I am totally sold on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Up until last week, I had read that people fall in love with this paint after trying it out, but we don't have stockist near us, and it never occurred to me to order some online. Then, our pal, Shaunna, opened up her shop and I knew it was time. (Yes, it was just that dramatic). Did you know that you can paint almost any surface with chalk paint (not chalkboard paint) without prepping? No sanding, no stripping, nothing. And it adheres to everything because it's magic. And awesome. And we're a match made in DIY heaven if I ever saw one. Paint that eliminates all the hard work? Yes, please. I thought I'd give it a whirl on my marble fireplace surround, because I'm crazy like that. I did not like this marble one bit. It was sort of dirty-looking and leaned toward the peach color family. Yuk. Like I said, it was time for an upgrade.
I also took this time to try out the new Purdy paint brush I received in my haven swag bag. We love these things so much!
I used the color Coco- it's kind of brownish, and kind of grayish, if that's possible. It's crazy at how easily the paint goes on…even on a marble surface! Notice that we didn't prime this marble at all!
I still need to buff and wax the paint so that it's all sealed nicely, but I'm happy with the small, but noticeable change. I originally was planning on painting stripes, but for now, I'm digging the simplicity of the matte color. Doesn't it look better? More serene and understated and classic.
I've been messing around with some of the ideas I learned from Layla about photo styling, and alas, I still have much to learn.: ( But it's still fun to try!
I brought a few of the pillows my mom made for the bench in my basement upstairs to our living room to add some color and a summertime feel. So fun!
Looks pretty darn nice with my target dollar bin mantel, if I do say so myself.
And now for the {very subtle} before and after shot:
I'm thrilled with the way the paint adhered to the marble and the coverage it gave. I can not WAIT to use Annie Sloan chalk paint on a few dining room projects I have in mind.
Have you guys tried chalk paint yet? What are your thoughts about it?
I don't know about you, but I'm itching to Fall-ify my home. You know that"let's get cozy, wear sweatshirts and bring out the pumpkins" feeling? Yeah, I have it. One of the major focal points for seasonal decor in our house is our fireplace and mantel, which I decided to give a little makeover before bringing out my Fall stuff. All it takes is chalk paint, a stencil and a lot of patience. I originally posted this project a few weeks ago over at Infarrantly Creative, but have been dying to share it with you! I can't believe how much I love my fireplace now, and I think you will too.
I'm not going to lie, this was not an easy project. In fact, it took me at least 6 hours of painting and stenciling, but it was so totally worth! Here'e what you need to do: 1. Prep your fireplace. Remember my peach marble tile fireplace surround that I hated? Yuk. I first painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint that I got from Shaunna who writes Perfectly Imperfect and sells AS paint, but before I did that, I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove and dirt, dust and soot.
2. Choose your paint. I used Annie Sloan's chalk paint in Pure White and French Linen. Man, I am in love with this stuff! It adheres to any surface- even marble!- with no trouble. Just a quick word about fire safety: we don't use our fireplace, so I wasn't worried about whether or not it was flammable, but be sure to check your paint if you have an active fireplace.
3. Brush your base coat onto the surround. I used Pure White and it took 2 coats to get even coverage. I recruited my hubs to do this part, since, let's be honest, painting trim is not my strong suit and I'll take help when I can get it!
4. Place your stencil in the upper corner of the surround. Adjust the stencil sheet and check to make sure it's level, then tape it in place with painters tape. If you want to use a spray adhesive (which I didn't), spray it on the back of the stencil and place it down evenly. I highly recommend using the adhesive for this job, because it took me a loooong time to get clean lines without it. (We have an awesome tutorial on stenciling must-haves if you need help with this!)
5. Begin stenciling. The trick to stenciling without any bleeding is to off-load your brush properly. After dipping into the paint, dab it onto absorbant paper towels, or cardboard until it there is very little paint on the brush. Both my stencil (Beehive Furniture Stencil) and brush are from Royal Design Studio, and they are excellent quality, which makes the job go much smoother.
I had to do two to three coats for every stencil to get the coverage I was looking for. Words can not express the excitement of pulling back that very first stencil. Go ahead- try it and tell me that's not true.
Once the paint is dry, realign the stencil, level it and keep on moving! You might want to turn on some music, because you'll be doing this for a while.: )
At the end of the first night, here's what I had accomplished. Ugh. I saved the hard parts for last. Yippee!
6, Cut your stencil to fit the corners and edges. Oh, this part is so hard, because as I was cutting my stencil, I was envisioning all the projects I could do with it go right down the drain. But, it's absolutely crucial to cut the stencil if you want clean, crisp lines all the way around.
7. Touch up any paint bleeds with a small fine-tipped paint brush…or toothpick, in my case. No matter how good you are at stenciling, there will always be some bleeding. It's easy to touch it up with the base paint color and a steady hand. No one will be the wiser!
8. Finally, wax it and you're done! You'll want to add some kind of protective finish, and I used Annie Sloan soft wax, which was formulated to work with chalk paint. After all that hard work, you'll want a force field surrounding this thing, but wax will have to do.
Step back, grab a drink and enjoy your pretty new fireplace surround!
I love love love it, and am already planning a room makeover based on this fireplace!
If you want a cheap project that will instantly give your room a facelift, this one is for you. Showstopping material, folks! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news, if you follow us on facebook (if you don't, you totally should) you know that I finally entered the year 2012 and have a new HTC OneX smartphone. This thing is amazing and I can't wait to share with you how it has made my life soooo much easier, but for now I'm totally loving Instagram, and would be thrilled if you decided to follow me!
Monica has been on Instagram for quite a while now, but if you don't already follow her, add her to your list too!
We'll give you lots of sneak peeks at our current projects, as well as fun insights into our daily lives and what makes us tick. We promise.: )
Before we get into today's post, we want to announce the winner of the Mother's Day Giveaway from Salvatori Photography…
Congrats Holly! We know your session pics are going to be amazing! If you missed it, Wednesday I shared the awesome story session pics Salvatori Photography did for my family. Check it out here. Even if you didn't win, Stacy would love to take pics for you! Contact her before her schedule for late spring/summer is full! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't play the piano… well, that's not entirely true, I took lessons for about two years, so there are about 3 songs I can pluck out- Ode to Joy, Hey Jude (talk about random!), and one nameless song that is kind of my signature song. Long story short, I stink! Eric however, is an amazing pianist. I absolutely love listening to him play. Our kids have names for all the different songs,"The Angry Song" is a fast song and the kids run around our house like crazy people when he plays it. I love watching him play and it reminds me how crazy talented (in so many areas) my hubs is. As much as I love the sound, I have never been a fan of the look of the oak piano. It's just so dated and not me…
Because the piano was so blah, I let two years go by with our front living room looking pretty much like this… no style, Eric's choice of colonial blue on the walls, and just an overall hot mess.
My living room is attached to my dining room, so the difference between the two rooms was pretty stark…
We finally decided to take the plunge and paint the piano! I knew I was going to for ages, but I didn't know what color, so I wanted until I was positive!
I decided on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antibes Green. I'm sure you know all about ASCP, but if you don't it's one of the coolest paint products out there! It is a chalk paint, but not chalkboard paint. Basically it adheres to all kinds of surfaces and wait for it… you don't have to sand!! Boyah!
Since I didn't have to waste time sanding, I got right to taping. I needed to make sure that I was super careful and no paint would damage the piano since the hubs actually uses it.
The prep work took me about 5 minutes and then it was time to paint. Eric was working on painting stripes on the ceiling for me (post coming on those soon) and we just put"Hit List" on Fios and got our painting groove on.
Yeah, I don't look too thrilled, but I promise I was…
How's that for a comparison… bye bye nasty oak!
I did two coats, but after the first I knew I was in love!
Chalk paint looks really uneven when it's drying, but have no fear- it looks nice and smooth once it's fully dry.
I used Annie Sloan dark wax to seal the piano and give it the darker, rich color I wanted. I'm not going to give you any tips on that part because I completely did it wrong! Apparently I was supposed to wax with clear wax and then dark… I just tell people, I was going for a more imperfect look! Ha!
The bench got ASCP on the legs, but to add a little awesomeness, I upholstered it with this fabric from Spoonflower.
Ahh! I love the fabric with the green!
So what do you think of the before and after? I hear so many people say,"but you can't paint it- it's REAL wood!" and I want to go on the record saying,"It can be REAL wood and still be REALLY ugly!" Don't be afraid to paint!!
And now for an onslaught of after pictures… I'm so happy to finally have a living room that I love!
And don't forget… We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to the charity of our choice! We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here (like their page and then click on the Crafting for Charity button on their FB page). Thank you!
And just because this absolutely made my night… look at the picture I found on my computer! I recently taught Kaden how to use PicMonkey and apparently he's having a good old time with it! I actually might frame this pic I love it so much…"ther is monsters"
Have a great weekend and watch out for those darn monsters!
We're all jazzed up about this week's Fab Find! Our friend Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect Blog has become an Annie Sloan Stockist and she just launched her online store. Now before we get into chalk paint awesomeness, let me introduce Shaunna to you.
Shaunna is one of those people that you instantly love the moment you meet her. She's completely sweet and gentle and loving (basically my complete opposite- I'm the sassy, non-emotional one at blog conferences- lol). Beyond loving Jesus and her family, she's also insanely talented (talking magazine quality here, people).
Look at her kids playroom! The little table, chairs, the colors, it makes me swoon. Shaunna's been using Annie Sloan paint for her amazing furniture pieces for ages and now she's become an Annie Sloan Stockist (that's the fancy term meaning she sells it now!)
A little while back she opened her storefront location and like everything she does, it looks amazing.
Yesterday was another huge milestone… She opened her online store! You can now order directly through her website. Jess already has a project started that she's going to show you next week (we pulled some strings to get some product early).
To learn more about the awesome advantages of Chalk Paint (no, it's not chalkboard paint it's way cooler than that) head over to Shaunna's Blog. She's a wealth of information and if you're anything like me, you'll be on her site for hours (you've been warned). You can go directly to the Chalk Paint Store (TM) using this link: http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/shop-online We hope you have a great weekend and we can't wait to show you next week what Jess is working on with her chalk paint!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below! Round 1 Projects & WinnersRound 2 Projects & WinnersRo und 3 Projects & Winners
We've loved seeing all the projects that have been linked up to play along with CWTS each week! This week we were thrilled to be introduced to Meesh and her blog I.Meesh.U I spent a long time on her blog last night and I just kept reading because her stream of consciousness writing style had me hooked! We picked this project because we felt that everyone deserved to know the secret of how to get that super-cool, Restoration Hardware finish! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
oh Restoration Hardware… how i love thee…
Restoration Hardware's Kenwood Bed Big A is currently in his converted crib. Problem is that he's getting too big for us to comfortably snuggle and read books in the glider. and sitting on the floor to read to him isn't fun. so mamma started searching for a new bed on craigslist… and look what i found. a glossy white Pottery Barn-looking bed. the very nice fireman who sold it to me even delivered it for free.
here's the headboard in our garage. the pix are a bit dark, but you get the idea. glossy white paint on a well-constructed piece. the beauty about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is that you don't have to sand or strip any varnish before starting. you just paint. and the paint just sticks. and you're just happy. and yes, i've heard the complaints about how expensive ASCP is, but really, when you take into consideration the time you've saved sanding, stripping, and priming, it all works out. AND, with the 4 quarts i purchased almost two years ago, i've probably painted out 15-20 pieces of furniture. yes.
looks a little girly with the white glossy paint, huh? so here are my steps to achieve the ever elusive Restoration Hardware distressed and weathered wood furniture finish:
using a 3" brush, paint out the pieces in Annie Sloan's Paris Grey. make sure you get in all the cracks and crevices. you'll note that this piece is similar to a bead board, so there are lots of nooks and crannies. let dry.
using a mixture of MinWax water-based gray and dark Old English, brush on liberally on top of the Paris Gray. after a minute or so, wipe the mixture off with a rag, but don't wipe off 100% evenly. you want some of the pseudo-glaze to stick to the paint, creating some depth on the furniture. because this is a water-based stain, it's translucent and allows you to see the wood below it. the dark stain mixed in was intended to darken the color a bit.
in this experiment, i used about 1/4 cup MinWax, and 8 drops of the Old English. the above shot is taken without a flash and it looks more gray/brown. be sure you use the same mixture if you're remixing for additional pieces so that you achieve the same consistency and colors as you go.
in the above shot, i used the flash so that you could see that this glaze had more of a blue-ish gray hue.
go over all the pieces using a 220 grit sandpaper…very lightly, with the grain. play around with the pressure. i was trying to achieve a pseudo wood grain look, so kept my pressure very light to accomplish the right look without removing too much of the chalk paint.
then i brought out the Annie Sloan dark wax, my trusty gloves, and some soft rags. i generously applied the dark wax as i wanted a darker wood look.
what you'll notice about using the Annie Sloan dark wax is that you sometimes notice the brush marks. see in the above picture at the bottom center of the headboard? you see a dark area butted up against a lighter area. i've noticed this happens with AS wax… but never fear! the product is so malleable that you can buff it out and even out the look with some #0000 steel wool and elbow grease. that's right…get those arms in shape by buffing and making the wax more even across your piece.
see how i was able to get rid of the sharp contrast between the dark and light areas on the headboard? fancy.
i LOVE how this piece turned out.
thanks for reading!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks again Meesh! And make sure you check back tomorrow for the reveal of the Grand Prize Round Projects!! You're going to flip over them!!
So by now you know that I'm in love with chalk paint. I basically shout it from the rooftops whenever I get the chance. It totally transformed my fireplace, and is now helping me to makeover my dining room, one furniture piece at a time. The first piece I tackled is this old Ikea table that we bought when we were first married. Even though it looked fine with our barnwood organizing bins, I was so over the warm wood tone and ready for a change!
I chatted with Shaunna about some different color options and decided on the gorgeous Aubusson blue as an accent color.
I seriously would kiss this paint if I could…and it wasn't so messy. I love that you don't have to prep the piece at all before beginning to paint. Because of this, I had a regular paint shop going on in my kitchen a few weeks ago…
Once I finished painting, I decided I wanted to add a little more depth to the piece, so I brushed on Valspar's Translucent Color Glaze in Mocha, focusing on the cracks, bumps and holes in the wood.
It's a bit scary, but immediately you can see a difference. Basically, you brush the glaze on, let it sit for a minute and then wipe it off with a lint-free cloth (I used an old t-shirt).
Shaunna recommends that you use wax before distressing and adding a glaze, but oops! I didn't know that before I tried it. As I was wiping off the glaze, the paint came with it! Ahhhh! So then,I had to repaint and reglaze. Ugh. So… paint, wax, then glaze and distress!
Finally, once the paint had dried, I waxed the entire piece in order to protect it from damage. I used this method and it helped me tremendously and worked like a charm! This wax is unbelieveably smooth, goes on like butter and goes a long way. I've never tried the other brands of furniture wax, but now that I've tried Annie's, I don't think I ever will.
I made sure to let it cure for the specified time before setting anything on it, and then got busy decorating for Fall. Now for a slew of pretty pictures…
I can't get enough of this color. It doesn't scream at you, but it makes a statement, you know? It's like he's saying in a very polite voice,"Look at me. Aren't I handsome?"
I'm on the lookout for some late Fall/Winter decorative pillow or covers, so if you have recommendations, send them my way!
Gotta love the details.
And look! A sneak peek at my new accent wall partly dressed up! I'm still messing around with the layout of things, but we're getting closer to the big reveal!
I'm thinking it's a whole lot prettier now, but let's take a look at the before and after, shall we?
What do you think of the transformation? I like it so much better.
Ok, guys, we are in the last two weeks of competition with Creating with the Stars and to say that the contestants exceeded our expectations would be the understatement of the century. We have six competitors still fighting for a spot in the final 3 and no one is going down without a major fight. If you missed the first two weeks of projects, check them out below: Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners
This week some amazing prizes are at stake. The semi-finals winner will take home… $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star!!) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
Now, we know you're all dying to see what amazing projects our contestants have come up with this week with paint! Let's go! 1. Painted Couch Featuring a Handmade Horse Stamp
We have all seen these couches before in someone's grandma's house. This vintage couch is not the good kind of vintage, but I may have some of you convinced that this traditional style can be made more modern. I painted the couch white, carved out a horse, and stamped the living daylights out of it with black paint from Home Depot. Enjoy!
2. Painted Map Coffee Table Painting! I'm not going to lie, I was pretty stoked about this week… and amazed I made it here. Painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to transform almost anything. And my table was in need of some transforming- big time. I picked it up at a flea market type place for $40… peeling, chipping, splinters, dirt and all.
I sanded and scraped (forever) until no more paint chips fell off when you walked by. Then I gave the entire table a coat of latex paint from Home Depot (mixed with a little plaster to make chalk paint), leaving some of the peeling paint texture on the legs. After that was dry, I taped off a large"X" pattern on the smaller shelf and added a painted stripe detail to IKEA storage boxes for the bottom.
On the top, I made my own basic map stencil by cutting away the continents on a large world map I printed out. I stuck the map to the table with painter's tape, then painted over top with blues and greens. Once that was"roughed in", I removed the paper map and spattered the rest of the painted detail free hand using mostly a plastic spoon and really watered down paint. The last step was to give the entire table a coat of protective finishing wax.
I kind of think the end result is out of this world… hehe, get it?
3. Painted Desk and Accent Wall Using Custom Stencils
I love paint! It sets the mood of a space and has the power to completely transform a piece. I found this large bookcase at Goodwill and loved the detail on the doors, arch at the top, and the drop panel but didn't like choppy layout, worn finish, and heavy bottom. Luckily, all of my dislikes were easy to fix with a little paint and reconfiguration of the layout.
With a little help from the Home Depot, I was well on my way to getting started. Thanks Chris!
Fix #1 — I moved the drop panel down to 30" so that it can now be used as a secretary desk. Goodbye choppy bookcase, hello new desk! Fix #2- Paint! The finish was worn and it had a few areas that needed to be filled with wood filler so painting was the perfect solution! I chose a classic ivory and paired it with a deep turquoise stenciled background. I created the stencil based on one of my favorite Farrow and Ball wallpapers. Fix #3-the thick base and doors made this piece look bottom heavy. To fix this, I added small feet to lift it off the ground and create a little visual space at the base. I also created a large stencil based on one of my favorite rugs. The large scale and contrast provides a lot of visual impact and adds variety from the small scale stencil used on the back.
With the help of paint and a few power tools, this bookcase has been given a new life and I love the way it looks in my new space! 4. Painted Chalkboard with Map and Games This week's theme was my favorite so far…I love the many many ways that paint can be used to make an instant change and impact on a space or an object. I also love chalkboard paint. This week's project is dedicated to my kiddos who surprise, surprise…love to get that their craft on too!; )
In designing the chalkboard wall, we decided to have a map of the U.S.A…I love the way it looks and it will be fun to track the different states we go to as a family. After coloring in the states my kids have been to, they commented"well that's not very many", so I let them each choose a state they would like to go to someday…which explains why Hawaii and Alaska are colored.: ) Lately my oldest child has loved playing tic-tac-toe, so I thought a large, interactive wall version would be super-fun! I also included many"frames" for the kiddos to draw their masterpieces in. I picked the step-stools up at IKEA and painted them in fun colors, and the animal hooks holding our chalk and erasers came from Anthropologie. It was a blast picking out all the fun paint colors at Home Depot! Because I was using so many colors and didn't need a gallon of each color…Home Depot made my day when they told me that they can mix any color in a small, 7.5 oz jar…perfect!!!
And after a super-busy week painting…I'll go to bed tonight and dream about being on a beach in…
;)
5. Aztec Wonder Painted Rug I have been in love with the Aztec inspired rugs that I have been seeing in catalogs and online lately. The drool kind of love. But alas, rugs can be expensive. They are not something I can change an a whim. So, when the paint round came about I decided that it was time for me to get my hands on my latest crush and do it in a budget-friendly way. In DIY style, of course.
Isn’t she beautiful?! This rug was a labor of love. And a lot and lot of sponges cut into stamps…applied one by one. Fabulous colors, a gentle application of paint from Home Depot, and lots of patience made this rug come together into something lovely.
My rug is more then happy living with me. And, I am so pleased to have my own version of this latest craze. And… you know what? I’m glad we’ve moved on from Chevron to Aztec. I’ve got my Aztec rug and I’m ready to go!
6. Painted Wall Mural and Dresser I have a thing for maps right now — doesn't everyone? So, when it came time for the"paint" challenge, I was pretty excited to hop right in and paint a giant world map on my wall. Because who doesn't need one of those?!
I used a projector to hand-paint the whole thing, and then for a bit of contrast (and fun!) I added an old Ikea sideboard we had laying around that I painted Sunny Side Up by Behr from Home Depot. For a couple more little touches, I added bicycle drawer pulls (because, why not?) and numbers to the door fronts — you can barely see them from straight on, but if you look at it from a different angle, they suddenly show up. It's a subtle touch, but I didn't want anything to compete with the map above it!
I love how the black and yellow work together, and I'm pretty excited to finally achieve my dream of covering a wall with the entire world. And, really, I find it hard to believe that this bright and sunny sideboard was once a plain, boring black Ikea piece — don't you love how big of a transformation paint can make?!
It's time to vote! You guys have a ridiculously hard job- we don't envy you a bit! You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects. **The voting glitch for Round 3 has been corrected and voting will be adjusted accordingly. Thanks! In order to vote, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook.
Sometimes spring decorating stumps me. I'm always so excited to lighten and brighten, but since one day can be warm and the next day is rainy and cold, I never quite know how to decorate. This year, I came up with a super inexpensive idea that makes my decor really versatile and easy to swap out.
Enter the simple terra cotta pot. I bought it at Lowes for less than a dollar. I decided to create three completely different looks that I can swap out whenever it suits my fancy.
DIY Idea # 1- Washi Tape & Whitewash The first step for this option is to tone down the orange clay color. I watered down some white paint, applied a thin coat, and then used paper towels to wipe it off, which left me with a white, weathered look. I had this adorable ruler washi tape and thought it went perfectly with the idea of spring growth! I love washi tape because it's inexpensive and comes in so many fun patterns.
DIY Idea #2- Faux Metal Metal containers can be really expensive, but I love the industrial look they have. Using metallic spray paint, I was able to get the look of metal, but still spend under a dollar! I think a grouping of these in varying heights could look really neat!
DIY Idea #3- Chalkboard Paint Oh, how I love chalkboard paint! Did you know I actually have chalk paint as my kitchen back splash? It's pretty awesome. I love the matte finish it gives the pot and I was able to add a fun little doodle. If you're thinking of planting any starter plants or herbs, you could use chalk to label what you're growing. Here's an insider tip… to get the crisp, clean writing lines like I did, use a chalk marker. You can order them online or from restaurant supply stores. They are much easier to draw with and still wipe off with water!
Don't get me wrong, I'm all about big room makeovers, but sometimes a simple project like this one can make me just as happy!
The options are endless with this one- which one do you like best??
Oh goodness, this dining room is taking forever to finish! I've been working on it for the past several months as money and time have allowed, and we're definitely in the home stretch, but it's the little things that are making me crazy! I've already showed you the side table I made over, and the planked wall with exposed studs accent wall we created, which really helped change the feel of the whole space. But let's be honest, one of the most obvious things that had to change to fit the whole"coastal/cottage" vibe I'm going for was the dining table.
It's a nice, solid wood table that my hubs and I bought for only $60 (yes, you read that correctly!) when we first moved into this house. I was so over the black hutch and the finish on this table, but it's functional piece so I didn't want to buy a new one. I haven't done too much furniture refinishing, so I asked my bloggy pal and furniture expert, Shaunna, if she could make some recommendations as to what I should do to change them up to fit my style. Not only did she come up with some incredible furniture ideas, but she dreamt up an entire inspiration board for my room!
Isn't that amazing? I love so many of her ideas, and hope my room turns out half as nice as her dream room!: ) So with her help, I started out refinishing the table. The first step was to remove the legs of the table and give them a good painting with Annie Sloan Chalk paint, aka my new love. I decided to paint the legs in French linen, and then once that dried, did a wash of Pure White over top. That was the easy part.
The table top…not so easy. I started off by sanding the top with 60 grit sandpaper and my palm sander. It was so difficult getting through all the layers of whatever they sealed it with that it probably took me a good hour and half to sand it all down.
I almost didn't mind, though, because what I saw as I was sanding made me super excited! I loved the look of the unfinished wood and the wood grain that began to show.
Even with all the sanding, I still didn't feel like I had removed all of the old finish, so I brushed on a layer of CitriStrip. Basically, you brush it on and leave it for the recommended time. Then, you wipe it off with a lint-free cloth and with it, off comes the finish! This sanding/stripping method really worked to get my table back to it's gorgeous, unfinished state.
Shaunna recommended that I try white-washing the table with Pure White chalk paint, so that's what I did. If you're unfamiliar with white-washing, it is an awesome way to keep the character of a piece, while subtly adding a touch of color to it. Basically, you add water to paint until it's the intensity you want. More water = less concentrated color.
I really wanted the grain of the wood to show, but I didn't care for the peachy color of the wood, so I went with a very watered down white wash.
I brushed it on, and then wiped it back with a paper towel. Because my wash was mostly water, I had to wipe it immediately after I brushed it on because it was drying very quickly. Wiping the wash back helps brings the color of the grain out, which gives it a very reclaimed wood finish.
After I washed the whole table, I was over the top giddy mildly pleased with the results.
I can't get over how well the table now fits in my dining room! It's like it was meant to live in a coastal cottage all along.
The final step is sealing it with Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax. Because this is a surface that will get lots of wear, since people will eat and drink there, it will need three coats of wax. I'm planning on doing that this week, but that's the kind of little detail (that makes a big difference!) that I don't want to do. Any one out there want to come finish my table? Please!?!?
All that hard work was totally worth it, though, because I'm head over heels in love with the table now. A big thank you to Shaunna for helping me to see it's potential! Not bad for a $60 table, huh?; ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We're honored to be featured over at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar today for her week of all things curtains! Be sure to check it out to see what no-sew curtain solutions we came up with!
You want to know what we learned this year at the first ever Haven conference? There are so many talented people in the world. It's true. Every single blogger we met has unbelievable talent, was super cute (I'm not lying when I say that Monica and I left feeling old and frumpy!), and could not have been nicer. It totally felt like a huge family reunion (except that we had never met before!) Seriously, though, we attended some inspiring sessions, chatted with some of our favorite bloggers and enjoyed really fun BFF time, too! It started out with a smooth flight, a pricey cab to the hotel (60 bucks, one way!) and the discovery that the hotel had overbooked and that our confirmation was actually a pending notification. Booo. But the guys at the Crowne Plaza worked it out and we got a room (a nice one, I might add!)
Upon arrival, we met some of the Haven crew and received our swag bags. There were some pretty sweet finds in the bag, but our favs were definitely the Annie Sloan Chalk paint, Purdy paint brush, Kreg Jig Jr. and a stencil from our go-to stencil girls at Royal Design Studio. Score!
We attended six sessions total, each of them were taught by some blogging bigwigs- do you see that list below? Southern Rhoda, Tracie at Beneath my Heart, Beth from Home Stories A to Z, Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chick, and Myra from My Blessed Life We were SO thrilled to meet these ladies in real life and hear all the stuff they've learned through their blogging experience. We also spent time talking with vendors (Monica won 3 awesome paint brushes at the Annie Sloan chalk paint booth), and with business cards in hand, checked out all the blogs we hadn't read before,.
Rashon Carraway, aka Mr. Goodwill Hunting, rocked the Thrifting 101 session! Remember him from The Nate Show? We had fun sharing stories about our times on the show and how great the staff was to us. Good times, I tell you.
Sherry and John from Young House Love were the keynote speakers, and not only were they adorable, they were so down to earth, full of good tips and witty, to boot. Not fair. We loved their mindset about writing their blog, and their honesty about sort of stumbling into blogging fame. We could have talked with Sherry the entire night. She's totally like the other best friend we wish we had.
We LOVED meeting so many people with similar passions as ours, and discovering awesome blogs we had never heard about. No one truly understands blogging except other bloggers, that's for sure.
Beth from Free Stylin' and Jamie from C.R.A.F.T
The highlight of our trip was meeting our blog mentor, Beckie. We've been chatting with her on the phone every week for the past few months. We knew she was insanely talented and driven, but we were so not prepared for how awesome she is in person! And drop-dead gorgeous. Her session about advertising had everyone buzzing about her. And for good reason! Love.that.girl.
Monica was really excited to meet her, and I was scared, I guess. Awkward, Jess, awkward. And I'm sure you've all heard of Allison from House of Hepworths, but we were psyched to meet her since we were in the Blogging 2 Better collaboration with her the past 6 weeks.
Layla from The Lettered Cottage, taught a killer session on photo styling that rocked our picture-taking world. How she preps rooms for photos is genius, and even though we learned a lot, we're pretty sure that she has a creative eye that can't be duplicated. I am a HUGE fan of hers, so was pretty excited that she sort of knew who we were (or pretended to, anyway!)
We also had the priviledge of hanging out a bit with Ashley and Whitney from Shanty 2 Chic. These girls make DIYing look amazing. A gorgeous, creative blogging duo.
And speaking of gorgeous-ness…take a look at Ana White building a rolling storage caddy in sky-high heels and tight cropped pants. Fabulous, isn't it? Makes us feel like we should maybe reconsider our t-shirt and sweatpants attire for DIYing. Or maybe not.
And finally, here's a shot of us fooling around at the Homes.com photo booth. Our new bloggy best friend, Karah from The Space Between, took this picture and we love it. And you'll love her. First of all, she lives in Curacao, and secondly she does great projects (just check out her rooftop pallet bed) and thirdly, she's a lot of fun to hang out with.
So that's our crazy recap! All in all we had as really fun time, and I can't say enough how much fun I have with Monica. It may actually be possible that two people share the same brain. Just sayin'.; ) If you could meet one blog crush, who would you choose?
I've already confessed to you that yard work is not really my thing. I pay way more attention to the inside of my house, and tend to neglect the outside. Unfortunately, my hubs isn't really into working outside either. But, I started to feel really bad for our neighbors because the front of our house was sooooo not welcoming. A few years ago, right before my daughter was born, I had Kevin paint the shutters and front door of our home a nice neutral brown. It was a major improvement over the faded blue that was there when we bought it, and for awhile, I liked the look. But not anymore. Now that I know what style I'm going for in my house, it wasn't fitting the bill. Not unique enough, not coastal/cottagey enough and not"me" anymore.
Oh did I forget to mention that we also have a jungle of a flower bed right outside our front door? Ugh. This flower bed is the bane of my existance. It's very large and overgrown with weeds. I figured that if we were going to add some curb appeal, the weeds had to go. We'd really like to put some low ground cover (suggestions, anyone?) in the entire bed so that we don't have to worry about it too much, but for now, we did some much needed cleaning out.
Our house is only about 15 years old, but the paint was peeling badly on the columns, so we added that to the facelift list.
It really just didn't scream,"Hi! Come on in!", did it?
I had slowly been accumulating paint chips to find the best front door color, and finally narrowed it down to Deepest Aqua by Glidden. Since I got my paint at Home Depot, I had them color match it for me in Behr Ultra Exterior Paint + Primer (you can see the code below, if you're interested!). I chose Behr Ultra Exterior Paint +Primer in Dark Granite for the shutters. No joke, this paint was amazing! It went on soooo smooth and covered really well on the first coat. I highly recommend it! We ended up only doing two coats, and they look perfect.
All of the trim on the porch and both columns got a fresh coat of white paint, as well.
I'm so impatient that I had to snap a picture of the house after the door was painted but before the shutters were painted. Loved it immediately. That blue is spot on and the perfect color for my front door.
I had Kevin take the door knob off because it had seen better days, and sprayed it with a dark bronze hammered metal spray paint. What? You don't spray paint on an old tree stump? Why ever not?!: )
That simple step made a world of a difference, and was free, since I had the spray paint already. Score!
After weeding, painting, spray painting and a lot of sweating, here's how the house looks now:
The house feels more calm to me, if that makes any sense at all. And the colors make our house look more white, when actually it's an off-white, pale yellow. I'm a big fan of that, as it was completely unplanned!
We didn't take down our shutters, because they're a bear to do so. My hubs just used a step ladder and his mad painting skills to get them done.
To dress up the porch a bit, I brought my DIY floor mat from the kitchen out. I was never really a huge fan of it in the kitchen, and with the addition of my new rug, I liked it even less. It matches perfectly out front, so there it sits! Much better.
This chair was one of my grandma's (I have two of them) and a while ago I spraypainted them in Krylon Pimento Red. I thought it would be fun to paint our house number on the back of the chair, but before I commited I wrote it on with chalk. One of these days I'll get around to painting it for real…or maybe not.
I'm really digging the non-traditional mix of these colors.
I'm planning a few more little touches to the front door and then I can't wait to get my Fall on in the next few weeks!
And just for posterity's sake, let's take one last look at the before and after:
Can I get woot-woot?!: ) Are you guys into working outside? What can you recommend for the giant weed-fest going on in my front bed? P.S. Do you follow us on Facebook? If not, you totally should because we're always posting in-process pics and teasers about the projects we have going on. Plus, you'll get an inside look at our craziness!: )
So, last week I gave you a little peek into our newly organized garage with the easiest DIY coat rack known to man, but I saved my most favorite part of the makeover until now. Really, I was just going for a new functional space that corralled our junk, but the one thing I decided to do was add some personality to our garage door that leads into our house with a little leftover chalkboard paint.
Isn't it cute?! We also painted the wall with paint we had on hand, painted the trim white, added a cute, super easy set of hooks for bookbags and coats, and organized our shoes and everyday paper products. I've had this chalkboard paint FOREVER, and it has served me well through many projects!
Once I did three coats on the entire door using this method, I then seasoned it using a big piece of sidewalk chalk. Make sure you use the side of your chalk, instead of the tip, so you don't leave any permanent marks on the door.
Definitely not the prettiest look after it's been seasoned, but never fear!
Once you wipe it down with a damp cloth and add your text, the door starts looking a whole lot better! I was inspired by this vinyl from Belvedere Designs, so if you don't want to make a big statement like this, but still like the sentiment, you can buy it in smaller form.
Some of the phrases make me chuckle every time I walk in the house like"Down Boy","I'll sign for that" and"What are you doing here?".
I had an old frame laying around that I spraypainted and added heavy duty magnets to. I love the pop of color on the black door.
I can't even tell you how much a transformation this area has undergone! Now, I don't feel stressed every time I pass through. Makes mommy happy.
And the chalkboard step I added makes the kids happy.
It's a win- win for everyone!: ) What crazy things have you painted with chalk paint?
Yesterday, I shared my daughter Kira's Colorful Bedroom Makeover with all of you. Check it out here if you missed it. It's interesting when you're doing a room for a little person… there's this part of me that wants to go all crazy blogger-designer-nutso on the space, and then there's the realistic mom side that reminds me that her room will be a disaster of toys in about 3 minutes flat and that I don't need to go over the top to make her happy. Honestly, I'd kind of be going over the top just for my own self-interest. So, with that being said, the mommy voice won out and I went with a fun, yet practical room makeover. I'll guess I'll save up the glitz and glam for the master bedroom (if I ever do tackle it!).
Today I'm going to share with you the focal point of the room… The Mosaic Accent Wall!
I'm a total sucker for an accent wall. Honestly, since I was a junior in high school I've been whipping them up! My very first was a blue feather dusted wall in my parents' house. Then, I did a pretty cool square grid wall (again at the 'rents house) when I was a senior. Kenzie's first bedroom had vertical stripes and stars, then I changed to a fun magenta gingham. We had an argyle bedroom too! I wish I had pictures of all of those, but it was in the film day and age- boo! Enough of the trip down memory lane, let's get going with the tutorial! How to Create a Mosaic Accent Wall Since this is the room of my 5 year old, I asked her what she wanted, and she told me LOTS of colors."Mommy, I want purple, blue, green, orange…" and the list went on and on. I thought about it and finally decided, I could give Kira exactly what she asked for- lots of color!
I bought a sample size of each color and a gallon of white paint to use as my base and for all the other walls. One word of caution, Valspar sample paints do not have the normal bonding agents that regular paint has. It will require more coats for solid coverage. Just keep that in mind when you're planning a project. For me, buying 8 quarts wasn't an option (this was a makeover on a budget) and I'd rather have to do a few extra coats of paint. I had JUST enough- it was close, but we stretched the samples far enough.
This unfortunate event occurred as soon as we got home with the paint. Grrr… I was sort of hoping Hurricane Sandy would wash some of the stain away a few weeks ago- No.Such.Luck! Blogger Fail!
Here's my supply list: Valspar® Sample Paints Base coat paint Purdy® Paint Brush Chalk-line (a DIYer Must Have!) Tape Measure Pencil Frog Tape® Mini Rollers Paint Trays
I had to get rid of that BRIGHT aqua color and amazingly, the Valspar white paint & primer in one did the trick! I was left with a blank"canvas" and two weirdos (the hubs and my oldest)!
There are all kinds of approaches to getting perfectly straight painted lines, but I really think we use the BEST method. I'll tell ya about it, and then you can be the judge… 1- Measure out your stripes and put tick marks on both sides of the wall.
2- Use a Chalk-line to get Perfect Guide Lines- Simply, put the string directly on the tick marks on both sides of the wall, pull the string taut, and snap that baby! It is so much MORE accurate and FASTER than using a level and a pencil. Let me remind you of something… you've seen how awkward I am at dancing… would you trust me to use a level on wall stripes? I think not.
These bad boys are crisp, straight and ready for some Frog Tape!
3- Use Frog Tape to Divide your Stripes. When I'm working on an accent wall, I know it's going to be the main focus of the room, so I have to have crisp, perfect lines (yes, perfectionist tendencies admitted).
My hubs uses a few pieces per stripe, but I'm a one stripe wonder. I definitely prefer to do the entire stripe with one piece to make sure there aren't any uneven seams. Also, make sure you tape off the two side walls.
I love me some stripes!
After all my horizontal stripes were finished, I randomly placed my vertical dividers. I toyed with using a mini level to get them perfect, but then decided I could do it well enough by eye. Please ignore the epitome of frumpy DIY clothes, no shower, and tape on the leg.
Whenever I'm working on a project like this I rip off a bunch of pieces the length I need and keep them on the wall so I can get to them quickly, if I'm not using that method, I keep the roll of tape on my arm. Works like a charm.
4- Paint the Edge of your tape with your Base Color. It's one extra step, but it's the MAGIC INGREDIENT to perfect, crisp lines. Frog Tape alone is excellent, but on an accent wall like this, I had to be sure everything would be perfect. Just take your base coat color (whatever color is under the stripes) and with an semi-dry brush (not dry, but not sopping wet either) paint over every edge. I don't recommend using a roller for this step, I always use a paint brush.
It makes the wall look a little scary, but it will all work out in the end! Allow it to dry- I gave it about 40 minutes before putting color over it.
I had a tray and roller for each color. I wanted to work in a random pattern and that meant making decisions as I went along- no time for washing rollers and brushes.
Finally, it was time to put some color on the walls!
If you want a random look (like mine) I'd recommend working in one section at a time, mixing your colors as you go.
Because of the sample paints, it took 3 coats per square. It was a tad scary at first, but by the second coat, I was confident the coverage would be good.
Jimniy Cricket- Even before I removed the tape I knew I was in love!
Now, for the Moment of Truth-Removing the tape… Once again Frog Tape & the Mangin Method = Perfection! Seriously, I do a cheesy dance (you can picture it) every time I remove tape from a project! I do recommend removing the tape as soon as you're done-I don't wait for the paint to dry, and I remove it VERY slowly and evenly.
Here's the finished product! It was so simple and took me and Eric about 4 hours from start to finish.
Here's a before and after…
It's a lot of color (as requested by Kira), but I like the extreme contrast that the white walls bring. I also could totally picture doing this with muted tones or even all in one color with an ombre effect!
Almost every morning, I find KJ hunkered down reading books in her PJs… She loves her new room!
Tomorrow, I'll be giving you all the details on the whiteboard wall and Wednesday one of our favorite things… DIY faux canvases with Staples prints! Make sure you check it out! What do you think of the accent wall?Have you ever tried something bold with paint?
We are thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce you to sweet Brook of Being Brook. She's a fellow contributor to Infarrantly Creative, and was a part of our Blogging 2 Better group. She's insanely talented and her projects are sooo beautiful! Her incredibly adorable fabric wall map happened to be our favorite project from our summer challenge!
Hi East Coast Creative Readers! I'm Brook and I blog at BeingBrook where I share tips and tutorials on building, sewing, crafts and home decor! I'm a military spouse so I move frequently and am always striving to Create Awesome wherever our family ends up!
Today I have a tutorial on how to make a keepsake hanger out of an antique doorknob!
Supplies: 2 pieces of pine 1"x4" cut into a square Annie Sloan Chalk Paint & Clear Wax Antique Door Knob Epoxy Resin (I used Envirotex Lite) Screw
I needed something to screw into and antique door knobs don't usually take standard screws. So I started by taping off my antique door knob and mixing up some resin to fill the old screw hole. Beckie from Infarrantly Creative has an in depth tutorial if you need more help with this part. Then I painted my two pieces of pine with Annie Sloan Chalk paint in French Linen which is the same color as my daughter's dresser.
On one of the wood pieces I used my keyhole bit on my router to make a spot to hang the little doorknob shelf from the wall. The other piece of wood I marked the middle and then 1/2 inch down on each side and traced two lines to give the front of the wood a little angle.
I used a miter saw to cut the angles out and then nailed the top of the shelf to the bottom piece with a nail gun and finish nails. You could totally glue and hammer this with regular nails too.
Now it's time to drill a pilot hole in the wood for your doorknob and drill a pilot hole into your doorknob where the resin is.
Then crew a screw through your wood into the doorknob. Once my little shelf was all built I touched up the paint and waxed it with some soft wax.
Finished! I am using my little door knob shelf to display my daughter's keepsake baby dress and a little cup that was a special baby gift.
Thanks so much for having me Monica and Jess! I'd love it you came by and visited me at BeingBrook to see some of my other projects! Little Girl Aqua, Red and Gray Bedroom
Build a Rustic Headboard for only $35
Organize the Laundry Room with Basket Dressers
Isn't she amazing?! We seriously envy that girls talent and creativity. Thanks, Brook!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below! Round 1 Projects & WinnersRound 2 Projects & WinnersRo und 3 Projects & Winners
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We love when someone takes a current trend and puts their own unique spin on it! This interactive wall by Melissa scores major points with us for creativity and major points with her kids for hours of fun! I don't even want to show my kids these pictures because I know for sure that they'd think Melissa is a much cooler mom than I am!
Our basement is better known as"the kid cave." When we arranged it, we set it up in"stations"--kitchen area, dress-up area, puppet theater, arts & craft studio and a"school room"for my future teacher. I love the way chalkboard paint looks and although it is not a new concept, I have always wanted to use it in our basement. The wall I chose for this project is approximately 21 feet long and I thought it would be neat to create an interactive chalkboard wall.
First, I painted the wall using Rustoleum Black Chalkboard Paint. While it recommends two coats of paint, I went ahead and gave it three coats, as the wall seemed to really soak in the first coat. In designing the chalkboard wall, I knew I wanted lots of space for the kids to draw and create, but I also wanted to put some things that would be permanent, instead of just having a 21 foot chalkboard. I decided to include a map of the U.S.A…I love the way it looks and will be fun to track the different states we go to as a family. I printed a map of the U.S. onto an overhead transparency and used an overhead projector to trace the map onto the wall. I used a permanent white paint sharpie marker to trace the map.
I also wanted to have some fun and whimsical frames on the wall as well. So using the same method as the U.S.A. map, I chose the following"hanging doodle frames" from PrintCandee.com:
Next, I designed a large interactive tic-tac-toe board. Similar to the map and frames, I traced the board onto the wall. Here is the board I used…you can download the template here.
I bought five"X's" and five"O's" from the craft store…you may have to go to a few craft stores--they have plenty of"O's" but don't stock many"X's"! Also at the craft store, I bought self-adhesive magnet strips. At Home Depot, I bought nine two-inch washers. After painting the"X's" and"O's", I super-glued the washers onto the letters, and fastened the magnet strips onto the wall.
For the title of the game and the map, I created stencils on my Cameo. Here is a great tip for stenciling… once you get the stencil arranged onto the wall (or wood, object, etc.), before stenciling with the color(s) you want the word/objects to be…first paint a light coat of the background color…in this case I used the black chalkboard paint. This creates a seal with the stencil and I have found that it prevents bleeding of the paint--making your stencil look very crisp.
(I forgot to take picture of painting on the red and blue! Sorry!)
Speaking of paint…it was a blast picking out all the fun paint colors at Home Depot! Because I was using so many colors and didn't need a gallon of each color…Home Depot made my day when they told me that they can mix any color in a small, 7.5 oz jar…perfect!!
I picked the step-stools up at IKEA and painted them in fun colors…
Not only are they great for setting the game pieces and chalk on, but they are extremely sturdy stools and perfect for giving little kids a boost for drawing and playing on the wall. I have always adored these giraffe and elephant hooks from Anthropologie…and I love the way they add a fun (and helpful!) detail to the chalkboard wall:
Finally I added some framed artwork courtesy of the kids…they were so excited to help with this project!
Mom of the year, folks!: ) If you haven't stopped over to say hello to Melissa, what are you waiting for? She's got a bunch of cute things going on over there on her blog including this adorable"Wizard of Oz" subway art she made for her daughter:
Don't forget to link up your favorite paint projects right here until 10 PM EST tonight! Also, Sarah will be here tomorrow sharing how she completely transformed that chunky bookshelf into an awesome functional and beautiful secretary desk- you won't want to miss it! Happy weekend!
Welcome to my kitchen. You might remember we built about 18 months ago… darn that we weren't blogging back then. It would have been fun to come to all of you for design ideas. Although, after 5 homeless months I was sort of like whatever, just finish the house! Well my kitchen was"fine"… and remember, when I say fine I tend to mean take it or leave it. It was just lacking anything cool. We do have a fun chalkboard backsplash, but the fun ended there.
Last week, we were sitting in our breakfast room, eating dinner (why is it called a breakfast room?) and I was looking out into the kitchen and not thrilled with the view…
This plain wall was screaming at me to do something! I love the barn sale chalkboard, but the wall was blah!
I looked to Eric and said,"Mind if I do an itty bitty project tonight when the kids are in bed?" To which I think he said something like,"Oh boy…" I quickly cleaned up from dinner, grabbed my oldest daughter and ran to Lowes. I needed black paint STAT! (Sidenote: it took the guy at Lowes 40 minutes to mix my black paint. Not exaggerating. I was the only one in line, but it was a hot mess. It sorta deflated my"we're on a mission" mindset, but oh well, I pressed on!) I got home and started gathering supplies… tape: check, paint: check roller: check chalk line… UGH! It got mixed up with Nate Berkus' supplies and it was sitting in NYC. This was almost a deal breaker… I got a little cranky, and then decided to stop being sad and start being awesome!
Source: joyshope.com via Meg on Pinterest That's right… I had chalk and string, so I just sucked up the royal mess and made a chalk line!
Eric was really, really happy about that decision. He loved that it looked like a blue snowstorm in our kitchen! (hehe)
Before snapping lines came the math. Boo math! Lucky for me, not only is the hubs handy, he's also super smart! I told him what I wanted and he handed me this nice, little cheat sheet of measurements. Pharmacokineticist by day… DIY Mathematician by night. SCORE one for me!
We chalked our nicely spaced and pre-measured grid lines
And then I got taping. I will be honest here… taping chevron wasn't my favorite thing ever. Getting the points right isn't hard, just annoying. I used an X-acto knife to get them crisp.
Then I painted. Then I asked Eric to paint the top because I wasn't tall enough. I think I heard him say something like,"How did I know this was going to become an us project?" I think I might have then suggested he change out of his grubby, outdated work jeans, and into something more blog-friendly… yeah, that didn't happen. It was worth a shot!
All painted!
We used our perfect stripe method and had no bleeding lines! SWEET! But, we did have some paint pulled off by the tape, not sure why, but I touched up any imperfections.
I just went back the next morning and did some reverse taping so I could touch up.
There she is… I couldn't love it any more than I do! Well, actually that's a lie. I'm also going to do the wall to the left of it. I wanted to be sure I liked it first. Once both walls are done I'll be fully smitten!
This is my not-so-boring kitchen now. I know chevron (especially in black) isn't for everyone, but I think it's just right for us!
I finally erased my month-old birthday message and added this to my chalkboard…
A Beautiful Mess is one of my favorite blogs and also describes this family of six pretty well. If you haven't checked out Elsie's blog you should, but I'll warn you. It's a love-hate thing for me. She is so adorable, so creative, so stylish, so cool that it makes this nerdy blogger have a little pitty party once in a while, but I keep going back for more. Some of my favorite posts are about her wedding… heart shaped pancakes for the meal… need I say more? Go take a peek! Okay, so there you have it… my new wicked awesome kitchen wall!
If you aren't connected with us on Facebook, we'd love you to! We use it to post all kinds of cool ideas and to connect with all of you!
; Linking up to: TT&J, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase, Saturday Night Special, Show & Tell Saturday,
My house has never been without some kind of stripes… EVER. I guess I just love 'em… Back at our old house I actually used all the old paint samples and leftover colors to do a crazy, random stripe wall in my basement office. This picture was before the ceiling went in, but in the end, it was pretty crazy and cool.
We've also done stripes in the same color, with different finishes. This was flat enamel with eggshell.
So, since we're in a new house… we needed some stripes… I was feeling lost without them! Family Room Stripes
. Since we've done stripes many, many times we've learned a few things along the way. Nothing is more frustrating than crooked stripes or bleeding lines. I've told you over and over that I can fall into the perfectionist category… bleeding stripes are NOT COOL in the Mangin house. How to Paint 99 percent Perfect Stripes (It's 99% because I thought Perfect sounded a little cocky!) 1. This step is optional, but I highly recommend it… find a handsome helper. It definitely is a 2 person job. 2. Determine the width of your stripes. For the family room I wanted BIG wide ones, so I did 18 inches 3. On both the left and right side of the wall, use a pencil to mark where your stripes will end. Just a little line will do. 4. Get a chalkline. It's the best thing ever for stripes. Just shake, pull tight, snap, and voila! Perfect guide to tape by.
Eric just loves when I'm supposed to be holding a chalkline nice and tightly and I have a camera in my hand at the same time!
5. I'm the taper in the family. I will ONLY use Scotch blue tape. Eric like the blue tape with the orange inside because it's extra delicate, but I like blue with the blue inside.
The key to taping is just making sure the edge of the tape is in a smooth line and not jagged where your pieces start and stop. I also take a credit card or wooden spoon over the tape when I'm done to seal it.
6. This is the magic step people… Take the current wall color paint (the color that your new stripe will touch, not the color of the new stripe) and paint along the edges of your new taped space. This will ensure that if your paint bleeds (which it will at least a bit no matter what you do) that you won't see it because it's the same color at the wall! It works like a charm!
You can see a difference in the color, but that's because it was still drying. I'll also add that we just let it dry for like 15 minutes, because it's a nice, thin coat.
I've also heard of this technique using ModPodge if you don't have leftover paint, but I can't say I've ever tried it. Let me know if you have and how it turned out! 7. Roll your main color… this one needs no explanation
8. Remove the tape. We always remove the tape before the paint dries. We wait just long enough to be sure we're done and don't need another coat of paint, then we take it down. My technique is slow and steady and at a slight angle.
If you've done step #6 you're guaranteed crisp lines, so this is no longer a stressful"I wonder how it's going to look" moment!
Once the wall is totally dry you might need to take a damp cloth to get some leftover blue chalk off, but otherwise, you're done! Overall, I'm really in love with my new stripes!
But … I'm not so in love with the artwork anymore! I can feel my husband rolling his eyes when he reads this post. I like the shape, but they just don't work anymore… and honestly, I'm not sure I ever LOVED them (and yes, I only bought them 6 months ago!)
The next part of this room re-do is to stripe curtain panels for the opposite wall. I'm excited to try this after my vacation next week!
So, are you a lover of stripes like I am? Have you conquered the perfect stripe?
We might have come up with a way to ensure that your house is the coolest on the block this Halloween… At least it would get my kids' vote!
The Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" is SO NOT your Mama's Candy Bowl! It's a fun way for trick or treaters to choose their own candy or a treat- If they can get past our silly monsters! Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" Tutorial We were quick to respond YES when Martha Stewart Crafts asked if we wanted to be part of a creative Halloween Team. We love Martha and her products, so it was a no-brainer. Then we had to come up with a creative idea and honestly this one just popped into my head. I was at dinner, so I ran the idea by my board of trustees (AKA my 4 kids) and got their seal of approval.
The fun thing about this project is that you can totally customize it any way you'd like to, but I'll give you the 411 on how I did things. I started on the chalkboard wooden labels first since they'd need to dry.
I used Martha's Multi-Surface Pearl paint on the wooden plaques that I picked up at Michael's for 79 cents. I'm not making this up, I really was amazed at how smooth the paint was. It probably was a combo of a good brush and good paint, but I actually begged the hubs to come look at how smooth this paint is!Shockingly, he wasn't nearly as excited as I was. I then used chalkboard paint on the mini wood tags that I also grabbed at Michael's for 29 cents. Score!
Once everything was dry, I used hot glue to attach the two together. I planned to use chalk to label the plaques, but for pictures a paint pen worked better. Next, it was time to make my monster mouths on the presentation board.
I bought a foam core presentation board because I think it's easier to work with than the cardboard ones. I traced my circles with a bowl and then cut them out using a utility knife (that manly hand is not mine, the hubs was my helper on this project- just FYI!) Once we had holes, it was time to bring my monsters to life.
I went with really big googly eyes so that Mr.Monster looked fun and silly and not creepo for little kids. I bought a sheet of foam for the teeth and varied between pointy fangs and chunky square teeth. (The teeth were Jess' brilliant idea when I was brainstorming my project with her! It's awesome to have such a creative BFF.) I used hot glue to adhere the eyes and the teeth were also hot glued, but to the backside of the board. Martha has an awesome collection of cardboard stencils and as soon as I saw the triangle, I knew we needed a pennant banner.
I traced and hand cut the pennants onto cardstock. I used our Silhouette to cut out my letters and just used some good old Elmer's to put it together. I knew from the start that I wanted to have fun, white lights illuminating my Monsters! I was talking to my hubs about a time (a long time ago) when I used a display board with lights to write him a love message and he totally was like,"Umm that must have been some other husband. I don't remember it at all!" Ha! Glad it made such an impact on him. In his defense, I do think it was about 10 years ago.
To add lights, we just predrilled holes for each light bulb. We had to try a few bit sizes before getting one that was just right. You want it big enough to fit the light, but tight enough to hold it in place. Once your holes are ready, just pop the lights through the back side. Then we were ready to fancy it up a bit…
I used more of Martha's stencils and paint to add a skinny chevron at the bottom. I also added some fun details to my monsters accessories. The neon green paint is such a fun color and my kids told me it was cool. (Cool mom points for me!) And what would a candy"bowl" be without candy??
I divided up my candy and hot glued the bags to the back of each monster mouth. In retrospect, I might swap them out for larger, brown bags so I don't have to refill it 24-7, but this let you see what was in the bags. I've had my kids try this out and it's really simple to get your hand in and out with your loot. The glue is holding up well too. I made sure we banged it around a bit as a trial. While I was planning this project I started thinking about what choices to give kiddos. I went with 3 traditional candies and then added glow stick bracelets and one mystery choice, which is actually little plastic spiders (from Target dollar bin. $2.50 for 250). My kids don't have allergies, but so many children do, so I thought this was a thoughtful alternative.
I hope our Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" inspires you to try something new this year. We had so much fun working with Martha Stewart Crafts to make this and we're counting down the days until we can use it!
I'd love to know what you think of our idea? Would your kiddos think it's cool?
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**This was a sponsored post in partnership with Blueprint Social and Martha Stewart Crafts. All opinions are still 100% legit and ours! ** ;
Thanks for all your feedback on Kira's Colorful Room Makeover this week! Funny story… Jess and I are doing some filming this coming Monday (can't spill the beans yet!) and they need to get some footage of Kira's room… can I just tell you how messy her room is now? There are about 200 tiny Polly Pocket accessories on the floor! If only my house could stay as clean as it is on the blog! If you missed the makeover reveal check it out here and you can read the full accent wall tutorial here.
Today we're talking whiteboard walls!! It's the perfect solution for creative kids that color on walls anyway!
I recently learned of IdeaPaint and I was super excited that they wanted to have me try out some of their new CREATE Idea Paint and accessories! I am a sucker for packaging and good fonts and they scored major points with me right off the bat!
Most people think of whiteboard paint as just that… White! Guess, what? IdeaPaint actually comes in clear (also black and white) so that you can put it over any color wall. That allows for so much more creativity… so guess what I did?? Yup, painted it on white walls! Ha! I have another can that I plan to use on a color-filled space when Jess and I get a blogging office (someday!) I have to show you the way IdeaPaint comes… you get two ingredients that need to be mixed… you add THIS to THAT (did you know I love witty things?!?) The prep directions were super simple.
So, here's how it all went down… We painted the entire room stark white. It's actually the first time I've ever painted a wall white…ever!
We didn't use a chalk line to mark off our whiteboard area because we didn't want blue chalk getting into the clear paint. We made really small pencil marks. I knew I was adding a frame, so the edges didn't have to be perfect. The paint was simple to apply with a roller (included in the paint kit) and you could clearly see the painted and unpainted areas because of the shine.
We bought two 8 foot pieces of plywood for the frame.
I wanted to mirror the rectangular shapes of the mosaic wall, so I sketched out a happy little drawing. I'd almost kill for just an ounce of artistic ability! (Don't worry, I won't really!)
We cut the plywood with a jigsaw (Jess and I sure love our jigsaws!!) We didn't take any pictures of that part, because it was really late… Yes, that's AM!
We waited until the IdeaPaint had dried for about an hour and was dry to the touch before we placed any wood near it. We needed to measure for a few cuts.
One REALLY important thing to know about IdeaPaint… you need to let the paint cure for 4 days before you write on it at all. They even include a really cute sign to put on the wall!
The next morning (yes, we do sleep sometimes) I spray painted the plywood. I really liked how some of the grain showed through.
Want to see something funny?… I don't have sawhorses… but I do have Power Wheels!
Once the boards were dry, we simply nailed them into the wall with finishing nails (making sure to hit some studs)
We were left with a HUGE area for Kira to color on! She and her little friends have so much fun playing school, store, and creating"Princess lands" on her wall now! (And don't forget the plain surrounding walls are getting something very special- hopefully this weekend!)
I highly recommend IdeaPaint- I know chalkboards are all the rage, but they're really messy! I didn't want a constant pile of dust on Kira's light carpet. The whiteboard wipes off easily and I feel like the kids can be even more creative with their color choices. There are so many dry erase colors available. I was browsing the IdeaPaint website and found these other cool ideas that I just might try in other areas of my house! I love the simple calendar!
See how cool a colored surface looks with IdeaPaint? That green is awesome!
Kaden has bunk beds in his room and as soon as he saw this picture he wanted a bunk bed that could write on! I've also seen it used on student desks and table tops for homework etc… There are so many cool ideas you could try (no pun intended!)
I want to give a great big Thank You to IdeaPaint for allowing me to try out their CREATE paint. Kira and I love the result and I can't wait to try it in on some other surfaces! Have you ever thought of adding a whiteboard to your house? Where would you try one first?
Check out IdeaPaint's Website IdeaPaint on Facebook ** I was provided with IdeaPaint to review. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. All opinions are 100% legit and all mine. **
This day seems like a long time coming. It's the first time I've completed a nursery AFTER the baby was born. Ha! (If you missed my baby announcement, you can see it here) Doing this reveal today- October 1st- is sort of ironic, since this is the day I was due! I'm so happy I took my time to finish it because I'm really happy with it! It's not perfect- is any room ever really perfect??-, but it makes me smile and will be a great space for Bennett… when I can part from him.; ) I hope you're ready for a whole slew of pictures. Sit back and enjoy!
Come on in!
This room is nothing like I originally envisioned, but one thing that stuck is the color scheme: orange, mint and gray. It's so fresh, bright and a little quirky.
Isn't that little Bennett burp cloth adorable? My friend Karen from Thread Blossoms made it and I never want to actually use it- it's too cute!
Free printables are a great way to dress the walls in a nursery- (you can see my round up of fun printables here.) I added the printable on the far left from The Handmade Home, and I love it! The rocking chair has been in my family for years, but I just recently decided to make it work in the space by painting it in Annie Sloan's Graphite chalk paint. The abstract art was custom-made by my cute kids (more on that later!)
These cube shelves are from Ikea- Monica actually hung them during our first Nate's Crate challenge on The Nate Berkus Show. They totally look like built-ins and fit that little nook perfectly.
This room doesn't have a closet that we can use, so we purchased an armoire from Ikea to hang some of Bennett's clothes. When you sit in the rocking chair, you kind of stare right at the side of the armoire, so I hung an old print that was in my nursery as a baby, after painting the wood frame in the same graphite as the chair.
I've had the coffee sign for several years, but I moved it in the nursery because I thought it was kind of funny…if you've ever had a newborn, you know how much caffeine you need!: )
Oh, the dresser. This dresser is fabulous, isn't it? It was my grandparents and I totally wasn't sold on it at first, but we were trying to do this room on a budget and it was free. Done deal, folks. Now, I am in love with it! I'll share the details in another post, but with some paint and wax and a pop of orange paint on the legs, it was turned into the best part of the room!
I thought the"Oh Boy" was so appropriate for two reasons: 1) we were having a boy (duh!) and 2) we were taken so by surprise with this pregnancy. It makes such a statement and adds a whole lot of personality to the room!
I added some washi tape to the plain black lamp shade to add a little interest. Man, I love washi- is there no end to it's many uses?
Bennett isn't spending too much time in this room yet, but I'm pretty sure he's excited about it!
I hope you love it as much as I do! Tell me…what's your favorite part?
Sources Sheets: Target Rug: Ikea Changing Pad Cover: Babys R Us Dresser Paint: Annie Sloan Graphite & Paris Gray, Dark Wax Giant Letters: Hobby Lobby Dresser light: Target Color-blocked baskets: Target Copper Light on bookshelf: Local antique shop Armoire: Ikea Bookshelf cubes: Ikea Rocking Chair: Hand-me-down Mirror: Walmart Coffee sign: Vintage sign store in OCNJ
