Paint | Operation Home

So, our master bedroom is painted. And not a moment too soon. Actually it was painted last weekend, but I ran short on time for taking pictures.

Anyhoo, we started out a dark tone of purple…

And ended up a pretty grey…

I know… This looks mighty similar to our last bedroom. Because it is. It’s actually the same Driftwood Grey by Glidden that we used in our last house, but I had it tinted 25% lighter. I just couldn’t get this shade of grey out of my head. Its just so interesting and complex with it’s sexy green undertones. In my mind, it’s the perfect grey. So, I wanted to keep it, but lighten it up a smidge to account for the smaller window and dimmer lighting. I actually think I could’ve even gone 50% lighter now that it’s up on the walls, but I’m happy enough that I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

Here’s a progress shot which shows the difference in colors. You can see how purple the walls were in comparision…

Here’s the view from the doorway (extra Brownie Points to anyone who can teach me how to take proper photos of windows)…

And for fun, here’s what it looked like when we took possession, before we changed the carpet…

I haven’t hung any curtains yet because we’re having our paper-thin 1970’s windows replaced in a few weeks (Woot!). Once that’s done, it’s on. I’d also like to get a bench or something for the end of the bed. I’m not used to having a room this big, so I’m not really sure what to do exactly… maybe some kind of area rug for visual interest?

I decided to make this little corner a seating nook…

I’m absolutely digging the vintage Naugahyde footstool. I found it on Craigslist and just had to have it. The end table came with the coffee table in the living room. I never finished it with anything because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it, but now I think I’m gonna Polyshade it darker to match the footstool. I’d love to add a standing lamp of some sort, and that fake plant will get a different pot (or I’ll maybe chance the life of a real plant again).

I’d definitely like to get some different art for our room this time around. Something modern and quirky that suits our personalities. Maybe some kind of oversized framed posters or something. I’ll have to just keep an eye out for what strikes me. I think between different art, getting a new, sleeker bed/headboard (once I actually find one), and a few other tricks that I’ve got up my sleeve, the feeling of the room will change immensely.

On to the little atrium area… which is now the home for our new MCM dresser….

And it fits like a glove. I’ve put no effort into accessorizing it again since moving it from the adjoining wall because I wanted a clean palette to work from. Hopefully, I’ll glean some decent art ideas from the blankness. I do know that I’d love to add some interesting floor-to-ceiling wall treatment behind it. I’ve seen some neat tutorials where fabric was applied to the wall for pattern, so maybe something along those lines. Plus, I’m thinking either a mirror above it or some light, bright art.

In other news, I’ve also painted the master bathroom. But thanks to the Home Depot providing me with the incorrect color, I’ll be repainting it before I show it to you. Don’t worry… I’ll divulge the deets at that time, along with some always-fun blooper pics.

We’ve also been researching exterior color schemes for the outside of the house. We were told during our inspection that the house needed to be caulked, sealed, and painted to make it more impenetrable to the elements and prevent further damage from occurring. We’ve gotten estimates and would like to get that done before it gets too cold in case we have another harsh winter. I’ll let ya’ll know once we’ve figured it out.

So, is everybody ready for Halloween?? We have a little Ninja Turtle roaming around these parts at any given time. And he’s not Lucas anymore. He’s Michelangelo. He now introduces himself as such to strangers. Though, strangely, he decided on Rafael for his costume. I guess it makes sense, though. If he truly IS Michelangelo, then Raphael is bit of a departure. On that note, if the Ninja Turtles dressed as each other for Halloween, would we even notice?? Yes, this is what I’m thinking about right now. Okay, time to go. Ya’ll have a fun, safe holiday!!! 🙂

I have to say… things have been pretty busy in the homestead as of late. Stuff has been happening that I cant WAIT to tell you guys about… when it’s time. But it’s not time yet. All I can ask in the meantime is that you all do me a solid and send positive, happy thoughts our way. Every little bit helps. And we can definitely use it!

Project-wise, this last weekend was one of those weekends where I got a lot done, but nothing was completely finished/prettily staged in the end. That being said, the mission to turn No Man’s Land into a room of function inches along. I’d mentioned a while back that I had an old table in the garage that I’d wanted to paint for my craft space in our spare room. I started working on it two weekends ago and finally finished stripping and painting it this weekend.

Here she is before I started…

This is a solid oak table that was sporting many, many coats of paint. Observe….

So rather than just prime and paint, I knew this puppy needed to be stripped. After recently learning how to use chemical stripper, I was totally up for the challenge. I have to say, stripping paint was different for me than stripping varnish. For one… although it was messy, it was less gloopy. Also, I quickly learned that the process needs to be repeated multiple times depending on how many layers of paint are on there. I did nearly FOUR rounds with the stripper. FOUR.

My top layer of white came off with my first try to reveal another layer of white paint and a wee bit o’ black…

My second go around resulted int he remaining white being removed with a bit of black…

And just when I thought I was done, I peeled up all the black to reveal…

More black.

So, four rounds of stripper + scraping later, I had it as good as it was gonna get. Picture this, but with only small patches of black left on top (This was before my 4th coat of stripper)…

Next, I had to sand to make the surface smooth. Although I’d gotten most of the paint off with the stripper, the remaining paint was left in a pretty thick coat which would’ve shown through my paint job. It didn’t need it to be completely perfect since I’d be painting the surface anyways, just smooth and seamless. So, I hand-sanded the legs with 220 grit sandpaper and used my electric sander for the top and any flat planes. Once the table was sanded, I moved it inside. And I’m kind of peeved at myself, because I SWEAR I took a picture of the final stripped product, but it’s nowhere to be found. After 8 hours spent stripping this thing, I think I at least deserve to feast my eyes on an “after” shot. Sheesh. #littlestviolin

Anyhoo, after cleaning the table thoroughly with tack cloth, I painted it with three light and even coats of Valspar Signature Paint + Primer in Ebony Field, which is the same paint that I used on our back door. I used a brush on the base and foam roller on top. I sanded between coats…

(See that nice smooooooth surface with the pretty woodgrain showing through??? THAT’S a fully stripped table, people! Way to blow my skirt up, table. This picture makes me giddy.)

…Anyways, I cleaned the dust off with tack cloth to ensure the smoothest finish possible and was sure to allow adequate dry time between coats. And here’s the final result…

Sorry about the crummy shot and lack of “after” pics, guys. I’m telling ya, this weekend was so busy that I’m just lucky that I remembered to take one at all. I still need to rearrange the room to accommodate the table and accessorize the space as a craft room, so I’ll post about that when it happens (with PLENTY of after shots 😉 ). But painting this table is definitely one small step forward that equates to one giant leap for me in terms of this space. Now that the table is done, many other things can be done as well. Yay!