Color Class – Country Design Home

Apr 10, 2014

WoW! Wainscoting Wallpaper!

Coach and I recently purchased this country-style cupboard at auction for…wait for it…$10!!! It was pretty grimy and the front doors were missing, but I just fell in love with the detail in the top trim and base.

The color was a faded and chipped greenish-mustardy yellow with some sort of stenciling on it. So not country pretty, so time for a makeover. First step, clean it up! Second step, I had to remove the middle piece of wood where the now-MIA doors would have normally closed and latched. (If anyone knows what that piece is actually called, let me know : )

It was easy to pop out with a tap of a hammer, but there was a wood spindle at the base that needed removing, since I wasn’t planning on replacing the doors.

(This is the point when Bartlet the Frenchie was exiled into the hall closet, as he was none too pleased with the noise of the saw and kept trying to attack it!)

Easily done with a small saw, then I patched up the holes and was good to go. The first coat, my go-to primer, Glidden Gripper. It covers lots of sins : )

Amazing how one coat of primer can change the entire look of a piece! See how the detail pops with the clean, white paint!?

My finish paint choice? A lovely shade of creamy white called Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore in a matte finish.

If Linen White and White Dove were married and had painty children, this is the color they would be. Before I applied the top coat, I decided I wanted to add some sort of trim or wainscoting to the back panels to give the cupboard a bit more interest. I went searching through Lowes (well, first I scoured the basement workshop and the barn but came up empty handed there), where I perused all sorts of wood, metal and vinyl options. I wanted something simple and lightweight to install that would give a nice finished look. At Lowes I discovered this roll of faux paintable, pre-pasted wallpaper wainscoting by Allen & Roth. Score!

It looks like a regular roll of paper, but It had the feel of foam, so it is very lightweight and easy to cut with scissors. No dragging out my saw and sanding down edges, then gluing and nailing in place. Just measure, cut, dip and paste. Perfect.

Simple to cut, just measured it out, marked with a pencil and used scissors.

Dipped it in a warm bath in the sink for 30 seconds, then removed it and allowed it to sit for 3 minutes to allow the glue to really gel up.

This is some seriously sticky and gluey glue! The panels went on so easily over the primed surface, and since I had already premeasured and cut, no additional trimming was necessary. I just placed the paper into position and used a damp sponge to wipe it down and remove any excess glue.

According to the instructions, I waited 24 hours prior to painting, then I painted the entire piece with the Snowfall White.

And folks, this really does look like raised wood wainscoting!

This painted piece is so much better, BUT, I am not finished.

I need to decide on an accent glazing color, and I am open for suggestions. Red, lavender, gray, blue, brown, what color would you choose to enhance the beautiful trim and the wainscoting without changing the overall feel of the cupboard? I am loving the white, but it needs just a touch of something!

And this needs to be completed quickly, as Easter is fast approaching, so time is of the essence. Help! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series · Tagged: Allen & Roth, Allen & Roth Faux Wainscoting, Allen & Roth Wainscoting Wallpaper, Benjamin Moore Linen White, Benjamin Moore Snowfall White, Benjamin Moore White Dove, country cupboard ideas, country cupboard painted, Glidden Gripper

Apr 3, 2014

Coronado Captured in Color

By countrydesignhome · 2 Comments

This past weekend I spent a little R & R in California to recharge my blogging soul and warm my freezing bones. Mission accomplished. Sharing just a few sights and sounds of colorful Coronado, a resort city that sits across the bay from San Diego, connected by the spectacular San Diego/Coronado Bridge.

View From The Bridge Color Capture

Whenever I go walking to explore my surroundings, I always have my iPhone at the ready to take photos. And, with my Benjamin Moore Color Capture App, I can replicate those exact colors of nature in paint-to add a touch of sunny California to my home! Hmmm, I wonder if they have an EARTHQUAKE app?!?

San Diego Harbor-A View From Coronado

San Diego Harbor Color Capture

Coronado Brick Walkway

Brick Walkway Color Capture

Purple Flower Color Capture

Green Grass and White Picket Fences

Green Grass Color Capture

Coronado Flower Gardens

Lavender Daisies Color Capture

Fresh From the Farm

Luscious Red Tomato Color Capture

Boney’s Bayside Farmer’s Market

Fresh From the Farm Color Capture

Coronado Bicycle Weathervane

Weathervane Color Capture

If you haven’t downloaded the Color Capture App to your smartphone, do it now! You will be amazed at all of the colors available in each picture frame that you can’t see with the naked eye. Have a spring-in-your-step kind of Thursday, everyone!! Warmer temps will be here soon… maybe. Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, Inspiration, Outdoor Adventures · Tagged: Benjamin Moore Color App for iphone, Benjamin Moore Color Capture, Benjamin Moore Paint analyzing app, California, Coronado, Iphone app to capture color, San Diego

Mar 13, 2014

The Antique Table Throwback

By countrydesignhome · 16 Comments

It’s #Throwback Thursday, everyone! What better way to celebrate than to show off my latest DIY project? This week it’s a turn-of-the-century table Coach had stashed in the barn. Pretty beat up, lacking polish and pizazz and missing the little finial in the base.

This is the before when it was manufactured by the Denhard Furniture Company of Louisville, Kentucky, sometime between 1855 and 1905. This is the after.

Here is the how-I-did-it:

1. My first step is always to clean the piece to make sure there isn’t any dust or dirt or mold or mildew-after all, who knows where its traveled in these last 100 years? I wanted to preserve the top to stain, so I flipped it upside down and went to work.

2. I painted the base it with my favorite primer: Gripper by Glidden. Awesome stuff. Covers everything in one coat.

3. Once that dried, I painted the body with a coat of Benjamin Moore matte finish paint in a custom color. And by that I mean that I mixed a couple of different cans of paint I had on hand to create this creamy white color. I will name it Buttercream Frosting. Because I love Buttercream Frosting. And it is a buttery cream color. Hence, the name.

4. I painted all of the raised detail blue-this is why I LOVE redoing old furniture. You don’t find this kind of carved detail at big box stores!

And this locking mechanism for the legs is brilliant! A screw-eye is attached to the leg, which then in turn is attached to the brace with the screw. So sturdy.

OK, so I painted all of the raised detail with the same home-made blue paint concoction that I used in the Colonial Country Cupboard I recently completed. Love it, want to use it over and over again. But I am almost out, so I’m going to have to find a way to replicate it! OK, so now the detail was blue.

Then I repainted the entire piece again with the Buttercream Frosting and wipe away the excess off the blue details.

5. I sanded everything down to give it that rustic, aged look that we like.

And by we, I mean myself and Coach. I know a lot of people are not fans of the painted, sanded, stained look, but that’s cool. One man’s trash is another family’s re-loved vintage table : )

5. I glazed the entire piece with General Finishes Brown Mahogany

(I was planning on using this for the top, anyway, so this way it matched color tones. I’m kinda smart like that.) Simple process. Paint the stuff on.

Try not to spill it. But if you do, use plastic drop cloths so it’s easier to scoop the stuff up and put it back in the can.

I’m using plastic lace table cloths from the dollar store. I know, right? Cheap, pretty and practical (insert joke here). Used a damp rag to keep it workable while I wiped it off until I was satisfied with the results.

Look how the detail pops now!

6. The base has two cross pieces that meet in the middle. At one time there was most definitely a decorative finial, but that was missing. I was searching for something suitable when I spotted these curtain rods at the Christmas Tree Shop. (If you don’t have one near you, and don’t know what this store is, let me assure you it does not merely sell Christmas Trees!) These were a glazed, antiqued metal and cost $5.99!

So I removed the finial from the rod,

then filled the finial with glue

and also coated the spindle with glue so it would be very secure.

7. So now the new pineapple finial is a welcoming addition to the antique table. Is it the original? No. But I would never have been able to find that. This seemed like a sweet solution.

8. For the top, I used the aforementioned Brown Mahogany Stain to replicate the rich brown of the original color and finish. That was after Coach sanded it down, but I didn’t catch him in the act, so I don’t have a shot of that. But I do have a pic of him cleaning an old cupboard using my kitchen gloves. He worked for a few minutes and then said, and I quote: “This DIY stuff is hard work. I’ll finish it later.) And he removed the pink gloves and left! So I remind him of that whenever he drags home yet another piece of furniture and says “work your magic with this”. Ha.

7. I applied a couple of coats of Fidde’s Supreme Wax

to give the top that glowing finish.

8. Here is the final closeup reveal of the accented details and beautiful wood top!

I think Mr. Denhard would be very pleased with how I have lovingly restored his table. What do you think? Could you love a table like this in your home?! Do you have an old piece of furniture kicking around? If you do, then it’s your turn to add it to the #Throwback Thursday Collection! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: #Throwback THursday, antique table restoration, antique table restored, Benjamin Moore, bobvila, Fiddes Supreme Wax, General Finishes glaze, redoing an antique table

Feb 18, 2014

French Lavender Side Table-Ooh-la-la!!

By countrydesignhome · 11 Comments

Writer’s Note: I am excited to share that my little French Lavender Table Transformation was featured as an Editor’s Pick on BlogHer!! To view that post, click here:

As featured on BlogHer

Now, onto the transformation! With some pieces of old furniture, I choose the style and color of the makeover according to my needs. Some pieces tell me what they need to be. This little table needed to be the center of attention in a lovely lavender French boudoir.

We purchased it at auction and I could have chosen to paint it red or black or green, but Behr Lavender Lily seemed to be just the perfect, soft color for this delicate little beauty. Here is the how-I-did-it:

1. Cleaned and lightly sanded the entire piece. It was pretty dusty and dirty and topless-must have been a long, crazy trip from Paris!

2. The base coat of paint was quite adhered and sturdy other than a few chipped edges, so I just sanded them, added a primer for the top and simply painted over it. Look at the sculpted details here!

First 2 coats, Behr Lily Lavender.

So soft and pretty!

3. Added a glaze of Behr Ridge View paint mixed with Martha Stewart Glaze Effects to highlight all of the exquisite detail on the legs, drawer and back.

I mixed it together in a 4 to1 ratio (glaze to paint) then painted it on (working in small sections because it dries pretty quickly),

then wiped it off, leaving the glaze where I wanted it to remain as a highlight.

Allowed the piece to dry.

4. In the past, I have used waxed paper for my transfers, but this time I tried freezer paper instead.

The freezer paper is a little heavier and easier to work with than the waxed paper. There are two sides, a matte side and a shiny “plastic-coated” side.

You want to print the graphic (thanks, Graphics Fairy : ) on the shiny side, in reverse! In this case, I wanted to use a small graphic to decorate the center of the table top, so I would be able to place things on it without completely hiding the picture.

5. Once printed, allowed to dry for a short time. DO NOT TOUCH IT or it will smear. Lightly dampened the painted surface.

DO NOT OVER-DAMPEN

or the graphic will come out all smeary and then you have to wipe it off and repaint it and start over again. Ok, well, that happened to me. More than once. So DON’T DO THAT.

6. Gently and carefully placed the graphic straight down onto the surface, then affixed with painter’s tape to create a “hinge” at the top.

This allows you to check your progress without moving the graphic around and messing up the picture. WARNING: you only get one shot at this. If you attempt to moved the transfer around once it has touched the painted surface, you will need to start over. Ok, well that happened to me too. More than once. So DON’T DO THAT.

7. Once the transfer had successfully landed on my piece, I used a blunt object to rub the surface using firm pressure. I used the back of a spoon but I have seen others using credit cards (I prefer to use those at HomeGoods).

This takes a minute or so to complete the transfer. Just keep rubbing all over, and check periodically by lifting the corner and then placing back down in the exact same spot. Hence, the tape hinges. Removed the paper from the design once I was happy with the transfer. Allowed to dry.

8. Once the piece had dried, I applied a coat of Fidde’s Supreme Wax

to protect the entire piece and provide a nice, glowing finish. Wiped it on, buffed it off with a soft cloth.

9. Drilled the hole for the antique brass pull

and Ooh-la-la!

My new precious French Provincial side table is magnifique!? Oui? This technique is pretty fool-proof as long as you allow time to dry between steps and follow the transfer instructions. But, before you transform a piece, make sure you really look at it to decide what it needs to be. Have a Bon Mardi, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, Inspiration, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series · Tagged: Behr Lavender Paint, Behr Ridge View Paint, bobvila, French Lavender Side table, Martha Stewart Glaze Effects, printing french graphics with printer, refurbishing a small table, transferring french typography, transferring graphics onto wood table

Jan 26, 2014

Tagged by Tagxedo

By countrydesignhome · 1 Comment

Every once in awhile I happen upon a fresh new idea or website that’s just fun and creative and easy enough for anyone to try (and there is no sanding and painting and glazing and waxing to do : ) Well, hello, Tagxedo! This website creates “clouds” of words that you can personalize in a million different ways to print or save or have printed on shirts or whatever you would like to do with them. AWESOME.

I went to the home page, where you can add essentially anything you wish to create a cloud-I just entered the URL of my blog and this happened in, like, 2 seconds:

Here is their Facebook page where you can get ideas-and there are so many! I love this reverse print HORSE.

Just for fun, I typed in Sochi Olympics and this is the result-a large snowflake puzzle piece!

I mean, seriously, I could sit here all day and play with this (well, I really can’t, I have rocks to climb with The Next 26).

But this would be a fun way to spend a snowy afternoon, with your kids too!

And, for the perfect Valentine for your very special loved ones…

So, if you are looking for some simply creative fun, check out Tagxedo. Here’s hoping your Sunday’s not a uphill climb!!

And if you’re looking for me, I’ll be on the top of a rock wall-NOT! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: tagged in word clouds, Tagxedo, valentines with Tagxedo, word clouds, word clouds by Tagxedo

Nov 24, 2013

Teeny Tiny Tea Table

By countrydesignhome · 3 Comments

My DIY projects are being completed at a record pace this month, knowing that Thanksgiving dinner for twenty is fast approaching and our Vintage Thymes Monthly Market will be the following weekend! One of this week’s projects was refurbishing a cute little side table.

The original finish was a shiny scratched shellac with large milky stains on the top over a dark mahogany wood. After several unsuccessful attempts to remove the stains, I made the decision to paint and antique it instead. Since I wanted to show off the pretty delicate floral border, I decided to go with two coats of Annie Sloan French Linen for the base and a specialty deeper gray color that I created. (I’m calling it CDH Parisian Gray : ) I have been mixing my own colors and creating a chalk-like paint using a recipe I recently discovered online. LOVE it. Blog for another day.

For the finishes, I used some Martha Stewart products I discovered in a 50% off mark down bin at Michaels. Crackle Effect for the center, Antique Tintable Glaze for the contrast and a Satin Acrylic Finish.

Here is the How-To:

1. Cleaned the table and remove cobwebs and dust (it was in the barn…).

2. Painted the base coat with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The beauty of ASCP is that you don’t need to prep or prime anything. Just paint and go. Two coats. 3. Sanded the edges to give the table a more rustic appearance. (You can skip this step if you want it to be a bit more refined : )

4. I had left the middle circle untouched, thinking that I would just add the crackle medium and then paint over that to allow the dark wood to show through. (For more info on using crackling medium, check out my Big Rack Attack Towel Rack tutorial)

FAIL. The crackling medium dried, and when I painted over it for the contrast, it looked fine.

Until I started to add the glaze. What a mess. All of the paint started coming off with the rag! Apparently the crackle medium did not adhere to the unprepped and shellacked inner circle. So I scraped it off,

cleaned it well, sanded it down,

painted it with my CDH Parisian gray,

crackle glazed and repainted that inner circle again, allowed to dry thoroughly,

then proceeded on to the next step.

5. Mixed the Antique Effects Glaze with my darker gray paint.

Remember, the more paint you use, the darker the glaze effect will be, so just use a small amount of paint. Paint it on, wipe it off with a damp rag. Do one section at a time, as this product dries pretty quickly and you want it to be blended smoothly and not leave streaky lines.

I started out with a fairly dark mixture of paint and glaze, then added more glaze to lighten up as I went on. The great part about this product is that it is water based, so just taking a damp rag to it removed the excess perfectly. You can see how the glaze enhances not only the crackling effect in the center, but also the medallion of flowers along the border. So country pretty!

6. Allowed to dry, then added the Martha Stewart Satin Finish for protection. Done. Overall, I give the Martha Stewart products two thumbs up! They go on smoothly (the crackle fiasco was my bad, not Martha’s), clean up with soap and water, are essentially odorless and a little goes a very long way, so it’s inexpensive as well. But the refurbishing of this little table cost me a lot of time. Good thing Coach got it for FREE-99!!

7. So, where could you use a Teeny Tiny Tea Table? How about next to a pretty pink victorian rocking chair in the Parisian-inspired guest room?

OK, I am off to decoupage the world! Or, at the very least, some more stars… Have a super Sunday everyone, and GO PATS! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, antique tea table, country design home decor, country design tea table, French Linen, Martha Stewart Antique Glaze, Martha Stewart Crackle Effect, Martha Stewart Satin Finish, refurbishing a tea table

Nov 2, 2013

Mixing Milk Paint Misstep

By countrydesignhome · 1 Comment

This past week I have been working on quite a few pieces for the upcoming Vintage Thymes Market in November. It’s fun, other than the fact that my house looks like a bomb hit it-I have bits and pieces of projects going on everywhere!

The smaller pieces I can do in my basement workshop, but the big pieces stay upstairs. Man, I really, really, really do need a studio! For my current project, I decided to use my Miss Mustard Seed’s “Eulalie’s Sky” Milk Paint for the back of a beautiful step-back cupboard I am working on.

I read the instructions and set out my necessary tools: air-tight container, measuring cup, warm water, bag of milk paint, mixer-what?!?

Yup, a mixer. You see, milk paint comes in powdered form, in much the same consistency as powdered milk we used to use as kids when we ran out of regular milk. (I can’t help but notice that in this advertisement, they are using a cocktail stirrer to mix the milk. Those were some crazy times…)

Interestingly, when I first opened the package, it appeared to be white.

Uh, oh, I thought, they put the wrong color in here! But once I added the water, the magic began. Now, according to the instructions I had read, this paint needs to be blended for 3-5 minutes, which makes sense, to break up all the powder bits and get them blended smoothly.

And it says you could use a blended or a stirrer stick. Well, my blended is reserved solely for frozen margaritas, so not using that! And, standing there for 5 minutes stirring paint didn’t seem like all that much fun, so I decided to use a single whisk on my mixer. FAIL. BIG FAIL. I should have stopped once I noticed that my paint was looking more like a blue vanilla frappe than a bucket of paint, but I didn’t. So once the 5 minutes were up, I had this:

A big container of frothy blue milk. You cannot paint with blue bubbles. I repeat, you cannot paint with blue bubbles. So, I put it in the fridge for awhile to allow it to settle-it is milk paint, after all! Once I removed it, it looked a lot less frothy, so I attempted to paint the cupboard. While it was actually useable, the color was very sheer, obviously from the aeration still present.

If I had wanted it to have a stained appearance, it would have been perfect. So I waited awhile, stirred up the paint again with a stick to smooth, then added a second coat.

Better, but still kind of streaky and with a lot of color variation.

So, then I went online and watched all of the Miss Mustard Seed Tutorials to make sure I was doing this correctly.

(You would have thought it would’ve been a no-brainer to do that first, right?) And I was doing it right, with that one fatal flaw-frothing the paint first. That was most definitely NOT in the tutorial. Oh, well, another DIY lesson learned. One more coat, and now the color is deep and true on the inside of the cupboard.

And, although there are variations and some streaks, it gives the piece some striations and depth of color-much like the sky itself. (I took this from my car yesterday-so beautiful!)

Now I just have to finish the rest of it! And I will, while watching the Red Sox Duck Boat Parade from the comfort of our ~~family room~~ paint workshop. In the meantime, anyone got a studio for rent? Happy weekend, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, My Little Red House, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: DIY Milk Paint, Eulalie's Sky Milk Paint, how to mix milk paint, Miss Mustard Seed Eulalie's Sky, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, Mixing Milk Paint, types of milk paint for painting

Oct 28, 2013

Eulalie’s Sky

By countrydesignhome · 6 Comments

When I was a kid and old enough to realize I actually had a middle name, it was a very long time before I was comfortable sharing it with anyone. Kids are cruel, and the “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours” game did not set well with me, being the very awkward and shy child that I was.

Because, while my friends’ middle names (and why do we have middle names, anyway?) were short and cute, like Ann and Jane and Beth, mine was unheard of, unpronounceable and French, no less! So, I would typically give the hint “It begins with an E” and let the games begin. First of all, there weren’t that many names beginning with “E”- Ellen, Elaine, Emily-kids could guess all day long and NEVER figure it out! Secondly, even if I divulged my middle name, the typical response was “WHAT?!?? no way, you’re making that up, how do you spell it?!” And so it was my well-guarded secret, shared only with my closest allies. But I never told my mother about my childhood angst because I was named after my beautiful and talented maternal godmother, my great-aunt Eulalie. (it’s pronounced you-la-lee).

She was a fashionista before it was a thing, all five foot nothing of her,

and what she lacked in stature she made up for in spunk and style.

According to my mom, when she was a small child in boarding school, the teachers would stand her on the lunch tables and she would sing and dance-a born entertainer!

What I remember most about her in my adolescent years was her fabulous spiky red hair, fishnet stockings, mini skirts and thoroughly modern style-even into her 80’s.

She would have been a star in today’s social-media-driven world. Aunt Lally, as we called her, was an amazing musician, playing both piano and organ professionally.

At every family gathering, there was always that moment when Lally sat down at the piano to play some jazz tunes, oftentimes accompanied by her sister Bernadette, a talented opera singer. So many fond memories…

So why am I sharing all of this with you now? Well, I would first like to think that I (and my friends-ahem…) are more mature now, and able to appreciate the name for what it is: a beautiful reminder of a wonderful wife and mother

who was a role model for my generation of women-fabulous, talented & sexy.

Secondly, in all of the years that I have carried my middle name, I have never once seen it in print, until recently, when a Google search (we didn’t have Google back when I was a kid. Heck, we didn’t even have blow dryers!) revealed that there is an 1845 poem by Edgar Allen Poe named Eulalie. And amazingly, a very short while ago, I spotted this on a blog that I follow,

What’s so interesting is that this beautiful shade of pale aqua-green milk paint called Eulalie’s Sky is one of my very favorite colors.

So now I am planning to use this color in some new pieces I am currently working on, leaving my own personal stamp. Last week, I drove out to Worcester to obtain my very first Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in my new favorite color, Eulalie’s Sky!

“Well-Spoken”. So perhaps the legacy my Aunt Eulalie left for me with her name was not her fabulous fashion sense (that’s for sure!) or her incredible musical talent, but the ability to communicate with all of you through the written word. To that end, I am eternally grateful that I was chosen to carry forward the beautiful name Eulalie. Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, Inspiration, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Aunt Lally, Eulalie, Eulalie by Edgar Allen Poe, Eulalie's Sky, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paints

Oct 23, 2013

Paint A La Cart

By countrydesignhome · Leave a Comment

Coach and I did a LOT of picking this weekend and scored many great items for some upcoming markets. Mirrors, and oak bookcases, furniture, rugs, and more mirrors-all amazing!

Saturday morning, I was busy doing house sort of stuff, so Coach went off himself, only to call me within a few minutes to tell me that someone was selling cases of paint for $1 per can! So he grabbed the first boxful of colors he thought I might use.

I went back with him later and struck up a convo with the homeowner. Turns out he had owned an unfinished furniture store for years, and had recently closed it down. These were the leftover paints, stains and finishes.

So I grabbed some stains (now, I know Hunter Green is not in style right now, but you never know when it might return to its former backwoods glory)

some Milk Paints-can’t wait to try these

and Glazes- so many colors to choose from.

This ought to be fun! But my best yard sale buy of the weekend? This awesome heavy-duty stainless steel rolling kitchen cart!

The guy was asking $10 and Coach asked if he would take $5. He said “sure, quick, just take it before my wife comes back outside-she has an emotional attachment to everything!” LOL!! We all know how that goes! So, I brought it home with the intent of finally organizing all of my paints, stains and finishes into one spot instead of scattered all over my work shop.

Before I could use it, though, I spent about 2 hours with many household products including Awesome Orange cleaner, vinegar, baking soda, bleach spray, scrubbing brushes and many kettles of boiling water to clean off layer upon layer of grease-yuck! I am not sure where this thing had been, but I sure as heck didn’t want it in my basement attracting critters! Finally, the finished cart was sparkly and ready to go. I made quick work of filling it with so many cans and bottles and pots of paints and finishes.

So now its filled with my newest additions

to go along with my ever-growing collection of Behr paint sample pots I get at Home Depot,

plus a new paint with some amazing colors

from a company called Paint Couture

and my first ever Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (in a very special color, more on that later..).

Boy, do I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks! As I try each new product, I will give my unbiased opinion on the overall painting experience. But tonight is game one of the World Series, so paintbrushes away! And Go SOX! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: Behr Paint, General Finishes Paint, Home Depot, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, Paint Couture

Oct 8, 2013

Cabbage Roses to Country Charm

By countrydesignhome · 2 Comments

The 80’s called and they wanted their dusty rose cabbage roses back. So I obliged. And our downstairs 1/2 bath, that used to look like this

now looks like this! (I need to apologize for the not-so-great-pics. Do you know how difficult it was to squeeze into a 5 x 8 bathroom to take these?!)

Many of the DIY projects in this tiny bath have been featured on my blog, including the vanity transformation, from boring beige

to rustic navy

the American flag art piece

and of course, my Oh Deer Buck Towel Rack.

So what was once pink and beige with roses and LLadro dolls and shiny brass fixtures

is now all dolled up with the new color palette of navy and green and polished nickel fixtures. The inspiration came from the fabulous wallpaper.

This paper, that I scooped out of a clearance bin over a year ago for $10, has the appearance of old barn walls with textured crackled vertical striping. The woodwork, once Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee, is now Benjamin Moore Snowfall White.

The floor, previously smoky pale blue tiles (many of which were broken or cracked)

is now a stunning slate subway tile I picked up in a clearance bin at Lowes for $1.12 per s/f!

Love our new faucet from Home Depot, which resembles an old well pump.

The sconces used to be shiny brass and hung next to an ornate, floral gold mirror.

but when I (my daughter found these, actually, but as soon as I saw them I had to have them! She and I installed them together, so thanks Kate!)

found these at Home Depot I knew they would be the perfect complement to the rustic old mirror Coach had picked up at a yard sale. I just cleaned it and added some Annie Sloan Soft Wax for a glowing finish.

This cute little tin shelf came from a downtown shop, and its the perfect size for holding tissues, soaps and some reading material.

Love this feature wall. Well, this was the feature wall until I was blow-drying my hair the other morning and the needlepoint picture ($1 at a flea market, oak frame from AC Moore with a coupon) that was resting on the shelf got blown off the shelf, taking the brown wood vase with it, smashing them onto the new slate floor. Luckily, the floor was spared any damage.

So now this is the feature wall.

This was a budget makeover, with the only major changes being a new toilet, new faucet and the sconces, all from Home Depot. The towels, candle holders, soap dispenser, toilet paper holder and scatter rug were from Home Goods, of course. Everything else is reclaimed, refashioned and repurposed, like these beautiful Mason Jars, once filled with preserves, now preserving the past while serving as functional containers.

The only thing I am still on the fence about is the sink. It is old, and has lost most of its shine, but it is granite. And blue.

My original intent was to paint it white using epoxy paint. But, after reading the scary warning label (my nervous system has taken enough hits lately…)

and knowing that there is virtually no ventilation in the tiny space, I decided to pass for now. So blue it stays, but it does look like a sink you might find in an old farm bathroom, so I’m OK with it. This, by far, has been one of my all-time favorite transformation projects in our home. It captures the essence and stays true to our country design home style, don’t you think? Stay true to your Tuesday style! Susan