Then, I got rolling. I painted the wall with two coats of primer this time. I thought maybe the white topcoat would go on better if the primer was better. I was wrong. The primer is still awesome and two coats probably weren't necessary - certainly not for covering up blemishes and stuff. One coat is fine. But I still had to roll on two coats of white before it looked okay. I had a little extra so I put a third coat on the outside wall of the alcove, because it might have been a trick of the light or an uneven seam but I could really see through the white paint on that little wall.
On Sunday I was finally able to put the outlet covers on all of the plugs in the alcove. I also hung up the two LED light fixtures. Man, they are bright, but that's what I wanted. With the white walls everything in that corner is bright - I'll have no trouble working at the bench or on the front of the car with this setup. I'm really happy with it all so far. Now I just need to work my way around and finish up the rest.
