NEW YEAR, NEW COLOR

Now that I am back on the blogging wagon, I thought I would share my latest makeover.

I bought a couple gallons of paint the last time Sherwin Williams had a paint sale. 

I didn't have them tinted at the time I bought them.

Last Friday I got a little wild hair.  

I took one of the gallons of paint to Sherwin Williams 

and had them mix up the Benjamin Moore color "Hale Navy".  

 I came home and got busy giving our powder room a new look.

The new look.........

I love the moody, dark color.

I have been itching to paint a room a dark color. 

This happened to be the perfect room. 

It gets plenty of natural light and it's tiny.

Have I mentioned I hate to paint? 

I switched out the mirror for a larger one. 

I gave this one a quick coat of white spray paint. 

It used to be stained dark brown.

I added a few accessories I found by shopping my house. 

I flipped the light that was already in here upside down and added the deep orange shades, 

which I already had.

It's not a permanent fix, but it works for now.

I added the wood frames with oversized mat, which I also already had.  

I am still deciding what to put in them.

This is what the powder room used to look like.  

I am still a fan of this Olive Leaf stencil, but I was ready for a change.

It was a pretty easy and inexpensive makeover.  

Especially since I already had everything on hand, even the paint.

I will be on the hunt for a new light fixture and something special to add to the frames. 

We are stuck inside today and the kids are home from school due to the snow and cold. 

I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever.

I might have to break out the paint brush again today.

Stay warm folks!

PAINTING UPHOLSTERY

Here's the promised post of my experience painting upholstery.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert at painting upholstery and there are many great tutorials out there, but I will share my method with you.

I started with this bright yellow tufted ottoman I found at a local Goodwill.

I bought a Sherwin Williams "Color to Go" sample of the Benjamin Moore color Van Deusen.

I also bought a bottle of textile medium from Hobby Lobby.

I loosely followed Kristy's instructions and mixed half paint and half water 

and then I added about 1/3 of the bottle of textile medium.

The other supplies I used were a spray bottle filled with water and a 2" paint brush.

I started out by spraying a small section of the ottoman with water and 

then brushing on a thin layer of the latex paint/water/textile medium mixture.

I was a bit worried after this step.
It didn't appear to be the color I was going for. 

 The hardest part of this project was getting paint into the folds of the fabric.

I really should have taken more pictures, but I it was a messy process

and I had paint all over my hands the entire time. 

I ended up putting three coats of the latex paint/water/textile medium mixture on the ottoman.
This definitely made the color darker and richer. 

I skipped the step of adding a final layer of acrylic paint. 

I did lightly sand the ottoman and it made it feel slightly softer. 

Kristy has tons of great examples of painted upholstery on her blog.  

Many people have had success and she even included a few failures.

I am so glad I decided to paint the ottoman.
I love the outcome and it was certainly less expensive than having it reupholstered.

Here is the cost breakdown of this project:
Ottoman - $82.50 at Goodwill
 Textile medium - $4.99 at Hobby Lobby
Paint -  $6.00 at Sherwin Williams
Paint brush - $2.00 at Hobby Lobby

So, are brave enough to paint upholstery?

  

OH YES I DID

Last week I showed you my new bright yellow ottoman that I picked up at Goodwill. 

Well, it's not bright yellow anymore!

With a little latex paint, some fabric medium, a spray bottle of water, and some elbow grease, 

it nows looks like this...

It used to look like this....

Not that there was anything wrong with the bright yellow, it just wasn't jiving with the rest of the room.

The new color is Benjamin Moore Deusen Blue.

It almost has a denim look to it. 

And it flows much better with the rest of the room now.

I figured if I totally screwed it up, I could always have it reupholstered.

A tufted ottoman probably wasn't the best piece to experiment on.  

It was quite the challenge to paint the folds of the fabric.

but fortunately it turned out great!  

I don't think I'll make a habit of painting upholstered furniture, 

but giving this ottoman a facelift with paint was the perfect solution. 

Come on, fess up.  Have you ever painted upholstery?

Sharing with:
Primitive and Proper
DIY by Design
Savvy Southern Style
Home Stories A2Z
Miss Mustard Seed

DIY LESSON LEARNED

I would consider myself a somewhat experienced DIYer.  

When we bought our first home, we tackled many of the projects ourselves.  

Most of them turned out okay.  A few were complete failures and a handful were very successful.  

When we bought "The Money Pit", we knew this would most likely be our "forever" house and we wanted to leave most of the renovations to the professionals.  

Since the major work on our home is complete, 

I have decided in the past year or so to take on a few projects myself.  

My husband's DIY days are over.  He would much rather get out his checkbook than his hammer.  

Me, I'm a bit on the frugal side and if the project involves skills I think I possess, I forge ahead.

Here's the problem, I think I possess a few more skills than I actually do.  

Take for instance, the skill of painting.  It appears easy enough and I have done 

it on numerous occasions.  Each and every time I delve into a painting project, 

I swear it will be my last.  Next time, I will make note of this!  I am not a painter.  

I can stencil a wall like nobody's business, 

but painting an entire room (or closet wall with stripes) is not my cup of tea.  

There, I admit it, I suck at painting.  How's that for authentic?

For my most recent DIY project, the closet makeover, I made several major mistakes. 

Mistake #1:  Ruining perfectly good clothes due to my lack of patience

I get so eager to start projects, I often don't take the time to properly prepare. 

This time, I didn't even prepare myself. 

I'll spare you the picture of my ruined workout pants. 

Mistake #2:  Not paying enough attention in third grade math class

To get started on painting the stripes, 

I calculated how wide I wanted my stripes 

and how far apart I wanted them to be.  

I made a mark every 8", drew a level line, applied my tape and started painting.  

It really is simple math.  If you want your stripes to each be 8" wide, 

then you can't add a strip of 1" wide masking tape every 8 inches down the wall.  

You will end up with uneven stripes, TRUST ME!

Case in point....

Mistake #3:  Being Lazy

My husband was out of town when I started this project and I couldn't move the dresser out of the closet by myself.  So what's a girl to do, a lazy girl that is?  Why not just paint half the wall?  

I'll tell you why, because some day you may decide to permanently move that dresser

out of the closet and then you will be left with a half painted, ridiculous looking wall. 

I ended up painting the entire wall again and starting from scratch with the stripes. 

Before I began round two, the dresser was moved out of the closet.

Mistake #4:  Being Cheap

You may remember from this post, my disdain for sanding and priming.  

I thought it would be cheap financially responsible to make my own chalk paint. 

I also thought it would be a good way for me to skip the ever dreaded steps of sanding and priming. 

I was planning on using Carmel's instructions for making the chalk paint, 

but since I'm lazy AND cheap, I used the only ingredient I had on hand, un-sanded grout.  

I mixed it with regular latex paint, added a little water and went to town on the dresser. 

The paint was thick, clumpy and hard to work with.  I'm sure it had something to do with my formula, 

but after two coats and a light sanding, I felt completely defeated.  I was ready to scrap the whole project, move the dresser to the furniture graveyard (aka the garage) and make a made dash to Ikea to purchase a new white dresser.  After my husband talked me down from the ledge, I came to my senses, sanded and scraped the heck out of the dresser and started from scratch.  

When I realized we didn't have any primer in the house, 

I actually contemplated making my own primer.  

I even did a search on-line for instructions.  My husband was watching in horror as this was happening.  Fortunately, he came to the rescue, made a quick trip to Lowe's and returned with a quart of primer, before I could start mixing concoctions.  See, he's not lazy or cheap!  

Yes, I sanded AND primed and then I used regular latex paint to finish it off. 

 I could have saved myself about six hours of time, my sanity 

and a nice pair of work out pants had I done things right from the beginning.  

But hey, you live and you learn.  The lesson I learned, leave these types of projects to the professionals.

I'll leave you with this image since it all turned out nice and pretty.

How about you, made any major DIY blunders?  

GETTIN' BUSY

Since it looks like the rain, snow and cold are finally settling in here, I will most likely be bombarding you with projects around the house. I tend to get a tad antsy this time of year since we are stuck inside.

First up, the closet makeover.

Yesterday I purchased the wire baskets and I investigated the hangers.  I brought home some of the wire hangers that are covered in velvet.  If I end up using them, I need to get my hands on 125 more.  

I was originally planning to buy the wooden hangers from Ikea, but when I ran across the ones covered in velvet, I thought they seemed like a great option.  Clothes sliding off the hangers is a bit of a problem in our closet and I think it would be even more of a problem with the wooden hangers. 

Velvet versus wooden - what's a girl to do?  Any advice?

I also finished turning the old window into a jewelry display.  It was quite the process.  

It started out looking like this...

And now it looks like this....

The first thing I did was take it outside and break out the glass with a hammer.  It was exhilarating! 

I did get a few strange looks from a neighbor. 

Next I used metal cutting scissors (very technical term) to trim the wire backing to size. 

The backing is from an old fireplace screen that was here when we bought our house.

After that, I attached the wire backing to the back of the window with small "U" shaped fasteners.  

I added some "S" hooks that I purchased at Lowe's to hold the bracelets and earrings. 

I also added cup hooks at the top for the necklaces. 

I bought this old window from an outdoor antique show years ago.  

I was never quite sure what to do with it.  

So glad I finally found a use for it.  

I was feeling ambitious today and I tackled the stripes. 

I mixed it up a little with the colors and I love the way it turned out.

 I will show you next week. 

The only thing left to do is to paint the dresser.  

Since I loathe sanding and priming, I am thinking of either making my own chalk paint 

using Carmel's instructions or maybe biting the bullet and ordering some Annie Sloan chalk paint.

So it appears that having a deadline for finishing a project is just what I need.  Go figure!

How about you, does a self imposed deadline work for you?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Sharing with:
Savvy Southern Style
AKA Design

THE PERFECT PAINT

I have sadly neglected this $10 shelf I found at the thrift store.  I planned on painting it over the summer and it fell to the bottom of the "to do list".  I wasn't exactly sure what color I wanted to paint it and so I never got too excited about it.  

I am still not sure what color I want to paint it, but I finally found my inspiration, 

this lovely desk Danielle painted.  I love Danielle's blog, Danielle Oakey Interiors.  

She is a very talented designer and she tackles some fabulous DIY projects.  

She's my kind of girl! 

My shelf won't be blue, but I will most certainly be using 

this amazing oil based paint by Rust-oleum. 

Look at that high gloss finish.  Love it!

I first learned about Rust-oleum Protective Enamel from 

Jenny at The Little Green Notebook.  

She painted this side table in Smoke Gray.

She just posted last week about all the new colors that are available.  

I can't wait to get to a Home Depot and get my hands on a quart of this paint.  

I'm still not sure on a color yet, but I will keep you posted.  

It's on the schedule to get painted this weekend.

I have put it off long enough. 

Anyone else had any experience using this product?  

I have painted with oil based paint plenty of times before, 

so I am aware of the mess it makes and I'm willing to deal with it.

I sure hope my project turns out like Danielle and Jenny's.  Wish me luck!

ON A ROLL

Sometimes when I'm less than thrilled about a room in my house, I'll make a change.  That change will lead to another change and then another change.  Fortunately my husband is a "roll with it" kind of guy so he is very accepting of my incessant changing, rearranging and painting problem.  Well, is it really a problem?  I think not.  It's more of a habit/hobby.  Let's just go with that!

Once I added the vintage school chairs to our family room, I started yearning to make more changes.
It was another one of those episodes, like this one, where I grabbed a can of paint and a paint brush (around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday) and jumped right in.  Not even my husband asking "Really, you're going to do that RIGHT now?" could stop me.  However, I am concerned that if he had to ask, does he really know me at all?

Anyway, this is what I painted....

Before I attacked it with my paintbrush, it looked like this....

We have had this chair for a long time and I have loathed it for almost as long as we have had it.
Not sure why I never got rid of it.  It has definitely seen its better day.  I have been thinking about painting it for a while now and I even shopped around a bit for some spray paint in a color that would work.  I never came up with anything.  Itching to get it done, I remembered we had some exterior paint in the basement that was the perfect color.  I would love to tell you what it is, but I have a really bad habit of getting the paint can so covered with paint that I can't read the color.  We used it on our outdoor shutters and it's a Benjamin More green/gray color.  That really helps, doesn't it?   Painting it with a paint brush certainly wasn't the easiest way to go about it, but I still spent less than one hour on the entire project.

I originally thought I wanted to have the cushions recovered, 

but the leather is very durable and the color goes pretty well in this room.  

I think I need to go on the hunt for the perfect pillow (or fabric to make a pillow) 

to complement this chair. 

So here it is all nestled up to the vintage school chairs.  Don't they look cute together?

More changes to come, to, you guessed it, this room. Stay tuned.  

Anyone else share my problem hobby/habit?  

Sharing with:
Savvy Southern Style
Primitive and Proper
DIY by Design
Miss Mustard Seed
Perfectly Imperfect

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO?

A while back I posted about wanting to paint these four chairs blue.  

We have owned these chairs since we got married and while I still like them, I am ready to mix it up.  

This was my inspiration for wanting to paint the chairs blue.  The chairs are great, but how about that mirror.  I would love to stumble upon one of those in the thrift store (for about $20).  Yeah, right. 

image via Style at Home

After I thought for a while about painting the chairs blue, it donned on me that I already have this fabric that will be used to make slipcovers for our dining room chairs.  The dining room is just on the other side of the wall from the chairs I want to paint. Too many blue chairs in too close of proximity to each other.

Then I saw this lovely thing. 

I love the idea of mixing in some metal chairs with the wooden table.  

However, at $199/chair, that is more than I want to spend. 

I will now be on the lookout for some vintage metal chairs at a more reasonable price. 

Lyle Side Chair

Crate and Barrel

Just to refresh your memory, this is what the space looked like before we purchased the house.
(My husband was reading over my shoulder as I was writing this and he said
"Did we really buy THAT house?"

Here is is during construction and before we moved in. 

And here it is now.  Well actually this was a few months ago, so of course, 

I have restyled that bookcase about 25 times since then. 

What do you think?  Think the metal and wood mix will work well in this room? 

I will need to sell these chairs before I purchase anything else.  

Anyone looking for some great, sturdy chairs?