will take more than one can, try to assign only one can per wall because it's likely that the paint from two different cans of River Rock will not match exactly if you know one wall will take more than a gallon of textured paint to finish it, have your paint mixed in 5-gallon buckets instead of one-gallon paint cans.
Finally, work with lots of paint and keep a wet edge. If you’re inclined to skimp on paint coverage, don’t try to use this paint. It has to go on heavily and you have to work quickly.
Thanks to all the fixer-uppers who wrote in with their questions!
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