Spray Painted Furniture Baby #2 and A Breakfast Nook

Good Morning! It is a beautiful day here in NM, not to hot (yet) with a slight breeze. I enjoyed a cup of coffee at my new breakfast nook this morning. I opened the window to feel the breeze and hear the birds sing to each other. It was so relaxing and refreshing.
I have been wanting a breakfast nook in my kitchen area for some time now. The space that makes the most sense for a nook is a small spot. I had been looking on Craigslist for some cheap furniture and saw a dinning set with a bench, corner seat and a table for 50 dollars. The only problem was it wasn't in great shape. I usually steer clear of project pieces because I wouldnt consider myself talented in reconstruction but I have a want to be good at it and thats what gets me into trouble most of the time. I have to say that this time it worked out in my favor:) A little spray paint and a canvas drop cloth go along way, baby! Take a look at my newly reconstructed bench seat.



I'm not sure what the seat is made of. I'm thinking a cheap vinyl. So, I took a chance and spray painted the top (Back) of the bench with spray paint for plastics. It worked out so well that I will be spraying vinyl furniture forever. The only thing is, I sprayed it with a clear enamel to keep it protected from scratchs and I don't like the look as much as when it was just sprayed with the spray paint. It looked just like leather before I clear coated it. Oh well, it still looks fabulous! The seat was in such bad shape that spraying it wouldn't fix it. Here is a pic of what it looked like before.



Luckily the seat and the back came apart. I bought some high loft batting and placed that over the seat, then the drop cloth and stapled it underneath. Good thing no one can see the staple job underneath, it's ugly:) I still need to scotch guard the drop cloth. You guys don't let me forget, OK?!?!
I'm telling you there is something about a bench seat that is so inviting. Do you ever notice how when you go to a restraunt and they ask you if you want a booth seat or a regular table seat, that you always go for the booth. Well, atleast my family does. I think it's the bench seat that wins me over everytime. Now my bench has extra cushion and is so soft that I may never eat at the regular table again. The kids are at the grandparents house so I might surprise the hubs with dinner tonight and dine in at our romantic booth table. Here are some more pics of how it turned out.

You can't tell me that this doesn't look inviting:)







Sit, please:)






I better get going and start brainstorming for my romantic date tonight. Have a beautiful day! Jamie

P.S. No babies were harmed in this blogpost! I just call then furniture babies because I'm so proud of them. It's like giving birth. Please tell me you guys understand:)


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Closet Cabinets~ painted and distressed

Hey Blogger Babes! I don't know about ya'll but it has been a busy summer for me. Lots of projects and lots of changes around the house. I have so many to share but first I want to show you the finished cabinets in my closet. You know the ones that I decided not to sand. LOL:) Well, they turned out real nice after all. I painted the cabinets the same color as the wall, which is a light gray. Then I distressed them with a black and brown stain. I used a rag and a paint brush to apply the stain. Then I sanded a few spots down to the wood to give an aged look. For the final touch I used white paint and a brush to contrast the dark stain. Check it out~


















Not to shabby, huh!?! My husband is such a sweet guy. He tell me "I think you're ready to go pro" Right, and these pants don't make my butt look big either! LOL:) I have to admit though, for the headache that these cabinets cost me or maybe I should say, for the headache I cost me while being lazy while painting these, I think they turned out pretty darn good. They have added extra storge and function to my fabulous closet. So, I quess in the end the headache was worth it and the story does make for a good laugh. I hope you laughed today! Jamie











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Lesson Learned ~ don't be lazy, do it right the first time!

Remember in my last post when I alluded to a funny story about the cabinets in my closet. Well the truth is, what happened really wasn't that funny to me. It was a lesson for me to learn about doing things right the first time. Let me set the story up for you first and you might understand why things happened the way they did. As you guys have read from my previous post, the closet project took longer than expected. I was hoping for a week tops to complete the job but it actually turned into 2 weeks and some change. That's a contractor in my home from 9am to 4pm, Monday thru Friday. It is a weird feeling to have a stranger in your home for that long. I didn't even want to eat, because I thought it would be rude. What if he's hungry or thirsty? Do I offer him something? If I sat down to relax I felt guilty. He's in there working and I'm sitting on my rear. I know I over analyze, and I was paying him to do the work so I didnt have to, but it was still stressful for me. Not to mention that my clothes took up residencey on the guest bedroom bed during the remodel. It was like an episode of hoarders in there. LOL! There were lots of decisions to make, lots of running to Homedepot or Lowes to get this or that and LOTS of mess! So by the time the contractor was finished I just wanted it to be over with so I could feel some kind of normalcy. Unfortunelty, I had decided that the cabniets did not match the gray color scheme so I needed to paint them white. Ok, so here is where my laziness cost me. I decide that I didn't need to sand the cabniets. I get the primer that he used for the wall, which he suggested that I buy from a paint store called Kwal. I'm thinking this must be some high quality stuff. I have 5 gallons of it and I dont want to run to the store to get something else, so I start priming the cabniets. As I'm painting I notice that it is bubbly looking. I try to rationalize that it is because Im using a roller so I switch to a brush and that seems to calm my fears enough to contiue on. I primed everything except the doors and drawer facings and then take a break. When I came back to see if it had dried, I noticed the bubbly look again. I softly ran my finger nail over the primer to see if it had adhered to it. It didn't:( I quickly grab the kids and rush to the store for some better primer. Something that will adhere so I dont have to sand anything. When I get to the store a gentlmen ask if he can assist me. So I tell him that I need primer for some cabniets and I dont want to sand. He strongly suggest that I sand before I prime. I roll my eyes internally and just get some primer that claims that you don't have to sand and rush home. By this time my husband is home and he suggest that I prime a small section to see if it will work before I reprime everything again. Wow, he's a smart man! So after I test a spot and see that it scrapes off just as easy, my husband looks and me and says "you need to scrape all of that primer off" I'm thinking to myself is that even possible? Well folks, I'm here to testify that yes indeed it is possible. With lots of elbow grease and help you can scrape primer with the best of them.

Thats a scary picture for a lot of reasons! Wow, I need a bath! Fortunetly I didnt have to scrape alone. My kids thought it would be fun to help mom, which I'm ever so grateful for!







Let's not forget about the mess this made! Feeling sorry for me yet?


Needless to say, after all the scraping, I sanded everything. Lesson Learned! Pictures of the finished project to come. Stay tuned.... x's & o's Jamie

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Upgrade me ~ Closet Progression

I wish that I could convey in words how exhausting remolding truly is. My house has been in shambles for days now. The entire house is covered in a white dust and the laundry is growing like a flesh eating disease. Overwhelmed might be the best word to describe what I'm feeling right now but I know that it is all worth it in the end. So, here is some shots of how its coming along.
Here is the mess I was telling you about. Literally covering everything!


Drywall and Plaster

Texture


Paint and Tile

Beginning of built in shelves

Funny story about these cabniets in my next post:)

Gray and white color scheme.

Figuring out the lay out of your closet is not easy! I decided that I didnt want to walk right into the closet and see clothes or dirty shoes, so I placed theses two cabinets on either side of my new fancy mirror.






Welp folks, there's some pics of my big messy adventure. More to come! x&o's Jamie