Today I am sharing how to paint over blue walls with white paint with no streaks. Blue wall paint can be very difficult to paint over but using a quality paint primer is the key to painting over blue walls with white paint and not ending up with streaks showing through the lighter color.
Did you see the small guest bedroom makeover that we did for my son? The bedroom room originally had dark blue walls. The goal of the bedroom makeover was to brighten up the room with a lighter paint color. I decided to use a white paint color by Sherwin Williams called Westhighland and wow, it’s gorgeous!
How to Paint over blue wall paint
Dark blue walls can be tricky to paint over and the secret is to use a high quality paint primer. This will determine how many coats of white paint you need to paint over dark walls and not have streaks.
How many coats of white paint to cover dark walls
Painting over dark walls whether the wall color is blue, black or red is tricky and time consuming especially if you do not prep your wall first with a primer. Especially if you are painting over dark walls with a white paint color. Like I said earlier, the biggest painting tip I can offer is to always use a high quality primer and paint color
As many of you know, we have partnered with Sherwin-Williams for years and I absolutely love their paint.
We applied about 1.5 gallons of Sherwin Williams Multi-Purpose Latex Primer over the blue walls.
Once the primer was dry, we applied 2 gallons of Sherwin Williams Emerald Interior Satin Finish Westhighland Paint color to walls. 2 coats of white paint covered the dark blue walls but only because we applied 1 coat of primer first. You must apply a coat of primer first!
A fresh coat of Extra White Semi Gloss trim paint by Sherwin Williams also helped brighten up the baseboard, crown molding, window trim and doors.
Buy Plaid duvet cover here | Gray tufted Bed here| similar floor basket here
This room is fairly small and it only took a day or so to complete the painting project. It’s much more fun to paint with someone vs solo painting. One person rolling the walls and one person cutting in the trim makes for speedy completion!
How do you paint over a dark wall color?
Here is another blog post below that shows you how to paint over stain. Whether you are painting over a dark wall color or stain, be sure to check out this post as well.
Check out my “painting dark stained doors” project.
Westhighland paint color is my go-to white paint color for any wall or space. It looks more yellow on the color swatch than in real life. I highly recommend you always purchase a small tester size and apply it to the wall you want to paint. Keep it on the wall for a couple days and see if you like the color during the day and evening.
In fact, our entire house is painted Westhighland. It’s a neutral white that coordinates with warm or cool tones and will absolutely brighten up any space.
Here is the Westhighland Paint color in our foyer and dining area.
Now is a great time to get some projects done in your house. I know for me, being stuck in the house is driving me crazy. How many of you have dark walls that you would love to paint over and create a brighter space?
Wei says
Looks Great ! Wondering What’s floor stain color did you used? It looks really nice. Thank you!
Annie says
I’m in the middle of painting a room that was a dark kind of ecru. The end goal is similar to your Costal Blue.
Totally agree about using high quality primer. I used Behr.
Ceiling rolled with a coarse spongy roll. Was not looking for even finish but rather spotty. I’m gonna go over it again the same color, this time by hand with a real sponge.
Walls still in primer except one that I rolled. I decided that the patter that developed. as I moved along was a Feature, not a Bug.
Trim pure white high gloss and two interior doors in pure black high gloss.
Exit door with the same Black and White. Entry door Perfect Purple.
So much fun!
Gina Morrison says
I couldn’t help but comment when I saw the banjo. My 27 year old son plays. He got a degree in banjo from ETSU. You just don’t see a banjo picker everyday! The room is beautiful. Stay well. I enjoy your blog! Gina from NC