One brush...3 colors...no cleaning

A few weeks ago I painted my accent clock and mirror.   I absolutely love the results of this finish!

Both the clock and the mirror had a black finish to start with.  Since they were more of a wood/plastic composite material and not actual wood, I used chalk paint so that I would not need to sand them. But, if you are painting wood and want to use regular paint then start by prepping the surface with liquid sand paper.

I did not take pictures of the clock as I was painting, so the tutorial will show the mirror but they were the same color to start.

The paint technique I used is called Dry Brushing.  Basically, you just layer different paint colors by only putting a little bit of paint on the tips of your brush and then lightly brushing it on. You want each layer of color to be visible thru the other.  (I had a paper plate that I would blot my brush on to remove any excess before applying.) 

Since I used chalk paint I did not need to use a primer, but if you are not using chalk paint then I suggest applying a light primer.

The first color I used was Gray Mist

(1st coat)

One light coat all over the surface

2nd coat was - French Vanilla, followed by washing lightly over the top with a little mint hue of some wall paint I had "Benjamin Moore Gray Owl OC-52" (I didn't wash my brush between colors, it added to the layers and made cleaning easy)

and lastly I sealed it with rubbing a little bit of walnut wax polish over the entire surface.

**If you are painting furniture or a surface that will be used a lot, I suggest using a glaze instead  of the wax or sealing it with a lacquer or polyacyrilic. **

(2nd coat)

(3rd coat)

Love the farmhouse feel it has!

Kitchen Crashers Phase 1

When we purchased our house two years ago we knew we wanted to make some changes. Our house was a short sale and even though it wasn't damaged it was in desperate need of a face lift.  In the past two years we have re-painted almost every room in the house, replaced all the knobs, hinges and cabinet pulls to the oil rubbed bronze, added paneling in the media room,added trim to the column,
 built cabinets in the laundry room and built a builtin for the mud room.  
We love DIY projects and Im really excited to finally be working on our biggest one yet...THE KITCHEN!!!  The kitchen is absolutely the heart of our home.  I love our kitchen layout! It was the layout of this kitchen that made us purchase this home even though it did not have the upgrades that the other house we were looking at had. The open concept of the kitchen is my favorite! What is not my favorite is the cabinet color. When we first purchased this house the walls, cabinets and floors were all the same color (orange brown)

Before

 

...well we fixed the wall color first...

now on to the cabinets...and next will be floors! 

It is going to be a HUGE project to say the least but I am so extremely excited to get started! There is certainly a greater appreciation when you personally work hard and put in hours of time improving your home.

We started on the Island this weekend...here are some progress pics

Before

 

 

Added paneling

 

 

Painted and distressed paneling

We used chalk paint (mix yourself and save a ton of money) and distressed it with a low grit sand paper then sealed everything with polyacrylic so it is sealed and won't scratch but still has that dull finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have ordered new corbels but they haven't arrived yet..once those are added the island will be complete....then on to the kitchen cabinets which will be painted in an  ivory color called Linen. We are not distressing the cabinets but we are antiqueing them with a walnut wax.  Sooo excited!!

 

Here are some of our kitchen inspiration pics:

These colors: black island, ivory cabinets

We will be adding a brick backsplash

 

These colors only switched: black on island and ivory on cabinets..we also want to add the barn wood beams from this pic in the living room...but that will be a seperate project :)

We loved the paneling look!

We will be adding a cooper sink and bronze faucet

 

 

Paint changes everything!

Our latest project was our china cabinet refinish:

 

Before: black on black

After: Ivory with green interior

  

 Spray painted all the knobs and hinges with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze

Paint:

Behr Ultra (Home Depot)
Exterior: Navajo White (color matched from Benjamin Moore Paint color)  Flat Enamel 
Interior: Sag Harbor (BMC) Flat Enamel