How do I cover dark blue wall paint with bright red wall paint?

I used an expensive one coat, primer and paint but the color result is a muddy looking mess. I applied a second coat with little improvement.
  5 answers
  • Covering a color with a color requires a primer coat. I don't care what the paint says. What happened to you happens more often than you think. At this point, let everything dry. Go back to the paint store, talk to the people and purchase a good primer to go over your muddy mess so you have a clean slate so to speak to start with. May take 2 coats of primer at this point. Now paint on the bright red. Reds can be a bit challenging and can easily take 2 to 3 coats to get the color you wish to achieve. I painted my office a merlot color and it took 3 thin coats. In the end, worth the effort. So sorry you had to go through this. And exactly why I stick to priming and then painting. You live and learn. Just be patient and you will get what you were hoping for!

  • M M on Apr 15, 2017

    My sister had similar problem with a door she was painting. As it turns out, one should use a gray colored primer under a bright red paint. I'm not sure why this is true, but the guy at the paint store told her about it and when she reprimed and repainted she got a beautiful true red.

  • Sharon Sharon on Apr 18, 2017

    Gray primer gives a nice depth to the red, and prevents streaks from roller strokes. Using white primer winds up too light, never get a good color saturation.

  • Bonnie Van Epps Pollok Bonnie Van Epps Pollok on Apr 19, 2017

    A block out primer is the best solution, followed by a good quality paint.

  • Diana Deiley Diana Deiley on Apr 20, 2017

    From what I'm reading your problem has been resolved. Good. As a hint for future projects have the primer tinted the wall color, then apply two coats of wall paint over that. Or, you can use a gray primer first, then apply the top coat color. Reds, blues, greens, purples, need a little 'special' preparation, to save heartache and frustration. Best of luck with your future projects.