re-doing a re-do :: my chalk paint experience

i may be the last on the chalk paint bandwagon.

don't judge, it takes me a while to be convinced to try new things.

however, after seeing so many great projects and reading equally

great reviews i thought i would try it.

if you are one of the rare few that has not heard of chalk paint

 please don't be confused with chalkBOARD paint.

not the same.

chalk paint is a particular blend of matte paint

created and patented by annie sloan.

i bought mine here.

i'll tell you what i think about it in a moment but first i'll

show you what i did.

last year i purchased a basic broyhill nightstand in

a cherry finish for $10 at a yard sale.

 here it is after a coat of a mossy green/gray mistint

from home depot.

after we moved last september and i started

re-doing our master i knew this would eventually

get a new look but wasn't sure what it would be.

i had no plans to paint this week but avoiding larger projects

will get me to finish up all sorts of smaller projects! so

on wednesday i unexpectedly found myself painting her with some chalk paint.

her she is now.



i'm really liking it! so much more interesting to me

than the last look.

here's my two cents on chalk paint for what it's worth.

1. love the way it goes on. super easy to work with.

2. the fact that primer and sanding are not required is amazing. it is almost

like a primer as it dries to a very matte finish.

3. it dries quickly - 20 minutes or so.

4.  it sands easily, coming off almost like. . . well, chalk.
5. no odor!

6. the biggest con for me is the price.

7. and tied into that is it's availability. unless you live near

one of the providers it must be mail ordered. and shipping paint ain't cheap.

8. the color options are limited. but i do like what they have and if

you are adventurous you can mix your own colors.

on my piece i used "duck egg" all over then

went over the drawer fronts with "old white."

after rubbing it up with a mid grain sanding block

i used a clear wax as a protective coat. i then

mixed a little dark walnut wax into some clear wax

to age it a bit and add some depth, then put a final coat on.

i'm linking up to miss mustard seed and funky junk interiors. go on over and get some

furniture inspiration!

swimming in paint

phase two of home reno is underway.

painting.

followed by painting and then some more painting.

oh, and putting horizontal planks in the dining and sitting room.

while i am working on neutralizing our walls

i thought i would show you one of the

furniture makeovers i did the week

before we moved.

did i really redo three pieces of furniture while

packing our entire house, enrolling the kids in new schools,

and taking care of all the administrative details of moving and closing

on two houses?

uh, yes. and that may explain my fatigue!

this little table was a piece of cake though.

like so many pieces in my home this once belonged to

my grandmother. it had a marble

top that was never secured. it wasn't pretty marble either.

it was icky, with swirls of brown and lot's of stains.

(sorry, in my haste to rid myself of that slab

of marble i got rid of it before snapping a pic)

i had a table runner over it for years and

used it in our upstairs hall to hold a lamp and some of the kids' books.

there was some decorative wood inlay on the drawer that i also wasn't crazy

about along with a brass rim around  the lower shelf.

i took the easy way out and just sprayed it all!

(sorry about the poor quality pics. this piece doesn't have a home yet so i just stuck it here for the pic)

i had some wood laying around and, remarkably, one piece fit

the top perfectly.

it even  had a beveled edge on the front.

all i did was stain it and glue it down with some liquid nails.

add a couple new knobs and she's got a whole new look.

for those interested in the details of the paint job i used a spray primer (kilz), followed

by rustoleum's heirloom white, and used deft lacquer spray as a protective finish.

i sanded ever so lightly with 220 grit in between each coat.

************************

did i mention i am painting the whole house white? alabaster, to be exact. this is new for me as i have always
had color on the wall. i made great progress today and will hopefully have some
reveals of some or our rooms in a week or so.

in other news. . . in my fatigued state i apparently put my paint roller and brush (thick with paint) in the freezer. i went to look for them after i picked the kids up from school and couldn't
find  them anywhere. later when i went in the freezer, there they were. frozen.

in between freezing paint brushes and taking care of the fam i also have some special orders
for the thomas company.
oh, and did i mention i had an emergency tooth extraction yesterday?
yeah, that was fun.

i think i'll take the rest of the night off. :)

y'all have a good one!


 

making pieces work for you

the wall is almost down!! i'm loving it already!  while i'm waiting on the work to be completed  i thought i'd show you one of the pieces i worked on for our new place.                  

                                                                                              this china cabinet was passed on to pastor j and me after we bought our first home. my parents bought a table and cabinet set but only wanted the table. fortunate for us, although they did have to haul the thing down to florida for us. and then two years later we hauled it back to south carolina. in florida we used it as it was intended, for china. which we have never use, by the way. and then when we moved up here we put it in a sitting room to house some of our books.

and now that we are in a new space i knew i would once again need it for dishes. this piece has  long been on my list of things to paint, i just didn't know what i wanted to do with it. because we are in a smaller space now i am lightening up everything, and this was no exception.

so, using paint i had on hand, alabaster from sherwin williams, i got to work.

here's how it came out.

                                                                        the back of the interior has mirrors which i have never

been crazy about. i couldn't decide what to do with them until i came across some heavy duty, paintable wallpaper while packing. i purchased it months ago from lowe's because it was on clearance and i liked the pattern.

so, on it went.

the best part, no wallpaper paste involved.

i primed the mirrors when i primed the rest of the cabinet.

after cutting my paper to size i simply used spray adhesive on the back

and pressed each square into place.

it worked beautifully.

then i painted it alabaster white, let it dry, and came back and rubbed

some antique glaze over it and wiped it off haphazardly.

i'm pretty happy with how the whole piece came out. it's a real bright spot in the kitchen and is accomplishing my goal of being both functional and beautiful. i can't wait to work on the rest of the kitchen!

linking up to cottage instincts, domestically speaking, and mustard seed creations.

from boys dresser to kitchen island

in between adding to this pile of stuff i am working hard on getting furniture projects done for our move. somehow, they keep adding up. a dresser here, a bookshelf there. i thought my dresser turned kitchen island was going to be my last project until we get settled but i now have our china cabinet in the garage with a coat or primer on her. pastor j almost refused to help me move it because he thought maybe paint fumes had finally gotten to my head. i assured him that it will get done. i'm movtivaed, by golly! and if i have learned anything it is to strike while the motivation is high!

alrighty, on to my dresser transformation. here is the before.

it's a simple dresser. it's pretty rustic and basic.

and now. . .

i added some bun feet, some paint, and a butcher block top. and voila, a kitchen island.

because the wood was soooo dry it would have been cruel to sand or prime her.

so, i did neither, which was fine by me!

the frame is painted with my new favorite mistint that i'm calling carolina moss for it's earthy greenish grayness. the drawers i dry brushed with white followed by carolina moss. then i sanded the heck out of them until i got the look i wanted. then i ran some stain over them. that's pretty much it.

the butcher block is ikea's numerar. my dad came over with his saw and trimmed it up for us and attached it to the dresser.

pastor j was his sidekick. we decided to use liquid nails to attach it, although many advise butcher block be screwed on due to it's tendency to expand and contract with humidity.

this is after about 3 coats of butcher block conditioner. we decided to use this over other oils because we are going to use this as a prep surface. the conditioner is safe for food while also protecting the wood. if it gets too marked up for our taste we can just sand her down a little and seal it up again.

in case i haven't said it enough, our new house has the tiniest kitchen. one of the reason's i did this is to add some workspace for us, as well as some drawer space. i think it will be perfect.

*********************

 I'm linking up to some of my usual spots this week:

cottage instincts

domestically speaking

mustard seed creations

life in the fun lane

funky junk interiors

and here is our china cabinet (which we use for books) mid makeover. . .

more on this later!

sneak peak and an honor

it's been busy around here

but i wanted to pop in and give you a

sneak peak of my current project.

it's an old dresser, that once lived

in our closet, and before that

spent time in my parent's home,

in our next home it is going to be in the

kitchen, working double duty

as some extra counter space

and drawer storage.

it's not exactly an "island" since it won't be floating in the middle

of the kitchen like a traditional island but we'll call it that

anyway.

here's a sneak peak.

so far i am really happy with how it's looking.

still have some work to do, including

installing the butcher block top.

it's ikea's numerar and i love it. the color is great

and you can't beat the price.

it should be finished up by monday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in other news i was excited to wake up today to learn

that holly from life in the fun lane

featured one of my nightstands today on her

fresh coat friday feature.

i have gained a lot of inspiration from holly and her whiteberry shop.

you should go check out her work, she's a talented lady!

trash to treasure

i'm crazy busy packing, patching, painting, sorting, and purging for our move next week.

until i can get down to the business of documenting all the changes we

will make to our quinby cottage i thought i would share

a freshly updated piece of furniture going with us.

this beauty came to me free! after being passed around

by guys in seminary over the last several years the most recent owner

decided that she had to hit the curb. but first, he asked me

if i could do anything for her.

uh, yes, please.

initially, my plans were to fix her up and sell her.

i cleaned her up and put a couple coats of white raisen by sherwin williams on her.

i had this paint on hand, so another score.

i really liked the curvy, leafy detail of the pulls so i

just spruced them up with some hammered bronze spray paint, also in my stash.

and her she is, sitting in my shop garage but only because she is waiting to be

moved to our new home. i decided i couldn't get rid of her and that she would

be the perfect piece for a room that we plan to convert from a small

bedroom (by closing up the doorway and opening up the wall and framing it out. . . can't wait!) 

 to a sitting room.

we will desperately need the extra storage in our new-to-us smaller home

so this will work great while bringing a fun pop of yellow to the room.

you'll have to stay tuned to find out what other plans we have for the space.

can't wait to get in and get busy!

linking up with
cottage instincts
domestically speaking
life in the fun lane
funky junk interiors

south carolina moss

in between adding boxes to this stack and wondering why in the world i have held on to some of the items stuffed into the dark corners of our closets, i'm painting.

my goal is to get the furniture updates i am making for our new home done before we move because goodness knows i will have plenty to do once we are in!

again, i took one of the pieces i had in my green seed stash and made it my own. not exactly the best way to build my business but i'm confident i will restock my furniture-fix-up stash once i start hitting yard sales and flea markets again.,

pastor j and i will be leaving our cheap target bedside tables behind as we are almost certain they will fall apart if we try to lift them. they have served us well but have definitely reached the end of their furniture life.

this is a standard broyhill two drawer nightstand. the bottom drawer is made to look like two but it's one deep drawer. this was practically given to me by a friend moving to texas.

now it looks like this

i got totally lazy since this wasn't going in the shop and decided not to strip/sand and go straight to priming.

i used kilz because that stuff, well, it covers anything and everything seems to adhere to it! if you use kilz just give it a light sanding before your first coat of color because it has a pretty rough texture. it smooths right out with a little 220 grit sandpaper, though.

i am really, really liking this color

i used a mistint so i have no name for it and have had the hardest time identifying the color. but the more i walk by this piece the more i love the color. and today it hit me why. it reminds me of the beautiful moss draped across the haunting branches of live oak trees found around my state.

so, i'm naming it south carolina moss. :)

do you like the hardware? hobby lobby, of course.

ya'll know i'm a big fan of distressed, aged, chippy and worn out furniture but this just got a very light distressed on some edges.

this will go on pastor j's side of the bed to accommodate all his reading material and gadgets.

on my side i have a table that belonged to my grandmother with open shelves. i'll show you how that turned out tomorrow.

i'm linking up to cottage instincts, between naps on the porch, domestically speaking, life in the fun lane, and funky junk interiors.

eleven

that's how many months it took us to sell our home. we went two rounds on the market . 6 months last year, took it off the market for 6 months, then back on last spring. finally, as we approached our 6th month this go round we got an offer that stuck.

i gotta tell ya. it is not fun trying to keep 2700 sq. ft. relatively clean with three small boys in the house! my first thought when we got the offer? "yes!! the constant cleaning and straightening up is over!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in my last post i mentioned having to suddenly leave our mini-lake vacation. when we left for the lake sunday we did so with the knowledge that our home was under contract and the home we had a contract on (which we re-negotiated the previous week) was well on the way to being ours. things changed with the house we were purchasing rather suddenly. you can read about it on our family blog. in short, the contract fell through and we had to pack up our things at the lake and head home to find another house.

and we did.

our new house is approximately 1,000 sq. ft. smaller than our current home. so, now, instead of cleaning and straightening i am sorting and purging.

i'm excited about downsizing. i'm excited about living more purposefully and intentionally. i'm excited about creating a space that is both functional and beautiful. ideas are swirling around my cluttered brain and many of them are starting to come together.

right now, i am getting rid of furniture left and right. we have some big pieces that just won't work in our new, smaller space.

the piece that has pained me most to part with is my blue armoire.

if you want to check out the before, it's here. but, please, i ask you, ignore the distressing. while it didn't look as bad in person as it does in the pictures i ended up going back and painting over a good bit of it, leaving just the edges distressed. 

i do love this armoire but we just can't take it. it's for sale on craig's list. but, we still need a place for our tv. and downsizing as much as we are we need as much storage as possible.  

so, while i am getting rid of large pieces i am having to replace them with smaller pieces and get a little creative with what we have.

i just painted this piece. it was going to go in my shop but now it's going in our new home.

it will go in a small sitting room and play double duty as our tv table and storage chest.

i'm also working on these two pieces.

these two guys are going to serve as our master bed side tables. mismatched pieces are great when pulled together by paint or other accessories.

and, as luck would have it i found some great mistinted paint at lowe's that i will use to do just that!

my photography skills suffer so i'll just tell you, this is a soothing grayish green with a hint of cream. because it's a mistint there is no name. i asked the gal at the lowe's paint counter if she knew what it was supposed to be, thinking that might help me identify the color. she looked at me like i had three eyes so i just moved on and call it creamy gray-green. what does it look like to you?

anywho, check back soon to see the finished pieces. they are sitting in my garage right now waiting on their second coat of deft, and i heart them!

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also, we close on the house in three weeks. three weeks!!!

so stay tuned! once we arrive we will be knocking out walls, closing up doorways, removing cabinets, putting up horizontal planks, doing board and batten treatments, turning a tiny kitchen into a functional space for a family of five, and painting, painting, painting.

it'll be a blast and i'll document it all here. hope you'll join me for the fun! i'm pretty sure i'll need some feedback!