Mischief

Not all posh paints are good paints. I have really struggled to find a healthy paint in hot pink. Paint companies should realise that the place we want healthy paint the most is in our children’s bedrooms and many a teenage girl (including mine) wants their bedroom painted in a bright shade of pink. Well my best bet turned out to be the Acrylic Matt emulsion from the Little Greene Paint Company. Here’s my verdict…

Well, first of all I was amazed when Rain said she liked the paint I first put on her wall with the tester pot – I thought it had too much of a purpley hue than she was after, but I wasn’t going to argue. (Ecos paint is the only other option for a bright pink and they charge about £10 postage and the minimum size tin is 5 litres costing just under £35.) So, I went ahead and ordered a 2.5 litre tin online, which amazingly has free postage. The paint cost £27.50.

I was not impressed. The paint just seemed to disappear and when I got half way, I had to stop to order another tin. I was covering a pale pink and it took 4 coats! This is not me being fussy – three coats was still very patchy. I think this is utterly ridiculous for such expensive paint. If you’ve read my renovating blog, you’ll know how much a fan of Farrow & Ball I am. I just assumed that all posh paint would be as good. Not so. Four coats!! I couldn’t believe it; I still can’t. So in the end I paid £55 just to paint one bedroom.  Annoyingly I could’ve saved £6 if I’d bought 5 litres in the first place, but I really thought I would do it with 2.5 litres. (And, annoying I could’ve saved £10 if I’d bought the pink paint from Ecos, but I was so shocked by their postage costs, I didn’t even stop to consider they might end up the cheaper option.)

However, now that the four coats of paint are done, I am very impressed with the finish. It is sooo matt, you couldn’t get any matter! You really feel that if you lean against the wall, you may very well sink right into it. The shade of pink called ‘Mischief’ is a success as well. Yes, it does go purple in the shadows of her room, but it’s very much a classier shade of pink. It’s almost a gothic colour. If blood were pink, not red, then it would be this shade of pink! I’m also pleased that it surprisingly hasn’t made her room too dark either.

Not content with all my efforts, she has painted lovely black swirls and patterns at the top of the walls (which do look really effective) and covered most of my hard work with Victoria Frances posters. Oh well.