Wish I'd known about the angled light trick sooner... I spent hours sanding and repainting our basement reno, convinced it was perfect, only to see every flaw pop out once the furniture was in place. Ended up strategically hanging artwork to hide the worst spots. Now I joke it's my "gallery wall," but lesson learned—lighting really does make all the difference.
"Ended up strategically hanging artwork to hide the worst spots. Now I joke it's my 'gallery wall'..."
I can definitely relate to this. When we redid our guest room, I thought I'd nailed the drywall finishing—until the morning sun hit it at just the right angle and revealed every tiny imperfection. After some frustration, I discovered that using a primer with a slight texture helped mask minor flaws without needing endless sanding. Has anyone else tried textured primers? Curious if others found them helpful or just another gimmick...
Textured primer can definitely help cover some sins, but honestly, I've found it more of a band-aid fix than a real solution. A few years back, I was doing a quick basement remodel for a friend, and we didn't have time (or patience) to sand everything perfectly smooth. So we figured we'd try one of those textured primers to hide the worst of it. It looked decent at first, but when bright lighting hit the wall from certain angles, you could still see where the joints weren't quite right. Not nearly as bad as before, though.
My takeaway was that textured primer is great if you're in a pinch or working in spaces where perfection isn't essential—like a basement rec room or garage. But if it's a spot where the finish really matters, like your main living area or somewhere with lots of natural light, it's worth taking the extra time to sand and feather your joints properly. Learned that one the hard way...
Yeah, textured primer's definitely more of a quick fix. I've noticed lighting makes a huge difference too—natural daylight can be brutal. Curious if anyone's tried skim coating instead...is it worth the extra hassle?
I went down the skim coating rabbit hole last year when renovating a rental property. Honestly, I was skeptical at first—seemed like way too much effort—but after seeing how unforgiving natural light can be, I gave it a shot. It was tedious at first, but once I got the hang of it, the results were night and day compared to textured primer. If you're picky about finish quality or prepping a place for sale, skim coating's definitely worth the extra elbow grease.
