Potty Talk

I woke up inspired and motivated but didn't know what I wanted to work on.  Then it hit me!  A mini makeover for my under loved powder room.  It's the only room in our house that I didn't feel like I needed to paint when we moved in 2 years ago.  But I did have an idea.  I knew I wanted it to have black and white accessories, and the taupe/beige color it was worked well enough.  Until that is I noticed a few spots that needed to be touched up.  Luckily the previous homeowners left the paint they used behind and even labeled it.  Yay!!  Or so I thought.  The original paint was flat and the touch up paint was semi gloss.....

The one main wall had several spots that needed touch up, and after realizing I couldn't just leave the semi gloss splotches, I thought, hey, I can tape off a large square and use it to frame some kind of artwork or something. 

Not sure if you can really see the contrast in this picture, but I noticed it EVERY time I went in there.  About a month ago I had this funny idea to paint a smaller chalkboard square inside this square and write funny little sayings on it.  So when I decided today to do the mini makeover I knew I was grabbing the chalkboard paint for sure.  And then I thought, hey why not a border for this lovely "builder grade" mirror in here too!

I know you see those cute red mirrors and are thinking, wait I thought she said the powder room was black and white.  Well I got those mirrors as a housewarming gift from my awesome Aunt Debbie and loved them just as they are, so I added a cute red toned rug to make it all work together :)  I always thought that I would frame this mirror out, in my delusions of grandeur I would also paint this bathroom turquoise, add some wainscoting, and an amazing chandelier....but it's nice to have dreams right?  So for now I will tape and paint!!

So I got out my level, pencil, and painters tape and off I went!!  And because I'm vertically challenged I also dug out the step ladder to get the top of the mirror.  After 3 coats of Valspar's Chalkboard paint, I was ready to peel the tape and add some chalk.

I figure during the holidays I can draw stars or pumpkins, or whatever's seasonally appropriate.  Yes I realize the "saying" may not be everyone's sense of humor, but I live in a house with 3 boys, so potty talk and bathroom humor always gets a laugh.  Hope you enjoyed my mini makeover, it was fun and pretty easy and my family thinks it's great, which always helps!  Become a follower and see what else I come up with!

SEW what??

Once again I've gotten busy working on projects, but thought I would add a quick post!  I finished several things this week, but thought I would show you the antique sewing cabinet I did.  I happen to love it :)



This is what it looked like when a very gracious friend of mine donated it to me.  OK, maybe it didn't have all that dust on the top of it, but you get the idea.  The machine inside still works and even has a serial number that dates it back to the late 1940s.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Now the sewer in me was so torn with what to do with this cabinet.  Leave the machine, take it out, leave it in, take it out.  Started to make me feel a little crazy.  Luckily I have lots of creative friends and people I can bounce ideas off of.  Consensus ruled and I took the machine out.  It is in great condition and can be put right back in should the new owner want it.  Felt like that was a good compromise, and something I could live with :)  I also wanted to try something new paint wise.  I LOVE the look of  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but have not reached the point in my budget where I can justify spending $40.00 on a quart of paint.  So I decided to Google diy chalk paint and found a recipe that works for me!

Here's what the first coat looked like using Valspar's Gypsy Teal in chalk paint form.

Not too bad, but it could definitely use another coat...so a second coat was added, and it looked amazing.  After it dried, I added clear wax and ta-da!

If I could, I would paint everything some version of aqua, teal, or turquoise, but I don't think I can get away with it.  But I think this color really is awesome, and just a little bit of that original wood shows through, without looking totally distressed.  And look at it opened up!

Could be an amazing side table, or craft table, the front drawer hinges open also.  I'm excited to take this down to the shop this week!  Come check it out and see what else I've finished!  Before you do, become a follower and see what else comes of my "creative process".  Time to work on some pillow covers!!

Patriotic?

Been another busy week.  I seem to either be swimming in projects or have nothing to work on.  Which is actually ok, lets me kind of balance things out at home, and keeps me from burning out on stuff. 

This last week my awesome friend Adrienne suggested we get together and have a "project" day. 

She had a few things she wanted to sand and restain, so I loaded up and went to her house. 

The thing at the top of my to-do list was this awesome desk.  Another donated item, from a very generous friend's mom.  The most info I could find on it was a stamp on the bottom of the drawers that lead me to believe it was manufactured somewhere around 1947 or later.  Which explains why it took so much time to sand that dang green paint off.  I realize the picture is bad but that sucker was REALLY green :)

This is the top after several rounds of sanding...which actually led to an idea.  Initially I thought I would have a project that wouldn't require any special staining or painting techniques but we all know how that goes.  With all the paint that wouldn't come off and the amazing imperfections that were on the top I decided something "different" was definitely in order.

On went a coat of spray on Kilz.  Thank goodness for primer!

This is the first of many coats of Krylon Georgia Clay.  As the desk was sucking in all the paint it occurred to me that to save time and myself a trip to the store that the drawers might need to be a different color from the desk.  They got several coats of Valspar Churchill Vanilla.  When they were dried I distressed the edges and knobs a little and added a clear coat of wax to seal them.

After 2 and a half cans on the desk itself the top was still very distressed so I decided to add to the effect with Valspar's Antiquing glaze in Asphaltum which really made the dings and imperfections stand out. Then came my bright idea.  We kept throwing around the words ombre and tone on tone.....Adrienne had this great glaze in her box of supplies.  Valspar's Bronze and Patina glaze in Copper 135. Some eyeballed stripes taped on and voila!!

I know it's not ombre, and not exactly tone on tone, but the 2 coats of glaze really makes the top stand out, in a good way of course!  I love all the projects I work on but I think this one really turned out great and I'm having a hard time agreeing that this desk should go to the shop and not stay home with me.  My husband says it almost looks patriotic.  I could add a small blue square and stars, what do you think?

I think the 2 tone looks great and hope that this guy finds a great home.  Come down to Persnickety's this weekend and make it your own!!  Before you do remember to become a follower and see what else I come up with.