Making An Entry

Gorgeous weather over the weekend inspired me to add some coastal flare to the entry table. 

I've  had this table for about 10+ years. I love the design but it need refreshed with a punch of color.
I wanted something that had a weathered look, so chalk paint was the best option for layering color.
I started by painting the entire table with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Duck Egg

I painted it with 2 coats so none of the black was showing through. Then I dry brushed a little bit of ivory chalk paint over it. (Annie Sloan Old White)
Remember when dry brushing, you are just putting a tiny bit of paint on the end of the paint brush.

This is an awesome color combo for that coastal look. However, I wanted to take it to the next step, and antique it to look aged.

I used Annie Sloan's Dark wax

You can do 1 or 2 layers of the wax, just buff each layer in between coats. I only used one coat and lightly buffed it.

Total this project took about an hour and a half...Amazeballs!!!

Love chalk paint!

Master Bedroom~ work in progress

This is not a very pretty post...but it usually looks worse before it looks better. This is the current state of our bedroom (not quite the "retreat" yet) but the master bedroom project is coming along!  Demo is complete and the "rebuild" has begun. 

"With Destruction Comes Renovation"     -Wally Lamb

The walls are now a creamy ivory (first coat at least) and the trim detail is going up...starting with new baseboards.

We removed our old 3" baseboards and replaced them with 5 1/4" ones (when it comes to baseboards...bigger is better in my opinion)

Next we go from bottom straight to the top....Crown Molding.

 We kept the existing crown and added a piece of trim molding about an inch below it and then painted the entire area. It gives the look of larger crown without the expense...gotta love that. This is just a primer coat, so we could see what it would look like, but you get the idea.

I have always loved older homes, even the window and door trim is more detailed than the typical "builder basic" style you see in most new homes today. One day I will own a hundred year old house that has all its original character, but until then I will just have to give my newer home a little old house style.

Out with the new and in with the Old ;)

The nail holes still need filled and sanded and painted but look I am loving the look already!!!

Next is chair rail and wainscoting

I wanted the look of larger wainscoting boxes at the top and smaller at the bottom so I didn't want the chair rail too high.  We put it about 3ft from the bottom of the baseboards. Once the chair rail is in place, we sketched out our measurements on the wall. When planing the size and layout of your boxes, make sure if you have specific pictures or prints that you want to hang on the wall, remember to incorporate that into your layout. 

For example: we have 2 prints that I want to keep on the wall with the tv so we planned our layout to fit around those. Also, it is easier if you cut a piece of wood (we used a large level) as the guide for the spacing between boxes.

Still need to fill in, sand and paint (as much as I love to paint, I am not looking forward to painting all this trim and then a final coat on the walls in between the trim...ugh!!  Y'all are welcome to come help!! :)

Next up is the wood accent wall in the sitting area...we started it just to see the color of the wood...here is a sneak peek. 

Stay tuned for a DIY on creating your own distressed wood planks and building a wood wall.