July 28, 2010

A rival for my affection

Ok – I’m going to admit it right up front.  I’m in love.  Yup. I’ve fallen hard. 

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At first I was apprehensive, wanted to know more, wanted to test the waters, wanted to trust but couldn’t commit, but now …. I’m done, no more fighting what was meant to be.

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Who, you are asking, is the object of my affection?  Well, it’s not “who” folks – it’s “what”!  And that would be my new spray gun!  I love how it feels in my hands, how it responds, how it covers, how it transforms!

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Here’s just a glimpse of what my new love can do:

It can turn this….

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Into this….

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I’m still working on the finished product, as the “paint and primer in one” did not do the trick

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But that’s no fault of my new paint gun – it’s partly the “dummy at the home improvement store” and yours truly.  I know better!

So today – it’s off to find a primer that will seal properly and then I have another date with my new “love”, so don’t wait up! (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

And you can bet that I’m looking at every piece of wood furniture in my house wondering  ……

July 27, 2010

A Garden Interlude

Today’s the day I paint my dresser.  It will be busy, between visits to my Dad (currently in Respite Care here in Ottawa from his home in Long Sault, Ontario), doing umpteen loads of laundry from a very busy weekend with visiting family from New Brunswick and escorting my fab-u-lous sister in law to the airport for our final goodbyes.  Yes, at some point today, the first and maybe second coat of “Antique White” will be adorning my dresser.

I will be posting all about the transformation over the next few days, but in the meantime, here is an interlude from my garden to enjoy …

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Have a wonderful day!!

July 19, 2010

Dressed to the nines ....

Well friends, it's done.  The decision has been made.  There is no turning back now.  Months of agonizing indecisiveness is finally over.  Boy - this sounds like a major life decision I've made here, doesn’t it?

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What I've decided on is the paint colour and finish for my dresser project, and in the process I've learned a few things. 

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Lesson 1:  Narrow the options.  I had far too many colours to choose from.  I have fan decks from many paint companies in my office, and I was flipping through all of them to help me decide.  There is such a vast selection of colours with just one paint company, so adding another 3 or 4 was NOT helping the decision it was hindering it.  From now on, I pick one company's fan deck for colour selections.

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Lesson 2:  Go with your gut.  I am trained to help people pick colours for their home, and although the training helps with the colour selection, there's always a gut instinct I get when I walk into a home or room, even before the client says anything.  Of course, sometimes that instinct is tweaked based on the clients likes and dislikes, but usually we end up in the same place.  In this case I am the client, so I should just stop fighting my gut instinct, and;

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Lesson 3: Nike was right - “JUST DO IT”! I can always repaint!

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So now you are probably wondering what colour I've decided for my dresser aren't you? 

    Did she go light?                       Did she go dark?                 Did she go in-between?
                                            

Well, you'll just have to have a little more patience :) - isn't this fun???
 
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My last post asked for help in deciding the paint colour for this project and you responded with such great enthusiasm.  I loved all of your suggestions, which covered the gamut of all of my options.  Colour is so definitely a personal choice. 

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A couple of your suggestions resonated:

Lisa from Lisa Goulet Designs reminded me that dark furniture is a dust magnet.  Oh boy do I know that.  My computer desk and bookcases in the office are dark laminate.  Let's just say that one of my office supplies is a Swiffer Duster and I'm using that sucker every day!
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Kelly of Design Ties suggested that I close up the existing holes in the middle section of my dresser and replace the pulls with fancy knobs (like the picture below).  I love that idea - perhaps I'll add some shiny crystal knobs to give it glam (which Kelly absolutely rocks at btw)!

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And Kathy from Creative Home Expressions suggested that I use the light cream colour and use the caramel/gold as an antiquing glaze.  This idea really appealed to me.  My biggest concern with picking a paint colour was that I would lose the celtic details that drew me to the dresser in the first place. 
 
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So, thank you Kathy, this is what I’ve chosen to do with my dresser.  And these are the colours I’ve chosen to use are Antique White from CIL for the main colour of the dresser and an antique wash of Brown Bag from CIL.
 
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These colours will go quite well with the wall colour and the existing pine bedside tables which will stay for a while (although, --- I’m thinking….. ).  I’ve also added the following gem that I picked up off kijiji for….. $35 ….. yep $35.  I’ve replaced the hardware and it now serves as hubbies dresser.
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And this past weekend, I tested out the new paint sprayer on a couple of unfinished pine shelves that I’ve had hanging around the house for years, so there are NO excuses now friends.
 
Stay tuned…
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