Spray paint blues

Hey hey! I have a little taste test for you today! OK, not taste – don’t eat the spray paint. But a comparison of sorts. I told you about the blue desk for my office earlier this week. The one that I didn’t like in it’s blue state, at least in that room. I actually did love it in a more saturated tone than it’s before color – sometimes I find a deeper color shows off the detail better.

One of you commented that the desk, that was supposed to be navy blue, looked more like cobalt blue (a brighter tone). I totally agree – I even noticed it when I was painting but was hoping it would look different out of the bright sunlight.

It didn’t. :) Totally cobalt.

OK, here’s the thing – at first I tried the same navy blue on it that I used on my bedroom lamps:

And it was SO bright. It didn’t look like the same color in the least. I ended up using a different blue that looked a lot more navy, but when I compared the two inside they look like entirely different colors.

So I did a little test – first off, to show that the color on the cap of a spray paint can will sometimes look different than what you get when you spray. Secondly, a color in one spray paint will be different in another. I also noticed a big difference in coverage when I did this as well. 

I grabbed five blues out of my stash to do this little test and used some primed scrap wood:

So if you looked at this and looked at my lamps, I’m guessing you’d say the middle one is the paint I used, right?

Even I was surprised. I had to look back at my lamp post to see which one I used, and it was actually the blue second from the right:

Who would’ve thunk it? Here’s the first thing I noticed when I did this -- I love the HUGE selection of colors that Krylon offers but the coverage isn’t great. I never really noticed till I did it right next to others but it sprays very thin and doesn’t cover nearly as well as the others.

I did two coats of each color and the Krylon colors dripped every time:

Due to it spraying so thin I think – it just didn’t cover well, at least compared to some others.

Here’s the other thing – the colors can look much different when you spray. The Stonewash Denim cap on the left has a blue gray tone to it but is straight gray when you spray it. It’s hard to tell in the pics because it actually matches the color of the cap better than some of the others. But I bought this a while back thinking it would have more of a blue tone like the cap and it doesn’t.

The Valspar on the right, called Deep Sea Diving, is another one that is different than the cap. The cap looks like more of a peacock blue color and it sprays a definite cobalt blue.

Here’s the other three close up – note that the one on the left and the one in the middle are both a glossy navy blue:

Can you believe the difference? At the risk of sounding like a Rustoleum commercial, it covered SO much better. (I did two coats of each color.) And to me it looks like a true navy blue, right? The Krylon in the middle is what I used on our lamps and I was actually quite surprised when I looked back and figured that out.

You can see where it dripped a ton too. It would take a good four coats to get good coverage on this white. But as I mentioned, I used it on our lamps and didn’t have any issues. And the navy blue on the lamps is a perfect navy to me, so it will just take more coats to get that true color.

But more coats means using more paint, so that’s something to consider. I used nearly two cans to do the desk and I imagine it would take double that to get good coverage with the Krylon.

The color on the end is one called Mountain View and I’ve used it on a few things over the years. The color on the cap is pretty true to the color. It’s a nice light blue that leans ever-so-slightly gray.

Here’s a close up of the board so you can see the coverage (I shook them all for a few minutes before spraying):

Again, as far as being true to the color on the cap, Rustoleum wins. Coverage-wise, Valspar and Rustoleum did well. But I’ve used the two Krylon colors at the bottom and had no complaints at the time – it was only when I sprayed next to others that I noticed how thin it sprays.

I know it’s impossible to match the color of the paint to the cap exactly, but many of the colors I’ve used are a pretty darn good match. What’s frustrating is if you get it home and spray and it’s not what you thought, you’re stuck with it. You can’t return it after you’ve used it. That’s how you build up a ridiculous spray paint collection. ;)

Do you have a brand of spray paint that you love? A color that is your go-to? Are you still afraid to spray? If so, check out this post for helpful tips!

Coffee table redo

Hey hey!! How are you? We had an absolutely lovely weekend – my sister (Stink Eye!) got married and it was sooooo beautiful!! I’ve never seen so much crying at a wedding – every time we’d stop someone else would get up and toast and say something that would have us bawling again. ;) 

Today I’m sick as a dog but thankful for a day where I don’t have to do much other than a doctor’s visit. :) I wanted to share a recent little redo I completed in the family room. It involves my rolling Goodwill coffee table I showed you last year:

Last year I cut down the legs on this little table, cleaned it up and added some new hardware to give it a new look.

When I added an additional side table to the room a couple weeks ago, there was something bugging me about this one. There were just too many wood tones going on in the room. (For me anyway.)

With the dresser/entertainment center, this table and the other end table I just added, the wood was kind of taking over the room.

So I decided to paint it. Before anyone freaks out, this isn’t a fancy piece by any means. There was a large heat stain on the top (from last year) as well as a huge mark that I just could not get out. And the reddish tone had been bothering me for a while anyway – so I knew it was time to paint! And it’s mine, so I do what I want. ;)

I picked up a sample pot of Annie Sloan paint in Old White to use for this project. The white in our rug isn’t bright white, so I wanted it to work well with that. I chose to use the AS paint for one reason – no priming! (And no sanding! OK, two reasons.)

All I did was clean it off with my Shaklee cleaner:

Excuse the messes in these photos – it was night time for many of them (I did this over a few days) and life was being lived while I did it. ;)

Let’s take a closer look at the one lounging on the chair:

She will squish into any spot she can find – cracks us up!

Anyway, I cleaned and then with just a regular angled brush, I did one quick coat on the table. I was a little freaked at first because it did not cover well:

I thought it was going to take a TON of paint. But I went ahead with the next coat and could not believe how well it covered:

I was totally surprised. It looked great!

I took the hardware off the drawers and decided I wasn’t going to paint the each one entirely, so I just taped off with my FrogTape and taped up to this point:

I’m not one to paint the backs of things or the insides of things. I just don’t see the point. I’m bad like that – some people can’t stand it. I’m just glad I’m not one of them. ;)

I needed to do a coat of wax on the top, but before I did that, I took a razor and went back over the lines in the top:

I wanted the planks to show, just because I like the look. I also sanded it down lightly to distress in spots that would get distressed anyway – the hard edges mostly.

I gave it a quick coat of wax and let that dry, and it was done!:

I love love love that you can actually see those handles now! And you see the cool castors better underneath too.

I ended up using a bit more of my friend’s paint who picked up the same color – but I couldn’t believe one little sample pot of that paint covered almost two coats on this thing! It really does go a long way.

Just changing the color really brightened up the room! Now the wood pieces that are in there aren’t competing with each other either:

So far we’ve been treating it as we always did – food, cups, whatever. It’s held up great. I’ll let you know how it continues to do. And I’ve put together a little something to accessorize the top of it that I’ll show you soon. ;)

Just because I love them, here’s the before from last summer:

And the after today!:

Can you find all the other changes in the room? Winner gets a cookie. Or a virtual high five. ;)

I still want to change out the drapes in here and I think I have something in mind…we’ll see how those turn out.

Have you transformed anything with paint lately? It never ceases to amaze me how changing up one item can make a room feel so different!

The October (whaaaa?) Show Us Your House party will go up tomorrow! This month we’re showing off bedrooms. Can’t wait to see!

How to paint cabinets

First of all, I must thank you for your sweet comments on my kitchen island redo. :) We love it so very much! I promised a how-to on the painting of the cabinets, so here we go…

As I mentioned, it took me almost two and half years to attack this project. Now I know why.  :)

Nahhh…it wasn’t that bad.

No really, it was.

You folks who have painted ALL of your kitchen cabinets have a special place in DIY heaven reserved just for you. Seriously.

I started with this:

Once I got the new butcher block counter on, I was all hyped up to get the whole island DONE already. So I plopped down on the floor, took off the doors and pulled out the drawers and started sanding away with my little power sander.

BIG mistake. Oh for all that is good, it created a massive mess. HUGE. And after two sanding sheets and 15 minutes, I had only gotten close to bare wood in a few spots:

After you sand, it’s all misleading because the film it creates makes it look like the finish is actually coming off. Well, it’s not. It’s just spitting dust everywhere:

Sheesh.

Anyway, I gave up on the sander. I wiped the layers of dust away and started priming. I used the B.I.N. primer from Zinsser:I’ve used it before and always hear great things about it. It’s shellac-based -- I have no idea what that means, but all that matters is each coat dries in 45 minutes: 

They had me at 45 minutes. Really, I have zero patience for waiting for primer to cure. NONE. (By the way, I had to run EVERY pan through the dishwasher and clean the insides of the cabinets to get all the dust from the sander off. Fun times!)

I did two coats of primer, then four coats of black, (I always use Black Suede from Behr) sanding between each with my 3M sanding pad:

I usually use the sanding blocks, but I’m kind of loving this foamy pad thing.

I think one of most important parts of painting furniture is letting each coat of paint cure, and sanding well between each coat:

You can use a tack cloth to wipe it down, but they give me the HEEBS. So sticky and just gross. Uck. So I use the tried and true wet paper towels and wet rags:

And my very fancy paint trays for painting:

:) Nothin’ but the best!

Because I didn’t have the primer tinted (I plan to use it for other projects as well), I had to do four coats of black.

It was after I painted the trim that I realized I had the same primer, tinted black, in the basement.

AWESOME.

For the doors, I used the process I should have started with from the beginning. I cleaned each one with a TSP spray:

Then just primed with my tinted primer.

NO SANDING MAKES ME HAPPY.

Well, at least one less sanding – I did light sandings between each coat, like I mentioned. Two coats primer, three coats black, sanding between each.

I did the grooves with my Purdy brush first, then a foam roller to do the rest of the cabs:

Because I wasn’t as diligent with my sanding as I should have been, you can see spots in the corners where I used a brush first:

But really…do I care? NO I do not. Like I’ve said before, no one would ever notice it. And if they did, I’d give them a cookie. Then I’d kick ‘em out for noticing.

I kid, I kid!!

I finished the whole thing off with a water-based polycrylic:

I usually use a polyurethane, which is oil-based, but I wanted the water-based for other projects. Regular poly can yellow, which is fine for black and over a dark stain, but not good for lighter painted projects. I quite liked this stuff – it seems to protect just as well, but time will tell.

You need to do a light sanding before your first coats of poly, and then sand lightly between each one. I use foam brushes to apply it.

I chose the satin version and it was WAY glossier than I thought it would be. Be careful with the sheen – you don’t want it to be TOO glossy. Remember glossy shows any imperfections. Flat sheens help to hide them. :)

Oh yeah, and NO, I did not paint inside the doors:

It would really make them look more custom, I know. But that extra hour of work was better spent on another project. Or eating. Sleeping. Anything other than painting. ;)

Was it hard? Not at all. Time consuming? Yes.

When I do projects, I like to be able to stop, clean up everything, and put it all back together when I’m done for the day.

It drove me batty to have the doors and drawers all over the place for two days. But that’s just my thing – if you go into it knowing your kitchen is going to be a hot mess for a few days, you’ll be golden.

Was it worth it? HECK yeah!

Before:

After:  

 

(Sorry for the crappy evening picture!)

Notice the fall stuff is coming out? You know what that means – the basement decrapification is DONE!! Actually, the whole house is pretty much free of STUFF.

And it feels ahhhmazing!

I hope this helps those of you who are thinking about painting your bathroom or kitchen cabinets! It can be done – with a little bit of patience and a whole lot of primer. :)

 

P.S. Oh yeah…GUESS WHAT?

I am so stinking excited -- next week I’m going to see the new Nate Berkus show, courtesy of my friend Rhoda!! Whoohoo!!! I am so thrilled to take a trip to NYC with some of my favorite bloggy girls – some I’ve already met, some I haven’t.

Email me if you live near NYC and you can meet us out there! :) If you’re going, holla at me!

A beautiful kitchen island (finally!)

Welcome to what I like to call

THE

LONGEST

PROJECT

IN

THE

HISTORY OF MAN.

OK, a little dramatic, but really. It took forever. Serious.

Serious.

It started two and a half years ago when I took our builder basic kitchen island:

And added some molding and paint:

The sides of the island were made from that crapastic laminate stuff that you need to paint with primer. Which I did not. :)

So last May I removed all the molding and replaced it with beadboard and new chunky baseboards:

LURVE.

The little secret that wasn’t such a secret cause I showed you was that I never painted the cabinet side of the island:

I was soooo sceered! I don’t know why, I just didn’t want to touch them! I love our pretty cabinets, and it gave me hives to think of painting this side.

So they stayed like that. For another year and four months. :) More on that in a bit.

When I started my kitchen redo with the help of American Express and their lovely points (whoohoo!) I mentioned I was considering either painting the island a light cream color or a pretty apple green to go with the new lighter tones of the room. I primed the island to see how I liked the lighter, cream idea and it didn’t look right. So I decided to go with the apple green -- it sounded like such a fun idea!!

(Enter foreboding music here.)

I painted that island apple green, and it was a total and complete disaster. It was one of those where you say you just need time to “get used to it” when you really just need time to stop hyperventilating at all the time you just flushed down the toilet. ;)

It was SO bright! OH. my. goodness., it was screaming apple green. The way the light hit it made it completely obnoxious. So I mixed some black into the green to darken it a bit, and painted…again.

It was better! It was growing on me! And then the evening light hit…and it was a disaster all over again. I played the whole, I’ll get use to it (pleeease?) game some more and realized by about 8 p.m. that it wasn’t going to fly. And I looked at the cabinet side of our island and realized something really important – there was NO way on God’s (apple) green earth that I was going to be able to paint our lovely cabinets that color.

I wish I could express to you how wrong the green island looked in our kitchen. (I took pictures with my phone but I’ve since updated to a new one and they didn’t transfer!) If we lived in a beach house – adorable. In a funky, colorful house, perfect. In our traditional house full of warm colors – just wrong. ;) I’m sure it was the tone of that color I picked out that made it look so goofy, but I wasn’t going to try any more. I was done.

So…guess what? I painted. Again. Oh yeah, and again – two coats back to black. It was not a good day around here. ;)

I wanted to (finally) get this island project wrapped up, so last week I got my booty moving on the butcher block top I bought months ago at Ikea. It had been leaning in the garage, unopened, for all that time. (I told you I was highly unmotivated this summer!)

I did some checking around and found a woodworking company that would be able to cut it down to the right size for me. I had a chance to look around their shop a bit, and when I saw the beautiful routered edges they could add to it, my mind started racing. :)

The owner said they could cut it down and router the edge I picked out for $100 – YES PLEASE! I was SO excited when I picked it up last week because this (Numerar Ikea counter for $195):

Was turned into this:

Be still my thrifty little heart.

I was so excited, I installed it that day. I just unscrewed the screws underneath the previous countertop and pulled it off:

When the new top was laid on top, I just screwed them back in, with a couple extra for good measure.

My original plan was to sand down the block and stain it a very deep stain, then poly over the top of it. YUM. But when I saw it in our kitchen, I realized the potential for a really warm, natural looking butcher block instead.

Ikea treats their wood, but you need to do more when you get them installed. I started by sanding it down very lightly, then I did three coats of boiled linseed oil:

You just wipe it on with a white cloth and watch the magic happen. ;) We are not going to use the butcher block as a cutting surface, but linseed oil is perfect if you are planning to do so. It is food safe once it dries.

Because I didn’t want to freak out every time someone put a glass on the island, I also protected it with two coats of tung oil:

From what my Dad told me, the Chinese have used tung oil for about 600 years (give or take a few) on their boat hulls – and if it works for them, it works for me. :)

It gave it an absolutely gorgeous amber finish:

It is just beautiful. And no worries about the everyday stuff that happens in a kitchen!:

If there’s ever any damage to the top, it will be easy to sand it down lightly and reapply the oil. I will probably do a few more coats of the tung oil for an extra strong finish.

To finish off the beadboard, I installed some very thin molding around the top:

The top edges of the beadboad weren’t uneven, but it always looked a little unfinished to me.

I found a fabric I lurve at Calico Corners for the chairs:

 

I upholstered right over the old fabric that I showed you here. I love the slightly contemporary look of the fabric combined with the more traditional island.

And I was (almost) done! THEN, I finally painted the cabinets on the other side of the island. And all was right with the world. Two years and four months later. Good grief.

I present to you our completed, never touching it ever again for as long as I live, island:

I did a photo shoot with it from all angles, Austin Powers style…yeah, baby…YEAH!:

   

I want to curl up and take a nap on it, I love it so very much. Really. Night night:

Because I’m a sucker for before and after shots, here’s the before, a couple of years ago:

And today:

The I’m shaking in my boots to paint the cabinets before:

And the why didn’t I do this two years ago after:

Total breakdown for the transformation was as follows (over the past two years):

- About $50 for the beadboard, I think? Another $20 or so for the baseboards and skinny trim around the top.
- $10 for black paint. Lasted all eleventy billion times I painted it. 
- $18 for two corbels from Home Depot.
- Chairs were from Garden Ridge, buy one get one half off – about $100.
- Less than $10 in fabric to cover the chairs.
- $195 for butcher block (I had to get a larger size) from Ikea – looks like it’s even less now!
- $100 to have the block cut and routered.
- About $20 for oils, foam brushes, etc. (I had some, had to buy some.)

Oh yeah, did I mention I got a quote of $1,300 for a very similar butcher block countertop from the company Home Depot uses? I saved one thousand buckaroos and it looks pretty darn good! I am SO happy with it, and it was so (grumble) worth (grumble) all the work!

P.S. I’ll show you how I painted the cabinets soon – and what I did that you should NOT. :)