paint fumes...

With the arrival of all of my new kitchen, I had a dilemma.  How should I finish them??

Dark cherry stain?

Orangey oak?

Glazed paint?

Plain paint? 

The options are truly limitless...

My goal was is to do this remodel thing once and NEVER, EVER again.  (okay, unless I'm just writing the check from an account with plenty of money in the bank and then I'll do it again...)

So, I wanted a look that was timeless and would age well.  Orangey-oak was out of the question.

Stained cherry?  I love the look, but with only one wall out of 4 with natural light, I was scared that the cherry would make the room feel small and cramped. 

Glazed paint?  Let's face it, I'm not the neatest person and adding a layer of glaze would only make the cabinets seem dirtier faster to me.  (I love them in other people's homes, just not in mine because I would see them daily and notice when the glaze became more intense from all of the gunk that accumulates over time on kitchen cabinetry.)

I did like the idea of paint though.  Clean, fresh, white cabinets.  Okay, maybe not white-white, but white-ish.  I picked the same trim color that is in the rest of the house to be the cabinet color.  Once I had that part down, it was time to call in the painter.

Yup, this avid DIY'er said call in the painter.  Since I spent, compared to other projects in my house, a TON of money on my cabinets, I wanted the finish to look flawless, ie no brush marks.  (Disclaimer:  my cabinets were a steal compared to off the shelf at the local big box stores, but I still was shell-shocked at spending so much money, even though I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  They are worth every penny I paid!)

In order to get a flawless look, I knew that a professional sprayer would be involved.  I had also researched paint enough to know that if I wanted a more durable finish that would last and last, important since I was going with white cabinets, I would want to go oil-based instead of DIY friendly latex.

So I looked around and ended up with a painter's helper who picks up jobs on the side.  My kitchen was a true no man's land for a while when everything was taped up.

 

 

While I was pleased with the result in the end and happy with the price compared to a professional painter, his timing skills were way, way off.  Because of the oil based fumes, I had to move home for more than six weeks while my place was fumigated painted.

Primed and ready...

 

Maybe I should have been tougher on him and fussed more about his schedule (he canceled multiple times for random reasons), but I'm happy to say that the whole darn process is finally over and in a mere 2 weeks (cure time) I can start to move into my new spaces... 

Fine is never enough...

Once again, I finished something, my pantry in this case, and it wasn't good enough.  I had this: pretty but not what I wanted.

What I wanted was this...

See the pretty pattern in the background?  I love it!  It makes a utilitarian room special.  After cruising the post on how it was done (click the pic to see) I realized what looked painted was instead vinyl.  I didn't have the funds to do vinyl, nor the patience, but man did I want the look!!  So, I cruised the internet for alternatives.  That's where I landed on this.

So pretty!  Just a little feminine with a twist.  Not too fussy.  It was perfect in every way except one, the price.  At $40 it was out of my range.  So, I went to work.  Hobby Lobby had wall stencils and furthermore I had a 40% off coupon which brought the $17 cost down to my price range, especially if I hated the look after it was all said and done...  So, I purchased a stencil that I thought looked like me and experimented.

A few notes here:

-everyone always talks about using stencil adhesive or spray adhesive or painter's tape.  I'm telling you to use ALL of it!!  They are not really interchangeable (okay, maybe you could use spray adhesive or stencil adhesive interchangeably.)

-Do not FORGET the blue tape.  Do as I say, not as I photograph or you'll be sorry.  Trust me, having the stencil stick to the roller, come off the wall, fall back on the wall, and then hit the floor causes "dirty word" to spring from your mouth.  (yes, I usually use "dirty word" instead of actual dirty words because of my job.  it helps when I get mad or drop something at work.  that way i don't let a true bomb drop.)

-Another tip is to use a foam roller and roll the roller in one direction only instead of back and forth.  It helps with the bleeding thing.

Anywho, after the learning curves, I ended up with this.

I'm in love!  (although, i am slightly worried about it.  the pattern is only on two of the four walls in the pantry and seems a little overwhelming.  maybe with the addition of shelves, it will calm down the overall look.)

Here is a look at the walls when you walk in.  I still love it despite my fears!!

Sit a Spell

At my last garage sale, my SIL brought over her beloved rocking chair from her aunt.  Because of a combination of the "fabulous" (sorry Aunt Jackie) look of the chair and the fact that my nephew is perfecting his mountain climbing skills, my SIL felt that she had to sell the chair.  I knew she loved it, so I told my bother to put it back inside.  I knew that with a little love and sweat, the chair could be beautiful.  (Unfortunately I couldn't and still can't do a thing about Zach's climbing ability.)  Did I mention the look of the chair was straight out of the 60's? 

Isn't it pretty?  Yeah, not really in the vein of my SIL's house.  (Again, sorry, Jackie.  It does have  great bones though!!)  In case you're missing part of the glory, check this out.

Yup, it featured every great color that WAS in my house before its transformation.  Scary.  Anyway, it plunked itself in my living room and sat there for almost six months before I got around to transforming it.  Hey, I said I'd do it, I didn't ever say it would be fast!  ;)  

I typically am a big fan of the Behr Ultra paint.  So much of a fan in fact, that I know Guy and Suzanne on a first name basis at local Home Depot.  I love the low-ish odor, easy clean-up and so far great wearing paint, but I didn't think it was right for this project.  Okay, so maybe part of it was I didn't think it was right and part of it was the fact that I was desperate to jump on the chalk paint bandwagon.  

In case you have missed all of the blog buzz about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I'll give you the short version.  Chalk Paint is an all natural paint with NO, yup, no odor which dries to a super matte finish.  It requires no sanding, striping, priming or other prep work.  If you've ever tried to sand anything, you will understand my immediate interest in chalk paint.  Add to that it's an English product that allows the under thing, whether wood, metal, glass, brick, cinder block, whatever to breathe and I was hooked.  And after a little research, I found the price.  Ouch.  It's not cheap stuff folks.  At almost $40 a quart, this cheapie was a little shell-shocked.  It didn't take me long to convince myself that the paint was worth the original cost, but not shipping.  (I really HATE to pay shipping on anything!  Yes, I'll spend twice as much on gas, but I digress.)

So, after checking the state side suppliers, I found one in little ole Waco, TX.  Imagine!  It's one of 3, yes 3 in the entire state.  I did some sweet talking of my mom and Mimi and they graciously picked up a quarts of Old White and Paris Grey for me.  It is a probably a good thing that I didn't go because I'm sure I would have come home with way more than two colors.  (Scroll down on the link to see the best representation of all the available colors I could find.)

My mom decided she would use the Old White to redo the daybed in her "kids' room."  Because I had no idea how far this paint would go, regardless of what is online, I went with the Paris Grey for the rocker.    In true Sissi fashion, which I could blame on the 3 digit heat, but since I do the same in winter I can't, I plunked the rocker down in the middle of my living room on some leftover plastic dropcloth.  In one evening, I was able to double, yes double coat the entire rocker, complete with flipping it different directions for total coverage and wax the whole piece.  When the paint first dries, it is very, very matte with somewhat obvious brush strokes. 

Since I get brush strokes on every stinking thing I paint, this doesn't surprise me in the least bit.  I'd blame it more on the painter here than the paint.  But, anywho, the paint covered the finish nicely and and worked great.  After the paint was dry, I put a coat of Johnson's wax on it and buffed it to a shine.  I also used 220 grit sandpaper to knock down the brushstrokes and add a little wear and tear to the piece.  My goal was to make it look like it came out of a French farmhouse.

While the chair was only an evening's worth of work, the cushions were a different story.  I went with the same neutral fabric that is elsewhere in my house.  Thankfully I was able to squeeze all the pieces out of scraps left over from Elphaba and slipcovers.  I made easy to clean covers that zip on and off since I know better than to think they'd stay clean for long.  For picture purposes, I grabbed my ruffle pillow and it fit perfectly.  Since it's currently destined for Zach's room, the ruffles aren't a permanent thing, but I'm on the lookout for a train pillow.

 

In case you need a refresher...

 Not too shabby I'd say!

(All opinions are completely mine and I haven't been paid for them!)

The Finale to the 5 colors...

Warning: Wordy post! I have a lot to say. I've been in the house listening to the rain all day, getting things done, but no one to talk to, so you're getting it all!

Last week I posted this picture.


The premise seems simple enough right? Pick out a shade a green and paint my kitchen walls, at least the walls that aren't just studs... Ha! Once upon a time, I painted my bedroom a light shade of green. Eek!! It came out more Kermit than relaxing escape. I am bent and determined not to make that mistake again. Hence my demands. (in case you forgot from last time... I knew that I wanted a soft sage green that wasn't too babyish, wasn't too bright, wasn't too dark, too yellow, too blue or any of a million other criteria.)

After looking at the colors and making a snap decision, I had my choice. (Don't know how I pick colors so fast, but I always have. Somehow I just "know." Granted, that doesn't always work out so well for me (recall Kermit?) but it's how I roll. I liked all of the colors I picked, but killed Simply Sage immediately. My kitchen is DARK and I know it will be light and bright when I get the new lighting scheme in, but until then I didn't want the darkness of that color.

Ocean Foam had a fabulous color, but echoed too much of the Kermit color of my old bedroom. Silver Sage is one of the most popular furniture colors in blogdom. While I love it, it didn't have enough of a difference between the color and the cabinet color. By process of elimination, I was left with Vale Mist. I'm not sure how much eliminating I did, since that was my first choice anyway, but I at least validated it. :)

Off I went to Home Depot and ordered a gallon of the Vale Mist. If you recall, Vale Mist is originally a Benjamin Moore color, not Behr (Home Depot's paint brand) When I took my tiny (1"x2") chip back, the lady at HD asked me for the lid to the paint sample had purchased the night before. Oops. Finished the paint pot and threw the container away. I had the chip, what was the problem??? The issue? We had put some of the paint on the chip from the sample to prove the chip matched. That paint reflected the light wrong differently and would mess up the sample. What's a girl to do? Thankfully, I'm well known at Home Depot and Susan, yup, on a first name basis here, pulled up the queue from the night before and found my 4 color samples. By reading the combination of dyes, we were able to figure out which one was the un-named Vale Mist. After mixing up my color, Susan spot matched the new gallon of Vale Mist with my color chip. It looked great and off I went.

When I got home, I quickly put the paint up on the wall. The more I put up the paint color, the more upset and unhappy with the color. What the heck? When I put the color up on the wall next to my four sample colors, I discovered that it didn't match the original color. While it looked okay from a distance, it wasn't the same color. Granted, it wasn't a huge difference. Instead it was one that made you wonder if you're eyes were out of focus. Not huge, but I kept insisting that it was okay. (Basically I was trying to fool myself into liking it. Guess who wasn't fooled?)

After being mad and frustrated, Marc pulled the lid out of the trash to try and find out why I loved the color in the 1'x1' square by HATED it larger. He examined the lids, which show the color formulas. Instead of being multiples of each other, which would make sense since one was a cup and the other a gallon, we saw different dye notations. Grrrr.

After being talked back down to a rational plane, thanks Dad, I went back to Home Depot to talk with Susan. When I explained that we couldn't even make the formulas match, she realized that I wasn't more crazy than normal and something was up. With a close look, we figured out that the paint computer had tried to take the faster way out. Instead of using a combination of black and yellow, which also makes green, the computer put a shot of the blue colorant in. This changed the entire look completely and was making me batty.

After leaving with the correct color of green, I went back and completely repainted the entire surface that I had just painted a couple of hours ago. Now, I am MUCH, MUCH happier with the color. You would not believe the change in the wall and the overall look of the room with the simple difference of black and yellow versus blue.


I know it's hard to tell on a computer screen, but there is a difference in the colors going diagonally up middle of the picture.


It is so bright and happy now. I love being in it, as long as I'm facing the right way, but that's another post.

Quite a change, huh?

The other side...

In my last post, I shared the view of my new doorway from the living room to the dining room. For anyone playing along (nope, no prize, sorry.) you should know that there is another side to the story, ahem, wall. If you don't remember, the original dining room, viewed from the living room was covered in fabulous knotty pine paneling. Yum. Oh wait, not so much. Knocking a ginormous hole in the wall helped the dining room, as well as ripping out the paneling. (Wear jeans when doing this, I still have scars on my legs from it!) The real magic occurred last month when Marc & Sara went above and beyond the call of duty and installed drywall over 1/3 of the kitchen walls. (the other 2/3 has to have electrical and gas run first before drywall.) The entire room breathed a sigh of relief when it finally shed the last of the 60's and moved into the ??? oughts? No idea here! Thoughts? Once the drywall was up, the room started whispering that it still wasn't perfectly happy. It just wanted a little color, just a little. Hmmm...
I knew that I wanted a soft sage green that wasn't too babyish, wasn't too bright, wasn't too dark, too yellow, too blue or any of a million other criteria. Easy right? I first turned to blogdom and cruised looking for colors I liked. A popular shade seemed to be Silver Sage by Benjamin Moore. This lead me down to our local Ace Hardware (only place in town that carries BM paint) to pick up several color chips, including Silver Sage. I then headed to Home Depot and picked up several different color chips there. After leaving them around the house for a few days, (during which they toured the entire house via Zach ;) I tossed out several as being wrong. Once I settled on 4 colors, I went back to Home Depot and got two color samples of their colors, and color matched two Benjamin Moore colors. Back at home I put the four colors on the wall with my trim (and eventually cabinet color) in the middle. Thoughts on my colors? (Ignore the glossy sheen. Someone wasn't patient enough to wait until the second coat had dried completely. Whoops..) Quick note: All of the paint in my house is Behr paint carried by Home Depot. The Behr paint received the highest rating in durability and color fastness in tests performed by Consumer Reports. This fits great into my motto of do this once and do it right the first time! (picture cheesy grin on my face) Quicker note: All opinions on this blog are mine and I do not receive any money or compensation from anyone for my wonderous thoughts.