Feeling Stripey

To truly appreciate that picture, you need to remember where it started...

The Game/Play/Family Room Update...

It seems like eons ago when we started this project...really it wasn't even 2 months ago but DANG-IT we just can't seem to get 'er done!  

You know the project you start by saying "hey, lets just paint this room this color" and all the sudden your re-doing the entire upstairs?  

The Game/Play/Family Room Project...

Well...hello there folks!  Betcha wonder where the heck I've been lately.

Busy!  That's where!

I've got so many different projects started that I don't even know which end is up anymore.  It's all good though!
I'm making progress...slowly.

This particular project started about a month ago.  Sherwin Williams was having a 30% off sale on paints.  I'd be a fool NOT to take advantage of that right?  RIGHT!  And that's the story were telling Mr. AKM em' kay pumpkins?  Well, that was until they decided to have 40% off sale this weekend.  We are NOT telling Mr. AKM that little tidbit of info.  Capiche?
  

Anyway...I'd been dying to tackle painting the upstairs Game/Play/Family Room since we moved in (uhm, that was 4 years ago people) and decided that a 30% off sale was reason enough to jump on it!

The room wasn't all that bad to begin with...

Ok, who am I kidding.  It was awful.  Every time I walked into it I thought of baby poop.  YUCK!

And there was no design to it at all.  Years ago we had it filled with furniture that was eventually moved down to our main family room so this just became the place to "dump" all the overflow.  (that's a ping pong table folded up against the wall by the way).  In case you were wondering.

One rainy day I resolved to begin...and since it was raining and no one could go outside, I enlisted the help of the entire family.

And it went a little something like this...

That's a lot of "brown" to have to clean, caulk and tape up people!  But we did it!  WOOT!

This is the hallway just behind the Game Room.  It's pretty dark and dreary.

But now...

Soooo much better wouldn't you say?  

This room is still a work in progress (as you can see).  But I wanted to give you a sneak peek at what we're working on.

Keep checking back for more updates.

I will be posting a tutorial on how to paint the PERFECT stripes...can you guess which wall got striped?

Tell me what you think so far.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Finding the "New" in the "Old"...

I love a good furniture re-do don’t you?  Taking something that looks like it belongs on the curb for the garbage man to dispose of and turning it into a cherished piece for our home.

That’s kinda how this little Craigslist find was for me.  I didn’t really want to buy anything that day.  Honestly!  

Actually, I was researching and trying to get an idea of how much to price some things that I was trying to get rid of when I spotted her. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)

There she was…all brown and banged up with her little tear-drop handles all covered in rust.  She was just crying for some love!  I wish I had a photo to share of her before her makeover but somewhere between start to finish…the before photos were lost.  UGH!

Suffice to say, she looked a bit like this… 

  

But oh did she have potential!  In all honesty, I have a thing for old vintage things in their original state.  I could’ve just lived with her as is if not for the horrific smell!

I’m thinking she was used as a kitty litter box…or close to one???  It was bad people!

So I busted out the sander and went to town.  There wasn't much left of the original finish so sanding went pretty quickly.

First I used a 120 grit sandpaper all over to take off all the paint splatter covering her and give her a smooth finish.  My initial thought was to restore her back to her original beauty but the more I sanded, the more I realized that was not going to be possible.

The wood had some cracks in it that needed to be filled and some warping issues that needed, well some caulk!  So I had to come up with a new plan of action.

In came a sample pot of Behr paint that I’d gotten in Antique Tin.  I loved the color and just had to get a sample of it…but had no clue where I was going to use it. 

Considering it’s a small piece, I figured this would be the perfect place to try it out!

I removed the drawers, tapped off the top, slapped on a face mask and filled up my paint sprayer with paint and off to paint’in I went!

After the first coat of paint dried, I sanded it lightly with 220 grit paper and then applied a second coat…sanded again with 220 grit then applied a light third coat for good measure.

In between coats of paint on the chest, I started staining the drawers.  I used my all time favorite stain, Minwax in Special Walnut.  LOVE IT!  Can never go wrong with it.

Once the chest was done drying, I applied three coats of the same stain to the top, let that dry for 24 hours and then applied a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax to the entire piece…let it sit for 24 hours, applied a second coat of Wax…waited 24 hours and then buffed her to a shine!    

I just love the way she turned out...don't you?

She's the perfect blend of rustic and chic!

You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh          

Friday:  Dwell on Joy- Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog). 

Persistance is key...

It's as Simple as Black & White
or is it white and black...

I started this project what seems like forever ago.  (You can read all about that here).  In all actuality it was about 2 months ago.  When I first brought this piece home, I was overjoyed to be working on a furniture project.  I had great ambition to have it all finished and ready to return to its owner within 2 weeks.

Then life happened…as it always seems to.

One weekend I found the time to sand the cabinet to rough it up a bit.  Then it sat for several weeks until I found the time to prime it.

And that was a nightmare.

The primer wouldn’t stick…it would just peel right off.  UGH!  To say that this was frustrating is so much of an understatement.  SO MUCH!  But I pushed through and sanded and primed again…and again.

And then I let it sit for a week to be absolutely certain that the primer was going to stick.

I checked a few areas here and there to make sure that it was good and primed and no peeling was going to occur.  All seemed good…you know where I am going with this don’t you?

Well, I busted out the sprayer and sprayed the cabinet with two light coats of Martha Stewart Latex paint in Silhouette.  Then used a very fine grit paper to smooth it out.  Everything was going good so I sprayed a final coat of black to the cabinet…then a realized that I forgot to paint the doors.

So I sprayed a few light coats on the doors and let them sit for a few days.

I really liked the way this project was going…it all seemed to be clicking into place.  The cabinet looked awesome!  Its owner was impressed…it’s all good.

And then the nightmare began…again.

I went to sand the doors before putting the final coat of paint on and it all began peeling off.  I don’t just mean a few areas…I mean in big looonnnnggg strips of paint.  In my haste to get the doors painted (after forgetting them) I FORGOT to check to make sure that the primer had stuck.  GASP!  It hadn’t.  Insert long stream of bad words here…no, seriously, longer than that.  I said a lot of not so nice things.  I seriously think my neighbors are afraid of me now.  I may have even thrown a few things around and slammed doors.  I call it painters rage.  I’m just saying.

I suddenly hated this project that I had so much adoration for in the beginning.

I loathed looking at this piece…and yet I left it sitting in my view for ANOTHER two weeks.  I seriously believe that I was secretly punishing myself for taking this project on to begin with…I mean as if I don’t have enough to do with my time.

Once I was certain that the paint was there to stay, I lightly distressed all the edges using a sanding block.  I wiped it all down with a tack cloth then wiped on a coat of Minwax Stain in my all time favorite color…Special Walnut.  I did not remove the excess stain.  Instead, I let it sit for several days to soak in.

After that process was complete, using a cheese cloth, I rubbed on a thin coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax…waited 24 hours then applied a second coat….waited 24 more hours and buffed it with a soft cloth to achieve a low sheen. 

In the end, it turned out magnificently!  In fact, so much better than I had envisioned.  And totally worth all the frustration when I returned it to my mom knowing how much she appreciated it and LOVED the new look!  Pottery Barn watch out!  There's a new paint brush in town!

Have you had any nightmare projects like this that have turned out WONDERFULLY in the end?  If so, I'd love to hear about them and how you over came your obstacles.

You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh         

Friday:  Dwell on Joy- Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog




First project of 2012 - FINISHED!!

Painting the Front Door

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(Project...COMPLETE)

Cue the angels singing...I have FINISHED the front door!  My first project of 2012 COMPLETE!  Wow...gosh...I just didn't think it would ever happen.  Oh my gosh...who do I thank first?  Let me see...my husband, Mr. AKM for always standing by me and supporting me when I'm being so totally OCD that no one else can stand me...my kids for telling me that the color is AWESOME even though they would prefer that I paint it camouflage or orange or any other color besides turquoise blue :)  But most importantly I want to thank Wagner for making the most incredible paint sprayer like EVER!  Seriously, having that paint sprayer made this project soooo totally worth my time!  LOVE IT!  You can read all about this little piece of paint spray heaven here.  It took me all of 10 minutes TOPS to paint this door.  It sprayed on like velvet.  2 coats and it was over...I almost felt a little cheated that I didn't get to spend more time getting to know my paint sprayer better. 

So here is a before in case you forgot what it looked like...

and now...lots of photo love for you....

Remember these nasty scratches???

TOTALLY GONE!  Isn't that awesome?  I so love this color!  I want EVERY door in my house this color! 

Check it out in all it's glory...

I love how the colors from the rug are all tied together now.  I was a bit nervous when I saw the door finished leaning against the wall in the garage but having it hung up in my entry...I. AM. IN. LU-OVE!  I just love the pop of color it gives to the space don't you?

So tell me, what do you think of it?  Do you think you could bring a bright pop of color to an area in your home?

You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh          

Friday:  Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), 

I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog).

Say it don't spray it...

Paint Sprayer

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(Wagner HVLP Conversion Paint Sprayer)

Mama got a new toy!  WOOOHOOOO!   I can not WAIT to bust this bad boy out and start spray painting EVERYTHING in my house.  Not even the kids or the dogs are safe from this new toy.  Be afraid...be very, very afraid!

Just looking at this paint sprayer makes me want to go all Tim the Tool Man Taylor with his manly Uh, Uh, UH grunts.  Don't laugh...I had NO idea how to spell that sound out.  LOL!  But if you know Tim the Tool Man, then you KNOW the grunt I am referring too :)

My front door is about to meet its new coat of paint by way of this very sprayer!  SQUEALS!  I can not WAIT to see how it works.  I'm so very excited! 

And if it is a monumental failure, you will understand my absence while I mourn in peace. 

Until then, may your head be filled with visions of spray painted Happiness!