Paint, Paint, and more Paint

Wow. If I have to touch paint one more piece of trim I'm going to go insane. 

Why does painting always seem like a good idea? You're all, "Ooooh look at this color. That would look beautiful in EVERY room of the house. What's that? The can says it is a paint and primer in one? It overs in one coat?!" 

Listen HERE. 

That can is lying to you.

Look at it, sitting on the shelf with a flashy, metallic label making you believe it will be one coat and done. Yeeeah. Maybe for the people who prep right. Let me tell you, buddy. That's not me. Prep. Psshhh.

Naturally, our lack of preparation led to paint that did not stick to our walls, a lengthy conversation with the people at Lowe's, who, despite my best efforts at taking pictures, were not impressed. Certainly not impressed was the employee that assured me it would stick, when I called him out on it. They love me there. Riiiight. 

It's almost as bad as when I told the management at Babies R Us that they were running a monopoly because they wouldn't return something from my registry that we didn't use because our baby was 9 weeks early and to small to use it. Mr. Un-Handy just loves when I get into that. 

I digress. 

But anyway, because Lowe's is one of my most favorite places, they exchanged it for different paint.

I like Olympic paint. I like Valspar too, but Olympic fits our needs well both in price and quality. The new paint is Olympic ONE. It's nice, but it's still not just one coat (don't you dare insinuate that it could be the lack of prep work or the person actually painting). We're very pleased with the way it's turning out. 

It's just, it always sounds soooo easy to do in my head. It always sounds like a good idea. It rarely is. We could have lived with the contractor grade Navajo white that wipes off on you when you brush up against it for quite some time. 

Ok, now for some pictures. For the living room, dining room, stairs, and hallway we chose Almond Paste. It's a slightly yellow-tan, and a bit lighter than I had hoped. It probably won't be our forever color, but it's good for right now. Here you can see where the paint refused to stick. 

Here is the window, or part of the room finished. I'll take some better shots after we're completely finished and cleaned up. All of the trim is done in Olympic Crumb Cookie, and all paint is satin. 

Ok, that's a really bad shot. I'll work on that next time. I got the curtain and rod from K-Mart of all places. It's hard to tell in this pic, but it's like a cottage blue with champagne colored embroidery. That's our new air conditioner too. Two days before moving day our old one bit the dust.

The kitchen is Weeping Willow, another Olympic Paint. We aren't quite done there, but I'll be sure to post some pictures of it. I'm currently undertaking a big project of re-staining the kitchen cabinets. What. A. Job. I've determined my new goal in life is to rid the world of golden oak one hunter green, rose pink, circa 1989 kitchen at a time. You're welcome. 

Covering Rush Seats

In my previous post, you saw me refinishing my old table and chairs from Craigslist. I had a vision in my mind for the chairs, and they turned out exactly how I had hoped. I've re-upholstered chairs in the past (longer ago than I care to admit), but Mr. Un-Handy has not. It was also his first time using a hot glue gun. He learned the hard way that its hot. He has a nice welt on his arm in the shape of the point of the gun. 

Tip: Do what I didn't, invest in a nice hot glue gun. It'll save you lots of aggravation. I promise. Really. 

Anyway, here we go!

Supplies:

Fabric of your choice (I used two yards to cover 4 chairs. I did not need that much.)

Foam

Hot glue gun or staple gun

Screwdriver

Scissors (Invest in good scissors too. You'll thank me someday.)

Serrated knife to cut foam

1. Flip your chair over and unscrew the seat from the frame.

2. Since my seat was rush (I know, I think I committed the ultimate crime by covering them, but they weren't in great shape), it had no cushion. It also had no wood on the underside. If I were re-covering a typical chair, I would have stapled the fabric into the wood on the back of the seat. Since I didn't have that, I decided to use extra strength hot glue. 

3. Lay your seat on the foam. Cut around it with either a serrated knife or scissors. Mr. Un-Handy thought scissors would do the job, but I was really happy with my knife. Use whatever you're happy with! 

(I'm using the scissors here, but still the knife was easier for me.)

4. Lay the fabric with the wrong side up. If you're using a pattern, be sure that its straight. Put the foam on top of the fabric, and the chair seat on top of that so that the bottom of the seat is facing you. 

5. Start on the straight side and glue (or staple) your fabric. On the opposite side, pull the fabric as tight as you can, and glue that down. 

6. Our seats had some tricky corners that I didn't take into consideration. By the 3rd chair we finally got it down! We ended up folding the fabric like wrapping paper and making some relief cuts.

7. Trim the excess fabric from the back of the seat. 

8. Now it's time to re-assemble your chairs. Line up everything and screw your seats back on. Make sure the seat is as tight to the frame as it should be. If some of your fabric gets bunched up, use your knife to get it straight again. 

Now you're all done! I hope they look great! Here's my finished chair. I love them!

My New (old) Table

I scoured Craigslist for weeks looking for the right table and chairs for the look I was going for. I had envisioned it in my head for a while, and I couldn't find anything new that was my style.

Then I found this beaut. I couldn't decide if it was just old and ugly or if it could be vintage and cool.

I took a chance. For $75 I figured I didn't have much to loose if it turned out awful. I got the table, 4 chairs, a leaf, and the pad.

For two weeks or so I went back and forth between milk paint and chalk paint. I read blog after blog, and found some beautiful examples of both. I was inspired by Miss Mustard Seed. Could my weird, old table look good?!

I happened upon some milk paint when I went to our local Woodcraft store to get some stain for my kitchen cabinets. I couldn't walk away from it. It was made by Old Fashioned Milk Paint. I chose buttermilk.

 

I had NO IDEA what to expect. I had watched tutorials online, but until I opened that package, I didn't know a thing about milk paint! It comes in powder form that you mix equal parts with warm water. It's strange. It's different. But the finish it produces is ah-mazing! It was EXACTLY what I was going for.

To start, you'll need:

1 package of milk paint in your color of choice

A cup to mix it in (I started with a red solo cup and eventually upgraded to something from Lowe's)

Stick to stir it with

Chip brush or other brush with natural bristles

Warm water

Sanding block

Degreaser

Putty knife *optional

1. The first step is to make sure your wood is clean and free of any oils and dirt. At the very least you should clean it with soap and water. At the most, a good degreaser.

2. Sand lightly. My pieces had the finish worn almost completely off. I had very little sanding to do. If you are intending to get a more even look, you should use a bonding agent and add it to your paint. That was not the look I was going for. I wanted the crackly, chippy finish. I didn't use a bonding agent, just simply painted it on over my old finish.

3. Do a light wash over your wood with water on your brush. It will help the paint adhere a little easier and it will raise the grain of the wood.

4. Start your first coat. It will look awful. Don't be scared. It's supposed to look this way. The first coat soaks into the wood. That's part of the beauty of milk paint. It soaks in almost like a stain would, but as a result it looks blotchy. Don't overwork the paint. Brush it on, and let it go. It's almost better to use a dryer brush than to much paint. Your brush should not be saturated. If there are lumps after mixing, don't fret. As you brush on the milk paint, they work themselves out too.

                                    

At this point, if you haven't used a bonding agent, you'll notice that your paint will start to crackle as it dries. If you want it more chippy, feel free to use a putty knife to chip away some of those cracks. I didn't want mine to be overly chippy, so I sanded it lightly in between coats.

5. Let that dry for an hour or so.

6. Now you're ready for your second coat. This is the coat that will start to cover. I was still going for the blotchy, streaky look, so I only put two coats on. It gave my pieces a very authentic aged look. If you want it to be more opaque, go ahead and put on a third coat. As the second oat dried, my finish became crackled and started o chip further. As it dried longer, it crackled more. I, apparently, have a strange fascination with watching my paint crackle.

7. When you're all finished with your paint, sand lightly. For my chairs, I finished them with three coats of spray Polycrylic. It's water based and less likely to yellow over my light paint. You can also use Polyurethane if you'd like, but that will yellow over time. Some people like the rub on stuff or the brush on stuff, but for me, a busy mom with two kids that is refinishing her furniture during nap time, the spray stuff was it! The table base was finished with SC Johnson Paste Wax. I looked around and around and finally settled on this because it was easily available and cheap. If you use wax, rub on in a circular motion and then buff off. You can put a few coats on, but it takes a few weeks to cure fully. It dries to the touch in a few hours. The water should bead up on it. Caution: this smells strong, so be sure to use in a well ventilated area.

                                   

                                   

                                   

                                   

                                   

The SC Johnsons's Paste Wax really gives it an amazing finishing touch. The key is definitely to put it on in very thin coats. Less is more. If the coat is on to thick, it will streak, and you'll have a really hard time getting them out. If you're new to furniture refinishing, I can't rave about paste wax enough. There are several types on the market, but this was my first try so I chose this brand. The way it changes the look and feel of the furniture is amazing. I'm not sure I'll ever use anything else again!

So there you go. Milk paint. Don't be afraid to try it. I'm so glad I did! 

We're Home!

We did it. Finally.

We've been in our new house just a week today, and it still feels pretty surreal. Like we're on vacation. Except we've got more than just clothes to unpack! And I still have to cook. And clean. And change diapers. Why haven't I hired someone to do any of that yet? That's a good question.  
 Note to self: start taking applications.

 It's been pretty hectic, to say the least.

We heard horror stories. HORROR. Financing falling through, houses not appraising, something crazy showing up in the inspection. People, PLEASE don't do what we did and wait until the last minute to pack because you're afraid the rug is going to be pulled out from under you. If you have already made it through the pre-approval process (pre-approval, NOT pre-qualification) then you're in good shape. Things are going the right way. Just be sure that you have all of your ducks in a row before you begin, and it will be smooth. We waited with baited breath for our conditional approval, and the conditions were easy peasy. Believe that it is happening, because it will.

Anyway, closing went smoothly. It didn't take very long, and then all of a sudden....IT'S OURS! I'm pretty sure that I'm the ONLY person on Earth that is excited about her first mortgage payment. That's right baby, MY OWN MORTGAGE! See? The hubby thinks I'm nuts. He says it doesn't matter who's mortgage it is, it's still a payment. Meh. He also says that instead of seeing paint colors he only see's dollar signs anymore. That's partially my fault. I have a strange obsession with paint chips.

Here are some before pictures of the downstairs. Sorry for the confusion, I should have taken them before anything was moved in.

This is the dining room. AKA the 'Nowhere to put it? We'll put it HERE.' room

Kitchen, before I scrubbed the hell out of the cabinets.

Looking out into the back yard.

End of the cabinets. The previous owner left all of his junk there for us :\

Miss Little practicing going up and down the stairs. From the living room into the dining room.

So, that's it. Well the downstairs anyway. The upstairs is a whole other day. Suffice to say that if we don't get blinds up soon our neighbors are going to start complaining.

*Knock on wood*

Everything is going smoothly for now. No major hiccups. At Lowe's today I learned how to caulk the roof line and install flashing. I'll be posting some tutorials soon as we get a little further in. I've got cabinets to stain, walls and trim to paint, furniture to refinish, a bathroom remodel, and cabinets to hang. Stay tuned!