the remaking of a kitchen

i blew it. i got all busy yesterday and mud-filled the nail holes (almost all of them) in the dining and living room baseboards and on into the hallway. then i painted some of them with primer, and probably both approaches were mistakes. not sure what i should have done, but the work was for naught. don has been sanding and washing and trying to fix.....you can still see the mess. the places that i primed will probably need to be painted all over again, and the other may be salvageable if we don't paint at all, just leave the mud. well what should i have done? the vote is still out! aaaargh