Guest Bedroom Makeover: From Cluttered to Painted With Tinted Primer

Yesterday our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore picked up the items we donated, which set off a domino effect of decluttering and rearranging. Between the donation pickup and moving a stack of frames and accessories into what will be the future playroom, the guest bedroom transformed from a cluttered storage area into a mostly cleared space.

It’s a big improvement:

Not yet guest-ready—our in-laws arrive on Thursday, so we’re on a tight timeline—but at least the room no longer feels like a junkpile. Since the room was empty and we had a free evening once our child went to bed, we decided to get a head start and paint the room that night. If you’re ever trying to earn brownie points quickly, painting while the bed’s out and the house is quiet is a good plan.

We took advantage of the calm hours and applied tinted primer to the walls so that by morning the room already looked much more finished:

The tinted primer reads as a stony pale blue in some lights, with faint purplish undertones in others. It feels neutral enough for visitors and would even suit a baby boy’s nursery down the road. But fair warning: that was a bit of misdirection. What looks like a finished wall in that photo is actually just primer—tinted primer that already suggests the final depth of color we’re aiming for.

We’ve been curious to try a dramatic, dark paint color somewhere in the house, and the guest bedroom felt like a safe space to experiment. The idea is a rich, enveloping color that feels cozy for sleep—similar to some deeply saturated hotel rooms we love. The room also has two walls with windows, plus a window in the adjoining bathroom, so it receives decent natural light. That balance of light and darkness is what makes a moody color read beautifully rather than oppressive.

This is our first time using tinted primer specifically because we’re planning such a deep final shade. Tinted primer helps improve coverage and depth, reducing the number of topcoats needed to reach a true, saturated color. We chose Olympic Premium Primer because it’s 100% VOC-free and was affordable—about $12 for a gallon—so it felt like a sensible, low-odor option for indoor use. The product went on smoothly and wasn’t harsh-smelling like older oil-based primers, though it did seem a little thinner than those heavier formulas. That meant watching for drips and wiping them promptly.

We only bought one gallon of paint for the topcoat and are hoping the combination of tinted primer plus a carefully applied finish will give us the deep, rich tone we want without needing a dozen coats. Fingers crossed the primer performs as promised and minimizes the number of paint layers required.

For anyone attempting a similar guest room makeover: consider the room’s natural light and aim for a balance between dramatic color and comfort. Use tinted primer when you move toward very dark or saturated hues—especially if you want to avoid multiple heavy topcoats—and work in stages so you can evaluate the color at different times of day. We’ll share the final painted photos after we finish the topcoats this weekend so you can see how the color settles and how the space feels once furnishings return.