Oh, the Joy of Paint Colors

We like neutral colors and wanted a subtle color throughout the house. Thought it be easy picking out a simple light tan color, but there are SO many different colors! This was in every room of the house... 

The light grayish looking one is called Balanced Beige, which is just a tad lighter than Tony Taupe by Sherwin Williams (SW). The green one to the left of it is called Victorian Garden by SW also (which we are using in the family room.) The tan one on the far right is Basket Beige by SW. The very first one on the left is Sandy Motif by Behr. I don't remember the other ones.

We paint matched ALL of these at Home Depot (HD) because we wanted primer in the paint and SW doesn't offer that. Plus SW paints are more expensive and we wanted to cut the paint time in half.

We thought we liked Sandy Motif and so we decided to start in the boys room (which was light blue, btw). But a little patch of color on the wall is A LOT different than an entire room. The tan color is nice, but not what we thought it would look like. It's more of a yellowish tan. So it stayed in the boys room and we chose another color for the rest of the house. (I didn't take a pic of the boys room, but I will and post that later)

We decided we wanted more of a taupe tan and were advised by a professional interior designer to go with Tony Taupe, but thought it might be a smidge too dark. So we chose to go with Balanced Beige (one notch up on the color wheel) and started in the master bedroom (which was maroon, yuck). At first, it looked like the perfect color. Then it turned grey. We didn't like it, but didn't want to paint it again, so we left it. I swear over a week, the paint curred and now it is taupe! I think it's pretty, clean, crisp, and I love it. Will look so much better too once we put up crown moulding. There was some up already, but the cut lines were so uneven, we tore it down.

(Balanced Beige by Sherwinn Williams in Satin)

...But what's weird is, the color patch in the hallway still looks grey. And we labeled each color with a pencil on the wall so it for sure is Balanced Beige. The lighting is a little different I guess, but our room never looks grey in any lighting and we have dimmer lights. Hmm.
Since we thought the walls in the master were forever grey, we picked out a different color, and went away from the greyish tans. We chose Basket Beige by SW, but again, matched at HD. I love it. I'm not a very colorful person. I like pops of color, but nothing bold. I wanted something colorfully rich, but subtle at the same time without looking brown. Can't wait to get up the crown moulding, but I'm afraid it won't be til early next year. We've got so many other projects going.

 (Basket Beige by Sherwinn Williams in Satin)

Alas, I got started on Averi's nursery. I went with Mauve Morning by Behr at Home Depot in satin finish. Luckily, there was at least one room in the house without a paint color.

Before...

filthy and missing blinds are coming down. 

And here is...

Mauve Morning by Behr in Satin

I wanted a light lavender something with a greyish tint and this is perfect. It goes great with the new fabric I found for only $1.50/yrd !! I know! You can't even find clearance fabric that cheap. They must have marked it wrong by mistake. ...but finders keepers, hee hee.

Pics of that later.

I looove paint and primer in one. It's de best.

These rollers at Home Depo are WON-DER-FUL. [don't pay any attention to my ugly, kid-friendly carpet] The coverage they give make painting a heckuva lot easier. Spend a little extra and go with better rollers. You'll be painting less coats if you do. You get what you pay for if you choose the crappy cheap ones. They don't paint the same.

Painting Tip:

If you need to take a break on your painting project, put your roller in a large plastic Ziploc bag and put it in the fridge. Squeeze all the air out of the bag and it will keep for a week in there. Plus you're not wasting any expensive paint by cleaning it out. You can also put them in freezer bags and freeze them for 2 months.

Tomorrow's Project-

more painting. surprise surprise.

Framed Tin Magnet Board

This project cost me under $7- which was just for the sheet of tin (on sale at Home Depot.)

Frame from my mom's garage, already had the ribbon, mod podge, paint,and screws.

If you want to make your own, hit up your mom's garage. or your own. or a thrift store, yard sale, whatev.

 

I'm sure this was nice to someone sometime, but not so much anymore. Outdated to say the least.

(Sorry to whoever painted this. Good things don't last forever, ya know?)

Which is why my mom was excited to get rid of it. Lucky for me.

Paper border? yep.

Most of it peeled right off, but for the stubborn areas, a wet washcloth dipped in fabric softener works miracles. and a butter knife :)

After I got all that fabulous paper off, I painted it white with a foam brush.

(Foam brushes work best if you have to paint over lots of groves.)

While waiting for the paint to dry, cut out strips of ribbon to make a border. You can use fabric, wall paper, scrapbook paper, etc. Using a foam brush, paint a layer of mod podge directly onto the artwork and lay down the ribbon. If your frame came without pretty art (lucky you), cut out a thick piece of cardboard, cork board, or thin plywood. Rub out any wrinkles or air bubbles in your border. Then paint a layer of mod podge right on top to seal it.

 Once it's all painted with mod podge, let it dry. Go back and paint a second coat on your frame, if necessary.

Then make your husband drill a hole in each corner of the tin.

Unless you're one of those cool chics and can do it yourself.

Twist those screws right down into the artwork/cardboard.

Yes, it actually stays. I'm amazed too.

Then have your husband cut off the sharp ends in the back with his Dremmel tool.

Again, unless you're a cool chic.

and make your husband hold it up while you take a picture :)

...and enjoy decorating with these easy and cute magnets you can make yourself.

I'm pretty sure you can also use dry erase markers on tin, but I haven't actually tried it.

You can use for pictures, notes, whatever.

I love how it turned out.

Thanks for your help, babe.

Canvas Painting

This was inspired by a picture I saw in a catalog. It was on only one canvas and looked a bit different, (not to mention over-priced), but my imagination grows. (pun intended) My husband is standing behind it holding them together, so that's why it seems crooked :)

My sister asked if I'd paint her something for her newly re-decorated living room (which turned out muy eye-pleasing) and so I thought it'd be a good idea for her xmas gift. I always underestimate how long a painting takes, (because of 3 cute little interruptions) so when crunch time came around, I stayed up until 2 am three nights in a row to finish it. (was actually kind of fun because my hubby stayed up with me and we visited while I painted) I was just glad I got it done in time to bring it down with me for the holidays.

...and my favorite part...was knowing (or believing) that she really did love it.

Next time I go to her house, I'll have to take a pic of it hanging on the wall.

Is it wrong to love your own work? Cause I love it. (I guess because it turned out much better than I thought it would).

Peg Board / Craft Room Part 3

Last year, I bought these 2 peg boards to display my jewelry hangars at my Art Expo. I forgot they were sitting in my mom's garage.

Now, I'm inspired to use them as the focal point in my craft room.

Since Jeremy is the pro, he painted them for me with Krylon spray paint in Bahama Sea.

(he spray painted them first with Krylon PRIMER in Gray- a MUST!)
I plan on adding a border to these - maybe with ribbon - before we hang it up at the new place.

Kissing in the Rain

...or Love under Pressure, one of the two... The umbrella and rain coming down is actually covered in lots of glitter, but this picture does NOT do justice. Too bad, cuz the glitter is what makes it FABULOUS. I got the glitter idea from Chalice. She bought a canvas painting at the Tempe Town (f)Art Festival a few years back - it has a margarita glass painted on it, with glitter around the edges for the salt. I take my tequila straight, but margaritas are pretty. (just kidding)
Anywho, I'm selling this for $2,000 OBO. (just kidding again)

Easy Planting Pot

Let me first say that for some crazy reason, I almost always forget to take a 'before' picture until I'm halfway finished with a project. Frustrates me too. (don't worry, one day I'll get into the habit).
Do you have a flower pot that needs a makeover? Or a houseplant that could use a new home? Or maybe even a glass jar or bottle you'd like to display flowers in? The possibilities are endless. This little brown pot was bright lime green with big blue polka dots. Yes, it was cute and colorful, but I just couldn't find a spot for it except in my cupboard for the past 2 years. I snatched a small house plant for 5 bucks (looks fake, but it's real. i promise.) and wanted a cute pot to display it in. ...and what's better than decorating one yourself? {You can also find small flower pots at the dollar store}
A can of spray paint can really do wonders. It's one of my fave things besides my staple gun. As you can see, I didn't care too much about the paint job on the inside of the pot.
I measured and cut some ribbon to wrap around it and hot glued it on. Hot glue gun!- that's my other fave thing :) Tied a knot in the back and glued it in place. ...and display! So cute. See, I told you it was easy. AND! I know you couldn't help but notice the beautiful tile :) My friend, Kathy Decker, makes those and sells them for ...get this...$10.00!!! Can't believe how affordable they are. She prints all kinds of different (vinyl) sayings on tiles- even pictures! I bought this one from her as a gift to my hubby for Father's Day from our boys. He loves it! If you'd like one, contact me. She'd be happy to print anything you'd like. Soon, I'll post a few on my 'Rather Buy it?' page.

Paint Stripping an Old Dresser

My hubby took over on this project, hallelujah. Thanks honey! This was the dresser my sisters and I shared when we were young girls. Over the years, this bad boy had collected 6 LAYERS of paint! and stickers, and name carvings, and cobwebs, oh my!

With a little paint stripper, okay a lot of paint stripper, the layers finally peeled off. A metal scraper would have been easier to use than the crappy plastic one I bought - sorry babe! - but he did good nonetheless. So if you're going to strip an ancient dresser with endless layers of paint, do yourself a favor (or your husband) and upgrade to a metal scraper!
The base layer of paint was pretty seeped into the wood, so Jeremy spent quite a few hours sanding it down. He then spray painted a light coat of brown onto it, which you can see a picture of in my Cowboy Room post.
I love watching him take over my big projects.

Super Easy Memo Board

I would have taken pictures of this in the making, but my camera was dead at the time, so I only have pics of the outcome. I'll most likely be making more of these in the future so I'll post a better tutorial later.

MATERIALS:
*A wooden board. I used plywood about 1/4" thick and 12" X 15", but you can always improvise.
*1/2 yard of Batting (it's that flat stuffing used in the middle of blankets. Gives it some cushion for the pushin')
*1/2 yard of fabric
*Ribbon
*Buttons
*Sass (I used a flower)
*Frame or Ruffle of some sort (I sewed a ruffle with some extra fabric scraps I had laying around.)
*Staple gun & staples

Lay your fabric face-down and place the batting over it. Lay down your wood piece on top, then using a staple gun, staple the fabric around the edges of the back side. Don't forget to tuck in the edge of fabric so it doesn't fray later on AND pull the fabric very snug. Then place where you want your pieces of ribbon to lay and cut accordingly. Staple them around the backside. PULL TIGHT. You can put a frame around it if you have a perfect sized one, but I prefer a ruffle. (I made my own with some extra material. Scrunch and sew, scrunch and sew method :) Then attach your ruffle around the backside with the staple gun. I LOVE me a STAPLE GUN! Then hot glue on your buttons and sass it up with a flower, glitter, or whatever little trinkets you've been wanting to use for something special. (Here's your big chance!) Hammer on one of those snaggle-tooth things to the back and hang up on the wall. TaDa! Super easy memo/picture board!



CUTE IDEA! ...make a Christmas themed one and use it to display all the holiday greeting cards you get in the mail.