Not Knotty Pine!?!

No, not for me....

It was a tough decision to redo the knotty pine walls in my 3rd bedroom of my new home. It's the only room with paneling and it's the smallest...go figure! I want the room to be my home office/creative zone....I need a place to grade papers and do some lesson planning as well as make the many crafty things I enjoy!

So, lots of people came into my house saying how much they loved the pine, "It's like a ski lodge!" they'd say......or they'd say "Do you know how expensive that was when they put that up!?" or "Wood is sacred, you can't paint that!" But, hey, it's my house and I was totally not feeling the wood!

The process began.....let me preface this with that I didn't use regulation goggles....my sunglasses had to do since i forgot to buy goggles. Also, I've NEVER ever done a paint effect before. This was my first try and it was pretty easy and it was actually the easiest step of the process! The priming was the hardest because the primer is thick and was tough to get into the grooves between each panel.

1. Sand w/ rotary sander. PS, wear goggles & mask......so much dust. I didn't wear a mask at first and I was suffocating and blinding myself (saw dust stuck in my eyelashes!!)














2. CLEAN up all of the saw dust!!!

3. Prime the walls with an oil-based primer. The wood soaks it up better than latex. It stinks. You will be high. Wear a mask here as well! Keep the room ventilated as best as possible. I did 2 coats of primer. The toughest part about priming was the fact that I had to use brush to get into the tongue & groove joints between each panel. AYE!!! I also primed the baseboard, crown moulding, door frames and doors.

4. Then, I did a coat of Sherwin Williams "Medici Ivory" which was a real classic ivory that reminded me of French Vanilla ice cream as I was painting. I only needed one coat.

5. Then, I mixed a quart of Glidden's "Soft Suede" paint with a half a gallon of clean glaze. (in a separate mixing bucket)















6. I used a wispy brush & very little paint to apply burts of the paint/glaze mix. Then, I brushed until the brush was dry and then wiped the color around in inconsistent locations....thicker coverage in others, more bare & translucent in others. This went fairly quick---I was done with this step in about 20 mins!















**This is what it looked like after I had finished the paint effect, but still had to do the moldings..














7. Paint the trim other white moldings w/ 2 coats of semi-gloss white. Also, I will be painting all of my interior doors white eventually, but this room is getting the ball rolling! I painted the closet door white on both sides and left the hallway door wood on the hall side for now--so I don't have one white door in the hall for a month until I get the courage to start that project.....I'm all set w/ painting right now! Do you see how my doggy is so sad I'm in here painting all day!!
















8. Done! (I have to have someone come over 7 help me remount the doors and then move a furniture into the room, so until then, the room is "done" but not decorated.)

Before & After!!

What's in a name?

Here are some great Etsy vendors that will help personalize your home's space with their wonderful creations!!!

I started a little gift-giving tradition of my own with these sellers....I buy one their signs for my friends for wedding gifts. I try to go with the seller that would suit the couple's style.

Click on the designer's logos to visit their shop!

1. Java Jane Designs:


2. Off Woodland Way:



3. Mary Beth Zeitz:


4. Bosheree



Enjoy!!!

Hold up, so cool....

Check this out!

I was on my new favorite blog, The Lettered Cottage.....and I saw the link to an great Etsy shop with cool wall art.

Check out some of the great wall art ideas at: Red Letter Words on Etsy




Cool, huh?!

Where Art Thou? Art on AllPosters.com

Here are some fun floral pieces of artwork for your home! I like florals, but ones that are a little more abstract or "messy" looking.....a trick I've learned when hunting for art on allposters.com (a site I love!)---never shop without a coupon code (sign up on their site w/ your email and you'll always be in the know) and when you find a piece you like, click on the artist's name, you'll find the artist's whole collection and possible complimentart prints or some prints you like even more!

Happy flower picking! PS, click on the pics to link to their page on allposters.com

(I have this black, red, and white one above in my bathroom)

What's new at Pottery Barn!?

They have a new vintage-inspired line for the latter half of the summer...

Here are some things I'm sure many customers will lust over!

1. Monticello Floor Lamp, $150

2. Danville Mica Pendant Lamp, $399
3. Circles Wall Mounted Sconce, $119


4. Floorstanding Frame, $129
5. Harvest Double Sink Console, starts at $2400, (Um, I LOOOOOVE this, but wouldn't have the $ for it.....ever!)

Project Organize!

I'm weird. I'm organized about certain places....for instance, my linen closet is very organized....my car, a mess!

Oh well!

My small ranch house has one hallway closet....Eventually, I would like to take out the shelves that are in this closet and install a more modern shelving system with hanging drawers, etc. But, for right now, a quick coat of paint was the only thing in the budget!

Before: The poor little closet had disgusting shelf liner paper on each shelf and a really bad musty smell. I was scared to even put my nice white towels on the shelves! So, I ripped the paper off, primed with an oil-based primer & then followed up with one coat of Sherwin Williams' Dover White. The primer really helped wipe all of the stains away!

After: Clean and safe for my towels and other things! The brown canvas bins are from Bed, Bath & Beyond, they were left over from my laundry room in my old house. Eventually, I'd like to switch them out for 2 bins that would fit side by side, but for now, these work...the top shelf is filled w/ home fragrance and wallflower (Bath & Body Works) refills. (I used to work there part-time and I have TONS of product from there! It's almost embarrassing!); I also have a smaller plastic bin of travel size beauty products, so they're easy to find when I'm going away for a night or weekend.



The bottom of the closet: I used the Rubbermaid drawers for extra hand soaps, body products, and hair products. Extra toilet paper & paper towels in the bin above that.

Wall art, anyone?

Scored this baby at Pier 1 yesterday for $35.

I wanted to do something relatively neutral on this wall with art so that I could easily change out my table linens during the seasons without a clash.....

This wrought iron piece was perfect!

New Life for Old Furniture!

Before: The guest room w/ the two old nightstands...(dresser is on opposing wall....I didn't take a before shot...oops!)

This bedroom set was my great aunt & uncle's in the 1950s and 60s....then, they handed in down to my parents. My parents used it from 1972 to about 1995....it sat in our basement for a long time and my sister and I grabbed peices of it to use in random apartments over the next few years. When my Ex and I got our first apartment together, we used the whole set and then brought it to our house.

Well, when I bought my new place, I decided to treat myself to some brand new bedroom furniture (see my bedroom pics in a previous post). This set is now in my spare bedroom. My mom said "Give it a new life!" and I did.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so I brought everything out to the deck and started sanding, priming, and painting. There is one more piece to this set that I didn't redo (a long dresser) but I think I will one day paint this a darker color and make it a storage piece for my finished basement.

Some of the drawers are falling apart, so I got out the wood glue and made some repairs to those. The paint color was Sherwin Williams, Ivory Lace, in semi-gloss. I used an oil-based primer as this is the best for wood. After applying the primer, I only needed to do one coat.
Sanded & Primed:
In Progress:


Done!!! Now, the hard part....putting all of the crap back into the drawers! I guess this is a perfect opportunity for me to purge some old clothes!?!

My big question--see how there are grooves under the drawers to put your fingers it to open the drawers....even though those are there, could I add knobs? What do you think--answer in the comments area. I'm totally stuck on this one!

I can do it!

So....in the last 2 months of being the sole resident of my home, I have learned that not only can I envision home decor & maintenance, but I can pretty much make it a reality all by myself!!!

Things I've done for the first time or learned in last two months:

• Mowed my lawn for the first time w/ a push mower! When I was a kid, I grew up on a huge property and we had a riding mower. I mowed the lawn all the time for my family. However, once my ex and I bought a home, he did all of the mowing and yardwork because he enjoyed it. He said the mower was really heavy to push & I probably couldn't do it.....Uh, wrong! I mow and I love it!
  
  
• I can hook up a washer & dryer! I installed a new lint vent for the dryer and hooked up the washer all by myself. I had to use a wrench to pry off the old owners' cold & hot water tubing from the hookups, but after some prying, I did it!
  
  
• I painted my a good portion house's interior in one week! (well, excluding touchup & 2 rooms of the 5 rooms!) In our home together, my ex and I painted together and he insisted upon doing all of the cutting in, especially the ceiling (Which he always messed up....) and now, I am an awesome painter! I do even cutting lines across the ceiling and trim. And, with the help of an adjustable roller, who needs to be over 5'2!?!?
  
  
• I met my new friends: the drill, electric screwdrive, and level.......I love them. I find myself searching for things to install now!!! I was a curtain rod up--boom, I do it! I want a new shelf up--boom, I do it! Love you drill, screwdriver, and level! (oh and your friend pencil!)
  
  
• My next mission is to learn how to do some basic electrical work: installing dimmers and changing out light fixtures.
  

I'm sure the list will grow!!!!!!!

Yahoo!

Here come the flowers!

So, the "double" impatiens have been in since Memorial Day and are about 6x their original size! The shrubs were all here when I moved in. I did some mulching around all of the shrubs & flowers. Whew, I was sweating like a maniac!

I just planted more assorted flowers down the front of the house. I can't wait for about a month from now when they're thriving and spreading!