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How to Patch Drywall like a girl, Our Freshly Painted Room + $100 to Ace!

February 27, 2015

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We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen. 

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Our bedroom is finally painted, and I can’t believe I waited so long to do it. (I say that every time.) But before we get into that, let’s first address the gorilla-sized hole in the room, seen in the picture below:

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See on the wall under the window? Last year, as we were doing the floors, we discovered that some water had been seeping in through our windows during the winter, and that water was turning to mold. Chris pulled this section out to see how bad it was, and thank goodness it didn’t require taking down the whole wall. We re-sealed all the windows and had some people look the drywall. Fortunately, we were able to treat it without further deconstruction to our home. BUT, this hole has been there, staring at us, for a year now. This month, Ace Hardware challenged us to take on a home maintenance project and I decided to fix this eye sore once and for all myself (#likeagirl amiright?!) with my camera timer set, while Chris is on the mend. Here’s a quick little walk-through:

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You can see the hole was an irregular shape. First, you want to square off the area to be patched. Make sure where you cut lands in the center of a stud, so the remaining sheetrock and the new piece each have the stud behind them for support.

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Cut a small piece of sheetrock to fit. We picked up a small 2ftx2ft piece of 1/2inch sheetrock from our local Ace for a couple bucks, and it was just perfect.

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Screw the sheetrock in, one screw in each corner. If you have a larger piece, you may need to use more screws. Also put a screw into the original sheetrock, just to keep it secured to the stud.

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Spread a thin layer of joint compound over the gaps and top with mesh tape. The mesh tape keeps the joint compound from cracking. It’s a good thing.

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Then add more joint compound and let it dry completely. For this we er on the side of adding too much joint compound, because you’re gonna sand it anyway and you want to make sure you have enough so you can sand it flat.

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I started sanding it using coarse grit sandpaper, and then worked my way to a fine grit.

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Many of you have expressed your wonder and amazement (disgust?) for textured walls. And I get it. I grew up in Pittsburgh where we didn’t have textured walls or ceilings and, man, I didn’t even know how good we had it. But since moving out west a decade ago, I have yet–YET!–to come across a completely smooth wall and ceiling combination. In our home, our walls have a slight orange peel texture, so the last step is to add some of this:

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Once that’s dried, prime and paint.

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Of course we still need to install baseboards here to really make everything appear seamless, but getting that hole patched, however big the job felt for an entire year, was an easy (really easy!) step in the right direction. Another step toward a better room? Our new paint color:

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Boom! You saw the paint swatches we narrowed it down between here, and they were all over the map. While they all fit into the mood board we made up for our room, in the end, we decided to do something darker and keep things warm and cozy. Valspar’s Flannel Gray from Ace Hardware turned out to be thee perfect choice. It’s a warm, dark, slate grayish-blue.

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It’s going to be a great backdrop for the rest of the plans we have for the space. You can check those out here. Numero uno–new bed linens. Goodness, we’ve been rocking these for six years and it shows (I know!)

To kick off another great year with Ace Hardware, and three cheers for tying up those home maintenance loose ends!–we’re giving away a $100 gift card to Ace! You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway runs through Wednesday, March 4th. Take luck and Happy Weekend!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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We’re excited to be collaborating with Ace Hardware as a part of their Ace Blogger Panel again this year! Ace has provided us with compensation and the materials necessary to complete this project and strive to be as generous with our readers (thanks, Ace!) All opinions are our own.

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What do you think?

  1. Taste says:

    That is a horrible patch job you did. And was that foam stuck inside the wall?

  2. emily says:

    love that new paint color. i love the way it works with the natural light in your room. definitely going to be a great room to end the day in.

  3. Haley says:

    This makes me excited to paint the master bedroom in our first house a dark midnight blue! I can’t wait for my very own cozy cave!

    I’ve always liked textured walls. As a kid, who am I kidding even now, I used to stare at the walls to find pictures in them.

    Thank you for the chance to win!

  4. Mary says:

    It is also helpful to use a utility knife to remove the top layer of paper from the drywall to give clearance for the drywall tape so you don’t have to mud over the tape, existing texture, and paint. This will help prevent a bulge from all the layers. Just score half the width of the tape around the perimeter and peel off the top layer of drywall, then apply your tape. Also if you need fine, not large specks of orange peel, soak the can of spray in a bucket of hot water first. Oh, the things you learn when you DIY!

  5. Lauren B says:

    Loooove your paint color! Our room faces west, but we have giant PNW trees in our acre backyard so we get very, very little natural light. I love these cozy dark rooms but I feel like it would be a giant fail in our master. :/ I’m enjoying vicariously!

  6. Mel says:

    That new wall color is gorgeous with your floors!

  7. Andrea says:

    Great color! also, thanks for your thoughtfulness re the giveaway. So many of these now require pinning things, instagramming things, giving away information at various sites…really kind of you to set this up the way you did. Love your site!

  8. Rebecca W says:

    Is that the same blue you already had on just the one wall? Or is my screen fooling me into seeing that?

  9. I love the color you guys chose!

  10. Amber says:

    That paint color is beautiful!

  11. Lauren M says:

    Love how the color turned out! We’ve used the same texture (but for knockdown) and been impressed with how well it blends in.

  12. corine says:

    Go, Julia! Love the paint color and your patch job is pro! I’ve never used mesh tape, always the paper kind and sometimes my drywall patches crack. I’m going to have to get to ACE and find that mesh stuff.

  13. Megan says:

    Great post! I was raised in a home with textured walls and did not mind them. But now my home does not have textured wall (I do live in the west) and I love the no texture. The only down side is that it does show more flaws in the wall.

  14. Alison G says:

    It looks great. Girls can do anything they put there mind to. I voted for the darker swatches. Now what does the Duvet look like? Wow those sheets from your moodboard were expensive. My budget is not as big as yours. I shop at TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls and Ross for bedding. Hope your mending well Chris. Happy weekend to you.

  15. Oh, boy, do we know your patching pains all too well! Way to go, you!

  16. Nicole says:

    What direction does this room face? I love it! Could you do an update about the colors your home currently has?

  17. I’m kind of glad you’re keeping the slightly textured walls. Our walls are plaster and really old, and FAR from perfect (little dings and cracks and imperfections everywhere) and we are just letting it all stay like that. And I love your new wall color – so cozy!

  18. Amanda says:

    I thought/hoped you would pick that color! It looks fabulous! Can’t wait to see the rest of the room come together :D

  19. Meagan Briggs says:

    Even the paints name is warm and cozy. Flannel gray!? Sign me up! It’s gorgeous.

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