fresh paint: KILZ Casual Colors
When we were renovating our previous 1911 house, KILZ paint was our staple primer coat—thick and white, it seals out moisture and covers almost every flaw. So I was excited to learn about KILZ Casual Colors—same heavy-duty KILZ in surprisingly hip shades. (It’s been around for a few years, but because it’s only available at Wal-Mart—a store I hardly ever visit—I’d never seen it.) Now that we’re renting, we used KILZ Casual Colors in Winter Moss to break up the monotony of our every-possible-surface-is-yellow kitchen. While we found that the KILZ “One-Coat Guarantee” technically applies (so to speak) only if you’re using a roller (expect to touch up any spots you paint with a brush) the paint we rolled on did work as promised, with one coat covering even the horrible vinyl wallpaper border left over from the previous tenant. I like the packaging, too: the plastic jug is easy to lift and pour, and the screw-top saved me from hunting down a “church key” when I decided to paint some shelves a few days later. Two of us painted our eat-in kitchen in four hours, from masking to cleanup. - Mary T.
