Nothing a Little Chalk Paint Can’t Fix

Not too long ago I did a little redecorating in this corner. It was all fine and dandy, but there was something sinister lurking on that tabletop.

It had been through a lot, like a candle gone wild with full on burn marks and leftover wax that isn’t well witnessed in the photo above. I had some VERY detailed plans laid out for this table.  Ladies and Ladies, exhibit A

I so make the best plans. That’s been written on the table for, oh… 5 months. After planning and scheming for months, I finally busted out the foam roller and man’s greatest gift to mankind… chalkboard paint because that’s what miracles are made of kids-chalkboard paint and cupcakes. Please don’t argue.

One of the hardest parts about such a simple project is WAITING THREE DAYS before conditioning it. At least that’s what the directions say, but truth be told, I haven’t followed those instructions on previous chalking projects and it came out fine. I guess I was in a rule following mood. Conditioning makes future marks easier to erase, and this is what it looks like.

Ta-Da! So helpful, so useful, so chalky.

Before you get all, but I liiiiked the whiiite. It was so light and airy. What’s done is done. The plan was laid out and there was NO way around it, I tried to appeal but my motions were denied. (I’ve been watching too many legal shows, Damages is by far my favorite.) Just take a close look at that tabletop and the place setting! See, you could EAT off of it. No need for real plates! Or even food! It could be just like the feast in Hook, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to recreate that seen, so I pretty much do on a daily basis. People think I’m weird, but I’m just surprised they don’t know what I’m doing.

So that’s all folks. I’m happy with it. I’ve always wanted a chalkboard table top and now I have one. My wildest dreams have come true. So I guess this is the end of my blog, I had a good run!

Just kidding, there’s plenty more to come!

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ANOTHER Painted Ceiling

I’m kind of obsessed. I can’t help myself.

This is the before. Obviously.
The guest room was feeling reeelly stale. I’m the kind of person that can’t relax or even fall asleep unless something is clean. It doesn’t have to be the whole house, just something. Well, this room was really starting to fester in the back of my mind despite that fact that I only spend about 2.7 minutes in there each week.

This is what trouble looks like. (At least to my husband)

This project was totally spur of the moment. Saturday morning, I had my list of things I wanted to do and this room was. not. on. it. That didn’t deter me though. You know sometimes when your driving and you reach your destination and then realize you don’t remember driving there? Where were the stop lights? What road did I take? It’s like you totally blacked out and just appeared where you wanted to be perfectly safe. Well, that happens to me all the time and I end up at places like Home Depot, Target, Wal-mart. Seriously, all the time.

Forgive the harshness of the color, I swear it’s not abrasive. It’s just so hard to color correct when you don’t know which monitor is accurate!

I didn’t want to just paint the ceiling so I dropped down ceiling color onto the wall. I had a difficult time explaining it to Caleb my vision, but when I finished, he really liked it.

First, I painted the wall then marked where I wanted the green to come down to and painted just above that line. Then, I remarked and taped the line. So many people recommend painting over the tape to seal it for a really crisp line. But come on, I’m really tired after 3 coats of paint. I’ve found that just pressing REALLY hard on the tape a few times with my fingernail usually does the trick. If I was a professional and people paid me the big bucks to do this kind of stuff, I would probably do the painting over the tape thing. But I’m NOT a professional, hardly.

You know a room isn’t done until everything is marked off of the list. So without further ado, here is the finished room!

I know this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really love this room now.

The room feels better than the tiny box that it was before, and taking pictures doesn’t exactly capture how different it looks and feels like in person. Also down the road, I want to add some molding for an extra little punch.

I used a flat paint on the wall which really looks more like an eggshell and semi-gloss for the ceiling which actual looks more like a satin compared to the studio ceiling. Go figure. I’m not going to complain though because it’s done. Hallelujah Chorus.

Notice I moved the rug in here that used to be in my master bedroom. It just wasn’t working in there. Someday I would like a large wool rug, but that day won’t come until my dogs stop pooping, peeing and throwing up. Gross, I know. Is there like a surgery they can get to stop that? Totally kidding.  I needed to get the rug out before it was ruined forever. Besides, it is much easier to clean up the dirty stuff from wood rather than scrubbing from a rug.

The wall color is Glidden Swiss Coffee and the ceiling is called Soothing Green Tea from Wal-mart.(If this color doesn’t look “soothing” then what you are seeing is not an accurate display of the color.) I wouldn’t recommend that place only because Wal-mart sucks. There, I said it. I had to wait around thirty actual minute for someone to come to hardware and mix it for me. Apparently, no one knows how to mix paint ON THE WEEKEND. I was one minute away from walking behind the counter and figuring out the dang program on my own. I’m confident I would’ve figure it out eventually. I’m still feeling worked up about it, so give me a minute here to regain my calm.

There, I’m back.

Tell me what you think…

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Just a Little Looksie

I feel like I should be blogging about something, but with all the crazy weather in Oklahoma lately, its hard to plan posts when you are hiding in a “safe room” from a tornado. Thankfully, I still have a home to blog about and I wish I could do something more to help out those who lost theirs.

I was scouring my Flickr account to see what else I can introduce you to in my home. Well, how about the guest bathroom!

This is the before that is currently featured on my house tour. It is not that easy to photograph such a tiny sunless room.

This is yet another embarrassing photo-iphone, but the before fixture was positively offensive. Shiny brass, flared 80’s glass shades. All I did was paint over the brass with black because I wanted it to disappear and bought new glass shade for $4 each and it made the world of difference, yet SO simple.

Eek! The paint history…

I painted it a navy blue from Ralph Lauren, I don’t know the shade off the top of my head. I adore this shade. It doesn’t look that dark in person. I bought the shower curtain from CB2 on clearance, surprise. The cabinets all got knobs. It is seriously frustrating to try opening cabinets with no knobs especially drawers. Why, cheap home builders, do you choose to make life so difficult on me!

Here is an awkward close up shot sp you can see the towel rack I improvised on.

I made the towel rack out of a random piece of wood I found in the garage. I took one look at it and knew exactly what I would use it for.

Here’s what I did:

1. Sand it down

2. Put a couple coats of polyurethane on it

3. Bought some hooks from target

4. Drilled them on!

5. I hung them with what else… twine. Since I’m a woman, it’s my version of duct tape. The main reason I used it is because it was too difficult to drill a hole all the way through to screw it into the wall so I took the lazy way out.

We also use this room to keep the dogs in while we are gone. Apparently, they have both been watching too much Prison Break and Oz… Put it on the to-do list.

One thing that really bugs me about this room is the grout. I’ve been looking online about a few things to paint the grout and can’t really seem to find anything solid that I would have enough confidence to buy. Anyone have any experience with this or products to recommend?

Since it’s a nice looong weekend, Ima get ya’ll some real niiice pitchers of everythin all detailed and such.

That is what every.single.person. from Oklahoma interviewed by national news outlets for the storm talks like. But we don’t ALL talk like that, just the ones that make the news. Please don’t judge us!

Confessions of a dining room

This is the one room in our house that has gone through the most changes.

This is the wayyy before, like when it was sold to the former owners before.  I’m just glad I didn’t have to take down any wallpaper. It wouldn’t have scared me away, but it sure makes my life a lot easier.

Our very first walk through of the house. HATE that light fixture.

By the time we moved in, they had already patched and painted the walls, not bad just meh. That table is from Target and was the first furniture purchase I made for the house.  While it may look fine in this picture, the scale was off and I wanted something bigger. Plus, I got my lovely West Elm chandelier with birthday money! Love is capiz.

I sold the old table for 70% of what I paid for it. How’s that for awesome?

I bought this table from craigslist for FORTY DOLLARS! Excuse me, I still get excited about that. It was painted brown and burnt orange with some type of weird harlequin design on top, but it was so easy to look past it. I painted it “Foggy Mirror” by Valspar and coated it with a bajillion layers of polycrylic. Ta Da! New table!

I made some paintings for the wall to replace the beach picture, I need something with a little more weight.

And then I painted the frames white, which I am still on the fence about. Oh yeah, it might be hard to tell but there are some new accessories on the table now.

It’s actually the entire contents of my kitchen cabinets because… I tricked you! This post isn’t about my dining room. It’s about my current project.

THE KITCHEN CABINETS!!!

I started this a year ago and only painted the lowers on one side. I thought, it’ll be great I can do it at my own pace without tearing the kitchen apart.

No… Just no. It does not work like that. I do not work like that.  I’m a let’s just get it all done now kinda girl, and I’m lying to myself anytime I think otherwise.

Yuck, that “honey” looks so much worse in photos. Here you can see what I did a year ago.

It was about time to declutter and reorganize. I was up until 1:30 last night painting and organizing. Oddly, it is so energizing! I always feel immensely better when I know things are in there place.

This is both sides primed now including all of the doors which are in the garage. I opted not to paint the insides for now. Mainly because I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew. I painted the insides of the built in cabinets in the living room and it was a PAIN. I don’t even see the insides. Maybe down the road I would like to do something interesting like paint it a color or line it with grasscloth. For now, I’m leaving as is since we’ll eventually replace the counter tops and the sink (Oh man, don’t get me started on the sink…) and we’ll put in a backsplash. I didn’t want to make any rash decisions when it came to the cabinet interiors.

I can’t even begin to describe how good it feels to get the ball rolling on this project. This past year, hasn’t been an easy one and by getting this done, I kinda feel like I’m punching all the past year’s problems in the face. Take that, problems!