White Butterfly

Chalkboard Half Bath

February 11, 2013 By admin

You read that right. I painted our half bath in chalkboard. And I love it!

Here’s the story. The boys love to write on chalkboard. And so I figured, what better place to draw than in the bathroom!?

Of course I want to do something creative and artsy, like this chalkboard that I just did, (and by the way, one three year old has already ruined), but I’m sure, the bathroom will get volcanos, traced bodies, practicing letters and numbers, and trucks drawn all over it, BUT that is a-okay. I’m thinking guests will love to leave messages…you will won’t you?!

So, I was trying to be inspirational….boys under 7 don’t “do” inspirational. Apparently.

Onto the bathroom…it’s the only room in the house that has something other than white. And that’s how it’s going to stay. For now.

I had the guys at Home Depot mix up the Rustoleum Tintable Chalkboard Paint in a dark gray. Now. It’s not an option on the box. You have to ask and get a really brave employee to help you out. I told him I wanted a dark gray, not black, not light gray…and I think it is perfect!

Before:

Does anyone else think regular doors in half bathrooms are ridiculous? There is no room to move! You have to walk in, turn around, move your body and shut the door. We will be changing that door to a slider as soon as I can find one!

It took three coats to finish. And I had some help from several individuals under 4 feet tall…..

And so you wonder….why didn’t she paint to the top?! My thought was crown moulding. I was determined to learn how to do it.

I tried. Then I cried. Then I found these little gems:

You can get them at Home Depot or Lowes. They are just a box, really. AND they are AWESOME. It means that you can just do a straight cut on your moulding without crying.

And who needs tears when your bathroom looks like this?!

I thought about tin tile, but at $20 for one, and I needed 8, I didn’t think this little bathroom needed that much drama.

I still have to caulk the edges, and we have to finish the trim in here….and the rest of the house….but I think the drama in this bathroom is awesome. I love it.

What about you?! Any interest in an entire room full of chalkboard?!

Filed Under: Chalkboard, House

Kitchen Progress

February 8, 2013 By admin

We’ve had some progress on the kitchen!

I took out the countertops one day….that was painful. This is what they looked like before. I love them now!

I went to Ikea and grabbed the oak butcher block. I think the total for two pieces that I needed was around $250. Not bad. We finally got around to cutting them. Remember….measure twice, cut once. And if you cut too long and need to go back, that’s okay. It’s not okay to cut it too short, because there is no going back after that….ehem.

I’m nearly finished with the upper cabinets as well. I took a little break because I ran out of paint, and I’m also waiting for our router to get here this weekend to finish up the cabinets and router the counters. I have the glass already for the cabs, so the next part will go quickly!

While I was waiting for paint/router, I received all of our drawer pulls and knobs. Aren’t they fab?!

I just love the brass. It’s not for everyone, but I think it looks so cool. And with the stainless appliances….yummy. BTW – does anyone have any hints to cleaning stainless steel? I have no idea what to use.

I should have another update on the kitchen next week!!

Oh, so far I’ve used 1 1/2 cans of ASCP in pure white and 1/4 can of ASCP in paris gray. Not too bad! I’ve also waxed the island and the base cabinets and only used about 1/5 of a can of wax.

I love how bright the kitchen is getting!

Filed Under: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, DIY, Kitchen, Painting

Mom Ramblings #53

February 7, 2013 By admin

1. Sometimes I need a “MOM” break. Does anyone else feel like that?! I wonder if that’s normal or if I need to shape up.

2. The other night, I was trying to get supper ready, it was burning, there was a near grease fire in the oven, the smoke alarms were going off, then the kids let the dogs out and one of them ran away. They went after her without their hats and mittens and then I had to go after them, while the house was burning down…okay, it wasn’t, but for crying out loud. I had to hop in the car and grab the kids and the dog, then try and clean up all the grease in the oven….it was a little bit of a nightmare. Totally normal night, right?

3. This morning I found out that while the kids were taking some “quiet time” yesterday after school because they were fighting, two of them were eating an entire container of new gummy vitamins. That’s right. They ate 150 vitamins between the two of them. I was under the assumption they were reading in their rooms. I was feeding the baby. OH MY GOSH! Of course this morning I was scared out of my mind that they are going to die. Apparently they won’t die…because of the vitamins….I may pull out their fingernails one by one.

4. Last night I had a dream that I gave birth to twins and they were so small that they put them BACK! And then a little while later I had them again and one was 15 pounds. But, the doctor who delivered them failed to catch the first one and dropped him on his head. Awesome. Nice dream, right? The doctor said matter of factly, “he’s going to have some issues.” The chocolate chips I had before bed probably weren’t a good idea.

5. We’ve made a little progress on the house. I’ll show you some stuff soon.

6. I’m trying to balance everything. I gotta tell ya, though, 4 kids isn’t “hard”. It’s Oh MY GOSH work. I just don’t feel like I’m keeping up and I’m trying to get everything done. Putting too much pressure on myself, of course.

7. I started doing Crossfit at home. If you haven’t heard of it, do a little research on the internet. It’s pretty fun. I follow a website called www.crossfitmamas.com. Check it out. BUT, make sure you watch the videos and learn proper technique so you don’t get hurt.

8. I’m trying to decide if I should take a nap or take a shower….

Filed Under: Mom Ramblings

Painted Kitchen Island with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

January 24, 2013 By admin

Well. I must preface this with, I love Annie Sloan Paint.

Also, don’t get angry at me about painting my brand new kitchen cabinets. The whole deal when we picked the cabinets was that we were going to paint them. We didn’t upgrade the cabinets, just the bottom of the line cabinet. So there. Sit on that.

I was home with a sick kid (and two more) the other day and it was also -10 degrees, that’s right. That was the actual temp, and I think that day it got to -3. I know you’re all jealous we live in this climate. It’s awesome.

I had debated painting with ASCP for some time and decided since I had a can of pure white and some wax, I’d just go for it. So…I did.

Now, you need to know that although I am a furniture painter and a lover of ASCP, I am no way an educator. I will explain what I did, but if you have serious questions, talk to a stockist near you! They have more answers than I do!

Here is what the kitchen island looked like when I started.

I got right to it. I wiped the island down, got the gunk off. Painted the front side and started on the ends. And then I stopped. And cried. And cried. Because this happened.

Holy crap. That’s right. Cry for me. I will wait for you to get a tissue. It was awful. Like I just ruined my brand new house awful. I thought it stuck to everything?! But get this, Tom just said he kind of liked it?! What the what?! So, I let it dry and then sanded. And it still didn’t work. But get this. The front of the island, where the stools go. Not a problem. Same material, but no issues. I don’t get it.

I needed a fix that didn’t include leaving the house. Sick kid, cold temps, no patience….you get it, right?! So I thought about what I had on hand as well as what I was planning to do at some point anyway….we had some MDF planks that we had cut awhile ago to practice on the trim, so I grabbed some of that, cut it up and nailed it to the side.

No worries about the painted area under the island, that was only the second coat. It took three. Really dark cabinets. When I finish the rest, I am going to prime them first. That way I won’t go through so much paint.

So, I nailed those boards up, and painted them. I used some nails for the nail gun to space the boards. The hardest part was cutting them out on the other end to go around the outlet. I will be getting a jig saw this weekend. I will. I will.

We still need to put the trim around all the cabinets, it’s sitting in the garage somewhere, but damn, it’s so freaking cold out, my fingers freeze in seconds in the garage, plus I’d have to move stuff, and who wants to do that?! I’m lazy in so many ways, and not lazy in others. Priorities people. Priorities.

I like to sand and then wax. I know Annie Sloan says to wax then sand, but I do it the other way. No reason, I just prefer it. I sanded lightly, then waxed lightly, and then wiped and buffed, then waxed again 24 hours later. I’m going to live with it like this for a little while and see how it holds up. If I need to lightly sand again and wax again, I will.

I picked wax over lacquer because I didn’t want to take the doors off and you have to do it in a clean, dust free place. I haven’t had any problems with the tops of my dressers, so I’m not too worried. I can ALWAYS touch things up if I need to. That’s the beauty of it.

Eventually that counter will be replaced with concrete. And, it’s not pink. Honestly. The sink will be a farmhouse sink and the faucet the most beautiful brass faucet ever. To match the brass pulls I have ordered. But that’s not going to happen for a little while…. But, these little updates with paint make me so happy and can tide me over until we can do the rest of the projects.

Note: Pendant lights are from Ikea. And they were painful to install. I have put up every single light in this house, and have decided that Ikea hardwired lighting, although really nice looking is very painful to install and I don’t recommend them. Sadly. But, if you want to swear and scream and cry, then totally go for it.

Second note: That fridge. Not there anymore. The darn ice maker didn’t work. They sent someone to fix it and it still didn’t work. So Home Depot took it back and sent us a new one. So far so good with the new one. Although it’s only been one day!

Third note: Turquoise cart from Ikea. I love it!

Fourth note: I think I need to paint the legs of the stools. I’m thinking emerald green….