One of the things that I love to do is reviewing products. I mean, let’s face it. For the average person out there like you and I, we want to know what works in the DIY business, and what doesn’t. If there is a project that needs to be done, we want to know whether the bargain bin tools are just as good as the brand names, or whether we just shouldn’t waste our time and money on them.

I have found out more often than not, that what you pay for is what you get. As in, a lesser quality item will have a lesser price than a higher quality item. To showcase this, here is one of my favorites. Martha Stewart paint.

Now, this may be a no-brainer for some of you, but it was an absolute revelation for me. I had been thinking that paint is paint is paint, and if you put a primer on the wall first, any paint will cover it and look good at the same time. If you don’t put a primer on the wall, then you are going to be using two coats of paint, case closed, no matter what.

Well, on a total lark one time because I just happened to be at a store that sold Martha Stewart paint, and also because I had a small room that needed painting, and also because I am just naturally curious, I went ahead and bought a gallon. It was a type of goldenrod yellow color, and I was going to be painting over a mid-range blue. No biggee, I thought, prime it, paint it, forget it.

Well, because I am curious, before I did anything else, I brushed a little Martha paint over the center of the wall, just to see how well it covered. When I stood back, I about fell over! Those few little brush strokes completely covered the blue wall, and it looked better than I ever expected. I mean, I had used dozens of paints before while covering dozens of darker walls like this, and the color always came out slightly tinged with the underlying color, or else it just was a bit muddy and not true. Martha paint was darn near vibrant as I stepped back to look, and this after putting it over a darker hue! How could this be?

Believing nothing that my eyes told me, I ran to the basement and dug out all those saved cans of paint from rooms painted past. Shaking vigorously, popping the tops, and brushing them on right next to Martha, I realized that my eyes weren’t deceiving me at all. Martha Stewart paint was covering up the wall far and away better than any other paint I had, and it was looking terrific doing it!

That sold me right there. I painted that entire room with no primer, and the color was fresh and brilliant. It looked as good or better than putting two coats on of any other paint, primed or not! Amazing? Well, to my eyes it certainly was, and although there may be many other quality paints out there, I have used nothing but the Martha Stewart brand ever since!

Therein lies the beauty of doing product reviews. Simple testing to basically see if what the company or advertiser says about a product is true. If it does, I’ll make sure you know about it, and if it doesn’t, I’ll let you know that too!

It all comes down to being informed and having knowledge about certain DIY products so that you can make an intelligent decision whether or not you want to use them. And that’s the type of information you’ll get here.

So, stay tuned. I’ll be mixing in product tests along with regular DIY articles, because BellaOnline is the place to be for Home Improvement.

Thanks for joinin’ me!