Home Improvement

Sandstone Cove

Published on February 28, 2013March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode25 Comments

Do you remember my itch to paint? I’ve finally scratched it. Monday included priming and painting our newly installed crown. Tuesday I edged the ceiling – Ben will roll it after we finish patching a few hairline cracks. Yesterday I put two coats of Behr’s Sandstone Cove (color matched to Glidden) on the family room and hall walls. Good news! We love the color.

Rember the peach-y walls of yore? Here’s a refresher.

It changes from beige to gray depending on the lighting. And makes the white trim stand out. With nail holes patched, we’re assessing our art. Ben says I hang cluttered groups and would like to see simpler, larger pieces. I’m thinking the 2 foot by 3 foot frame could look nice hanging on this wall. Perhaps I’ll change out the art, but the boys like to find places on the map, so it might stay for them.

The hall gallery is gone, at least until I can figure out a way to simplify it. For now, the Montana and Minnesota watercolors will hang just above the thermostat.

Yesterday wasn’t all smiles at the new paint though. After three days of painting, I had a problem and a frustration meltdown happened. I completely blame this:

(Yes, I realize this is a first world problem and I’m a major brat) Unfortunately, in at least 20 spots, my Frog tape peeled off the trim paint. Wop wop. Worst of all, I don’t know why that happened. The tape wasn’t stuck on forever, the paint was dry, I peeled it off when the paint was still wet at an angle. It doesn’t make sense. I’ll have to sand the areas, touch up the semi gloss trim paint, then the satin wall paint. Inevitably the touch up will be obvious thanks to a sheen difference. Unless you have suggestions. After my meltdown, Ben cheered me up by installing our new sconces from Lamps Plus.

Ahh, so pretty and simple.

Love a touch of satin nickel.

Even better, the low profile means fewer bumps and bruises for the adults in this house.

Overall, I’m thrilled with the brighter, sleek look. And a warm, diffused light. I give these sconces two enthusiastic thumbs up. Check back tomorrow for a light-ning giveaway!

P.S. Lamps Plus kindly sent us two sconces after we featured them. We’re psyched to Lamps Plus wanted to team up with us.

Mini Dresser Pretties

Published on February 27, 2013March 12, 2013 by Our Humble Abode21 Comments

I admit, I totally teased you yesterday about the mini dresser. But, I hadn’t gotten pictures of it until later yesterday afternoon. So, here it is, finished and ready to use. Boom, in yo’ face.

Maybe finished. See those pale legs? Even after two coats of stain like everything else. The different woods took the stain their own way. Thin veneer sides are slightly less red toned than the fronts. Luckily it’s not noticeable in the small guest room. But I might get a different, darker stain to try on the legs, just to see how it goes. I haven’t coated those in poly for that reason.

Notice the blue between the drawers? I did that to match the laminate top I painted. And the top of the drawers to cover the plywood edges. We’ve had a Carrara marble remnant in the garage that I considered using as the top. Not sure the skinny legs could handle that much weight. And I didn’t want to ask Ben to cut it. I’m still hoping we can use it for a coffee table someday.

Taping the wood edges gave me a crisp straight line so only the top got paint.

For a little more fun, I painted the outer sides of the drawers blue, too. (Mysterious from Benjamin Moore, color matched to a sample can of Glidden Duo)

I’m calling this make over a success. What is better than simple lines, dark wood, and navy blue?

That ends the mini dresser love fest. What do you think of the changes?

Mini Dresser Make Over

Published on February 26, 2013February 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

I’ve been searching for a simple, affordable, MCM style wooden dresser for several months. Various thrift stores and very few options. Until last week, when I spotted a five foot dresser for $50 and a matching mini dresser for 25 bucks. This dresser is for the tiny library/guest room which makes the nightstand size perfect.

Clean lines, MCM style, in good condition (a few scratches and a laminate top). Perfection. I could have left it as is, but I knew it could be better. Refinishing to the rescue. The dresser is plywood with a thin wood veneer. For solid wood I prefer to sand the surface to prepare for stain. But, I worried I’d sand through the veneer. Despite my last paint stripper experience, I decided to use Citristrip on the drawer fronts, sides, and legs.

While it did its magic, we hit up the hardware store for a plastic scraper, a sample of Ben Moore paint, and came back to get started. It seemed ready.

Scraping most of it off was quick, leaving me with a pile of spaghetti like stuff. The round legs took a little more time, but the finish came off cleanly.

With the scraping done, I used an old rag and odorless mineral spirits to clean off the residue. Which didn’t work. Instead it just made a gummy, tacky mess. I let it dry, then used 220 grit sand paper on the laminate top and flat sides.

The darker patches are from the stripper.

Lesson learned, skip the paint stripper, Amanda. It might work, but the clean up is more than I’m willing to deal with. But, I was able to start staining. Dark wood floats my boat. Wait, that didn’t come out right. I had a can of Dark Walnut stain (left over from a bookshelf I refinished a few years ago). Two coats on the fronts, sides, and legs. But I had to paint the drawer edges and sides to hide the layered plywood that before were painted dark brown.

To protect my freshly stained sides, I taped off everything so I could prime and paint the laminate top and drawer dividers.

A few coats of paint on the primed spots followed by two coats of satin polyurethane gave a nice shine, protecting and enhancing. Come back tomorrow to see how it turned out. Yes, I’m a total tease, but I’ve got to take pictures still.

It’s About Dang Time

Published on February 21, 2013March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

At long last, we’re calling the main bathroom (we started working on, oh, mid April) d-o-n-e. What were we waiting for? False vanity drawers.

That we didn’t make. After all these months of waiting on a few drawers, we decided they weren’t worth the effort (and the sizes didn’t work well). Because they had absolutely no purpose other than looking like drawers. Instead, Ben cut a few pieces of MDF down, nailed them in place so I could finish painting.

The rest of the room was already done. Months ago. Except the dark gray painted door. I did that in December.

Officially our first completely finished room in this house. Woohoo, we’re on a roll…hopefully. Family room, I’m looking at you; get your act together already.

A few new accessories round it out, like these two bucks for three clearance cups from World Market.

And a navy and coral Without You print to hang above the throne.

Just because it makes me laugh.

Ahh, feels good to close that chapter. Finish any long-standing projects recently?

Can’t Wait for Paint

Published on February 18, 2013March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

Hello friends! Did you have a good weekend? Do something fun? Have nice weather? Saturday was almost 50 degrees, now we’re back to the thirties. Such is February. Which means we played outside and got some work done inside. A few weeks ago Ben added trim to all the doors in the hall.

Pre-primed trim immediately brightened the hall from the dark wood trim of yore.

Beefed up baseboard almost makes the vent covers disappear.

I’ve been busy filling nail holes, sanding, caulking joints, priming, and painting the new trim crisp white.

I’ve finished painting the trim and have already started taping it off in preparation for wall paint.

Before I can paint the walls though, we’ve still got a few more things to check off the to do list. First, sanding the patched area from the arch we took out and a few hairline cracks in the ceiling.

Then crown molding throughout the room followed by more filling, sanding, priming, and painting. And painting the ceiling before getting to the walls. Good grief, I want to paint those walls. Both for finished walls and the pretty details waiting. Look what we’ve got to install after paint: pretty brushed nickel sconces from Lamps Plus.

While I’m waiting to paint the walls I’ve been painting doors as quickly as I can. And I’m heels over head – head over heels doesn’t make sense, aren’t we always? Dark gray, a touch of brass (though I still want to take the sheen down), and clean white. My design color trifecta.

Only three doors left, including the boys’, which I’m dreading leaving them without.

Baby steps to a finished room. Down the line we’ll figure out furniture. I’ve got a serious crush on the Gus Modern chair from Mod Livin’. Sadly almost 18 hundred bucks for two chairs (my kids will jump on) doesn’t fit the budget, but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming. Any affordable arm chairs you like?