Showing posts with label paint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paint. Show all posts

Thursday, August 12, 2010

inspiration to fruition

the picture on the far-right, below, was
"the inspiration"
but before i could "reveal" the results of this project,
i had to get some "mississippi mud" on the bare kitchen walls.
and the white-chalky island 1/2-wall.
and then i had to decide where to stop with the "mud" in our very open-floor-plan home.  not happy with my current choice.  but, need more "mud" to complete the southern kitch wall. 
but i digress.

and so, here it is:

"the fruition":
looks a bit lonely up there, huh?
not for long though, folks!
an old section of barnwood.
some uppercase living vinyl.
2 bulldog hangers on the back.
(and all the enamelware?  most was my grandmother's.)

fruition = happiness

Saturday, July 31, 2010

projects...

one sunny, lovely summer afternoon while my girls were doing this:
and this:
and trying to spy....
. . . this:
(yup, wren caught a butterfly moth in the net/holder thing that blew into our yard in june and no one has ever come to claim it...)

so while that was going on in the sunshine,
this was happening in the shade:
poor, overturned, brown bench, you say?
naugh, it's en route to be "happy"!  but first?
primed.
and sat up properly.
and those markings on the grass?  yea, nothing a mowing won't take care of!
besides, drop clothes are so over-rated.
so are protective gloves.  hey, it's fun to go places with primer, paint, stain, what-not all over your hands because you could not wash it off.  even if you had some lava soap.

don't be all acting like you do not know what lava soap is.
you do.  or at least you should.

anyhoodles....

this what a little of my time, a coat of primer, two coats of behr's "blue tequila" paint can do for a drab bench in desperate need of a make-over:
i have painted the lower half of the entryway wall...and had been struggling with what color to do the upper parts in. 
we have a very open floor plan and the entryway gives way to the stairway, to the living room, to hallway to the girls' rooms and the laundry room. so i need to choose a color that will not only coordinate with the "granite grey", but the "fern green" living room wall, and the leather sectional and chair, my ikea curtains AND eventually the kitchen around the corner.

schwew!
it was daunting.
and i spent time online.
trolling paint sights that i could select colors and "paint" a room with my palette.
that was sorta helpful.
but do you know what was more helpful??

when the clouds parted and heavens sang!
or...when the lights of target shined and the voices in my head said "that's it!"
and it was.  is.
this little rug incorporates each of the colors that will occupy the entryway. 

AND it provided the upperwall neutral that will work throughout the rest o' our humble abode!
(my husband, at this juncture, would probably say, "i love it when a plan comes together.")
 
another
anyhoodles...
and another afternoon, only this one was rainy, and i decided to do something about the 5 colored tees i had purchased on clearance for wren.  each was a mere $0.75 (yeah, that's right:  seventy-five cents, babee!).  but alas, my 5 yr-old told me that she really does not prefer just plain shirts and that she probably would not wear them.  ummmm, ooo-kaaay...
so what is a momma to do?
put them away and hope that the younger sister will wear them?
(and risk hearing her say the same thing next summer??!!)
no way!
you go and
get fuzzy, cute kitten iron-ons!
that's right!
and with a warm, dry iron.
about 2 minutes per shirt of my time.
these previous $0.75 boring, plain tee shirts
suddenly become a-freakin'-dorable!
for about $1.34 each!
and the 5-yr-old who loves wearing them??
priceless!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

oops, i did it again...

no, this is not a brittney spears post.
no, it is not a late 90's post either.

it's about the "oops" shelf at one of my favorite diy stores.

sigh.

the cans above would normally cost about $100...
i paid a mere $20...i love a deal.

but, a deal is only "good" if the colors are actually "good".  on the right is the color i thought i wanted in my kitchen between the counter and the cabinets and possibly above the cabinets.  it is called "island sand".  the color on the left is what i got today.  it is called "mississippi mud". 
beachy?? 
muddy?? 
eh, i probably won't even remember the name of the color 2 years from now!


above:  another splotch of "mississippi mud" in the kitchen.

and in the entryway i have a plan.  initially i wanted to do beadboard.  but that can get expensive.  so instead...i'm going an alternate route that will allow for 2 things:
1)  easier removal.  should i decide that is not a "look" i want in a couple years.  or, months?
2)  way, way less expensive.  both monetarily and in my time.

 i saw this photo of a kitchen in a gray and antique white that i fell in *heart* with:
and below is what i want to do in the entryway instead of beadboard:
here is the wall that i want to replicate in my entryway...
and now what color combo?  i have a bench and skinny table that are currently distressed dark brown and black respectively.  i want a gray &/or blue combo.  the trim and doors are an antique white.  (although i have toyed with painting the back of the front door a dark almost black color because of a fabulous photo of a foyer i saw.  awhile back.  and did not bookmark.  argh!  this is where you use your imagination, 'kay?!)

anyhoodles......the blue is a martha stewart color that is not as bright in real-life as it appears in the photo.  but it is not the blue i want.  the gray on the left is "granite grey"...and on the right is when i went all "mad scientist" and mixed some "granite grey" with some "celery ice"...might need to add that martha blue to warm it a bit......not fully sold on the any of these colors...some tweaking in needed...i want the grey on the bottom of the walls and the blue on the top.  or maybe i'll just accessorize with the blue on that bench and table...or...
below is in the girls' bathroom...you can barely see that "celery ice" (on the left)...and the mixed "granite grey" and "celery ice"...but i don't think that the grey is what i envision for the girls' bath...
and then there is this combo, still in the girls' bath...
"celery ice", "lovelace pink", "granite grey"
sigh.

but, i'll make these colors each work.  somehow.  somewhere. 
and, yes, i'll post photos.

until then?
well...hubs gets to come home to a splotchy walled home.
ain't he the luckiest???