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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Heartache



My thought and prayers are with the Newtown, Connecticut community.  I cannot fathom the depth of the loss of the families who lost their children or loved one.  Love to all.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Wyeth Blue Front Door!

My front door needed some love.  It was black and boring.  Some black doors look great....but not mine:  (The stairs look great, though!  You can find that makeover here).

Here is the before:

 Before


 And the AFTER in Benjamin Moore Wyeth Blue, the color of the year in 2011.
 
 After



It had a brass kick plate and a brass handle and lock.  We took that off and this is what remained:




I scrubbed the door to get any dirt and griminess off, then sanded.  After wiping down with a damp cloth and letting the door dry, it was priming time!


I only painted 1 coat of primer and thought it would work out.  I ended up with 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of the beautiful BM Wyeth Blue.  I've been eyeing this color for my front door for a long time. 
I wasn't sure it would look good with my off white/cream trim and brick house but it's just paint, right??

I'm very happy with it!  Much improved from boring black!



Notice the new hardware and kick plate too!  It really makes a difference!


 
:)

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Painting Cabinets: A Quick Primer.....

 ......on primer!

The right primer makes painting cabinets so much easier in much less time.  Your cabinets can go from this:





























to this:



in less than an hour!  Well, actually, the first 2 coats of primer can be done in an hour.


First you start by picking up some of this:


 
































It is BIN Shellac Base Primer.  It smells really terrible so be sure to wear a mask.  If you can close the door (like in a bathroom) please close it.  If you can't (like in a kitchen) you should seal it off with tape, staples and plastic sheets.  I really smells THAT bad.  BUT if you want the job done quickly, this is the way to go.  It dries in 45 minutes!  Then you are ready for another coat of primer, then you can paint 2 coats of your regular paint.

To break it down, these are the steps:

1. Sand your cabinets (it is optional to take off the doors.  I did not).
2. Wipe your cabinets down to remove any sanding residue.
3. Prime with BIN Shellac Base.
4. Wait 45 minutes.
5. Sand and wipe down the cabinets down again.
6. Prime again with BIN Shellac Base and wait another 45 minutes.
7. Sand the cabinets again.  Touch it.  They will be nice and smooth after sanding.
8. Wipe down the cabinets again to get any residue from the sanding off.
9. Paint the cabinets with BM Impervo.  This is great for cabinets.  It creates a hard shell perfect for durability a cabinet requires.





























 

 I've also heard great things about BM Advance but I haven't tried it. 


10. Be patient here.  I like to wait overnight before I sand and wipe down again, then...
11. Paint a second coat of Impervo.  So I sort of lied about having cabinets painted in 1 day.  But if they don't need another coat then 1 day would do it.

12. After your 2nd coat of Impervo, let the cabinets dry overnight (yes, again) then change out the hardware (knobs).

You will love them!


Here are some in progress pics:


This is after the first coat of BIN Shellac Primer








 This is after the second coat of primer






This is after the second coat of BM Impervo

The coverage is excellent!

:)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Powder Room Reveal!

The powder room is just about complete!  It is pretty close to my inspiration photos so I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I'll have more details to follow, but for now here are some fun before and afters!

Before - dull and brassy:



And.....After.  Bright and Shiny!





Before:



After:



Before:




After:
Notice the giant crystal pulls!  Found them at Home Depot.



Before, the yuck sink:



After, the vessel sink and faucet from Overstock in satin nickel:

I was really impressed with the sink and faucet set.  The faucet is really substantial and the sink was pretty easy to install.  To keep it from moving around I caulked around the edge with clear silicone and the caulk holds it in place on the marble top.  There is no splash factor when the faucet is on.  So far, it has been working really well!





Instead of installing bead board, I decided to paint the wall two tone.  There is an upcoming post on the colors and how to get a great straight line when painting stripes.

Thanks so much for looking!

:)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Bathroom Inspiration

I'm getting prepped to re-do the powder room....FINALLY!  The sink has been ordered and so has the vanity top.



This is the sink and faucet I ordered from Overstock:

 



These are my inspirations:
 
Sarah Richardson




 
cotedetexas.blogspot.com
The above bathroom came from an awesome ranch renovation you can check out here.