Random Thoughts with RA

This (video below) doesn’t make me cry but it does make me wonder. Will all that technology still work? Will it be outdated? It would make me cry if I consistently wrote to my child, spent a lot of time uploading shit and kept it on a floppy or a Zip disk. I think I’d stick to paper.

People talking about their babies kinda scares the bejesus out of me. However, I get sucked in and cannot stop asking questions. What happened to your body? He sleeps for five hours and that’s a good thing? You cannot do that? I can’t eat what? We’re really jazzed that she did that? Really…oh….. I would have pushed her down. (Insert the baby’s mother giving me the side-eye.) Gently pushed. I would have carefully nudged her to sit back down. Push was too agressive of a word.

However, I would take this baby home. Somebody better reave her arone so I can steal her.

Hands down, she is the cutest baby ever. So, I made her something.

I love her. Really. I do.

P.S. You’re welcome for the unintentional asian theme and the usage of Paint.

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Before and Current: Sideroom paint

Our new carpet is being installed this morning. It was supposed to be installed earlier (as mentioned here) but we postponed it so we could paint the room.  We chose “cream in my coffee” by Valspar as the new paint color.

From left to right: new paint, old paint, trim

“Cream in my coffee” painted wall

Landing/foyer before:

 

Landing/foyer current:

 Coat area before:

Coat area current:

I rarely drink coffee. However, when I do drink it I need plenty of cream. We’ll see how the paint color looks with the carpet. I held the paint sample against the carpet sample, but it’ll be interesting to see when I get back in town this evening.

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Yes, Master

Last week, The Mister and I worked on our bedroom. We have plaster walls that the previous owner rushed in painting. When we moved in my father was sweet enough to paint and you can see the original green color below. Additionally, you can see a lot of patching and work. We decided it was time to sand, even out and basically give our walls some TLC.

It was not very pleasant. We got out the power sander and gave it a whirl. It took a lot more work than we originally planned. However, it looks much, much better.

Then, I got to cutting in. I went to Home Depot and purchased Cream Puff by Behr and hated it. After cutting in around the ceiling, floor, windows and doors I decided it was the color of a manilla folder. It was not the original color I wanted but was told (incorrectly) that I had to use a Primer/Paint specific color to get the Premium Plus option. I’m going to try to take back the gallon of “manilla puff” this week. I don’t think they’ll take it back but I dislike a misinformed purchase.

So, I went back and purchased tester pots in Aged Parchment, Antique White, and Natural Almond (in order). ( Below the sample spots is a curtain from Pier One and a throw from Barbara Barry.) The top two colors were practically the same Okay, I admit it. However, they were slightly different but not the right choice. So, we went with Natural Almond .

It is a great taupe shade. Yes, our bed is in the middle of the room and we slept on it like that for a night. Can you find The Colonel on it?

There he is. Watching us work exhausts him.

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It’s faux (Part 2)

I lucked out last week with posts on the blogs I stalk check surrounding my ideas, inspiration, etc.

One said blog is Bryn Alexandra Interiors, which I found through Eddie Ross. Last Tuesday, Bryn had a post about faux bois DIY. (As you know from this post I am soon receiving my FLOR samples of their faux bois tiles.) In her post, found here, she shows a wood grain paint tool, which we both seemed to notice recently from Eddie Ross’ twitter.

Photo credit: Amazon

I suggest checking out her post for projects, involving Ms. Martha, making a tray. I don’t want a tray, nor am I sure how I would use the painting tool. I do recognize that I would need to be careful with it, as I could apply with a heavy hand.

I Googled “faux bois” and found a blog devoted to it. It’s called “It’s (K)not Wood.” Clever. I found these:

…among many other things. Check it out if at all interested in the faux bois pattern.

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Watching for black mold…ings

 Lately, you may have noticed an influx of black in designs featured in shelter magazines. From a post or two in the blogosphere I am not the only one to notice. I have not seen many black moldings, but I am leaning towards them. I come from the land of Reba, my mother, who has always said mouldings and trim match throughout the house. This is conventional wisdom and by all accounts the norm.

Photo from: Addicted2Decorating

Photo from: Apartment Therapy       Photo found on: a room somewhere

Photo: DecorPad

I saw a photo of black floorboards and picture railing, there was no crown molding. I thought I had captured this photo, but it looks like I did not. Of course, I can no longer find it. The ceiling and wall were white, the black picture rail broke the color. Personally, I’d do the ceiling white and the wall antique white and let the picture rail break it up. I liked the look very much. I would paint our floorboards and the trim around the doors black but I would not go “all out” and complete it by painting the trim around the windows black. None of my rooms are that large. 

I cannot say that I’m brave enough to do this. Truthfully, my trim goal for our  home should be that the whole place has trim and it matches. Have you seen different colored trim in a home or a room? I haven’t. Do I want to be the first?

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Paint in the New Year

Last year, J. Logan (The Mister) and I painted our kitchen cabinets to ring in New Years. Here I am on 12/31/2008 in all my DIY glory.

We went with a pretty coral orange, but it revolted against us.

The latex paint peeled and would wash off with water. With every wipe of a kitchen towel, orange would disappear. This was incredibly aggravating. I thought we may throw in the towel and a couple thousand dollars to replace them. Instead I took a moment to put the sheet of peeled paint on my head, take a deep breath, be sweet to Mister J. Logan and discuss the greatness of working with what we have and save to replace.

We went with oil-based paint. We should have from the beginning. Most people, hardware shops and paint stores will try to convince you against oil-based. Don’t listen to them. Latex is more forgiving with paint strokes and you might as well forget about saving your brushes after painting with oil-based, but use it for anything heavy duty (example: kitchen cabinet s).

We tried sanding, liquid sand, multiple cleanings with TSP, primer, Sherwin-Williams super primer and it still peeled off and was a pain. We sanded and sanded in prep for our final battle. Here are my boys working hard on our porch:

We went with a new color. By this time we couldn’t take the sight of orange.

Yay for painted cabinets! However, do you notice the blue back spash? The entire back splash and countertop surface is that lovely shade of blue. Therefore, our next project is to cover them. Once again we are trying a cheaper option than replacement. We will be trying RustOleum’s Countertop Paint. Our samples of the colors have not come in yet. You must request them. Stores have nothing but the box top to display color options. Of course, I don’t trust those.

Manual labor not your thing? I understand and enourage you to paint your nails. Nordstrom’s has Lippmann’s Collection Nail Color named “Happy Birthday” for $18.00.

I’m not generally one for sparkly nail color, but this is glittery fun. Lippmann’s glitter has a definite rounded shape. It does not qualify under the tacky sparkle look. Plus, it’s multi-colored and that helps with the fun behind this type of nail color. Side note: J. Logan is a new years baby, so the name could not be more appropriate.

No matter how you plan to paint the town, be careful during your holiday plans.

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