First Coat DONE & What I Learned

Anyone who's ever painted a very dark room knows the first coat is brutal, but the second coat is not too bad. This is definitely the case with black paint!

I finished the first coat yesterday and I am in love. I'm sorry if you are sick of my black room updates by now. To make this post worth while, I'm going to share what I learned when painting a room black. But first, some pictures!







What I learned (aka what I wish I knew) when painting a room black:

• Use BEHR Premium Plus ULTRA. No, they are not endorsing me to say this, but this job would have been 1,000x more brutal if I hadn't gotten this paint. It's the paint with the primer in it. At first I was skeptical but after getting the sample I was sold. I'm almost ashamed writing this considering I've been a Valspar fan for so long. In fact the only reason I walked into Home Depot was to see Martha's new colors, which they didn't have yet.
  
• If you are going black, go with "Onyx" by Benjamin Moore, colormixed by BEHR. This color is absolutely perfection. Velvety, warm, just perfect. I first learned about it from Autum at design*dump. Then I picked it out on my own, after forgetting the name, at BM. It was fate. And to make things even easier for you, here is the color breakdown from my can in case you want to get it mixed at your local Home Depot:
  

• If you are doing dark (or black) walls, go with a flat finish. It won't leave ugly streaks. Black is already a reflective color by nature, so even with flat you'll still get somewhat of a natural sheen.
• Roller Lite Tiny Touch-It-Up Kit was a godsend. It's a cute tiny little roller and tray that is about the size of half a piece of paper. I got it at Home Depot. It was perfect for edges and corners along with a paint brush and painters tape.
  
• Use Frog Tape painters tape... black paint WILL leak through the blue kind. And with a color as dark/bold as black, use painters tape.
  
• Use Shur-line Rollers with Teflon. I tried three different kinds, and wish I had started with this one first. It really did make the process faster, like it claims.

And that's pretty much it! Using high quality products really makes a difference, so if you are going with a color like black, don't skimp because it will just end up costing you more time and more money in the end. And my last tip is, if you want to go black (or any other color that is a bit daring), don't be afraid! Even though it look more effort than I thought, and even though we are just renting, I'm still so glad I did it. It already feels more like "home".

I can't wait for the "after", but our furniture won't be arriving for another two weeks. So I'll be waiting with bated breath along with you! Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll be sure to answer in the comments section.

How To Paint Furniture

Occasionally I'll get emails asking how I paint furniture, so I thought I'd do a post all about it. I learned my process through trial and error, and I hope you find my tips helpful.

Speaking of painting furniture, do you may remember this piece I found a while back on Craigslist?



I re-stained the top a deep deep dark brown, and painted the bottom white (including the drawer pull). Here is the after:



Let's get started....

Step 1 - Clean
If your piece of furniture is old, it probably has layers and layers of "grime". I simply use soap (something gentile like dishwashing soap) and water and paper towels to wipe everything off. A sponge works well too. Make sure everything is DRY before you get started.

Step 1b - Sand
I put this as step "1b" because the truth is, I don't always sand. In fact, I rarely sand. Some people swear that you HAVE to, and some people swear you don't have to. There are certain circumstances when I do:

- Sand if you are staining. If you are staining wood, you must sand down to the base layer, the "naked" wood.

- Sand if there are rough areas, knicks, dents or laminate.

My favorite item to use when sanding are sanding sponges. You can use them wet or dry; I always do dry. They come in different grits, the higher the number the softer the results. If you are staining, first strip the wood of anything with 60 grit. For regular projects, use the 100 or 150 grit sponges first to even out rough areas, then smooth with the 220 sponge. Be sure to get the sponges with the angled sides, they great for nooks on your furniture.



So back to the issue of sanding vs. not sanding. If your furniture is in good shape, you don't need to sand as long as you prime and poly. I've learned this through doing both many times. If the furniture does have any imperfections, I just sand and smooth those areas and leave the rest of the piece as is. Here are some other reasons I usually choose not to sand:

- Let's be honest, it's really hard! It takes a lot of time and energy, even with the electric sanders.

- Even if you do the hard grit and then work your way up to the fine grit, the finish never seems to turn out as smooth as it was before you sanded.

- Lead paint.. I'm always afraid of sanding old painted furniture.

Step 2 - Prime

Priming is an important step. I use Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer, I bought a huge tub of it a while back and am happy with it's performance:


I usually do 2-3 coats of primer, depending on the color and condition of the piece of furniture.

Here is one of my specific tips: I always use foam rollers. I get the best coverage with foam rollers, and never get brush marks or air bubbles. These foam rollers are my favorite:



A 6 pack like this is perfect for one piece of furniture. You'll use around two for the primer and around 3-4 for the paint. This brings me to another key point:

I always use a new roller for each coat. Sorry environmentalists out there - it's the only way I've found to really get a perfect finish. Remember, you want to let the paint dry completely between coats, and usually when it's time for a new coat the paint on the old foam roller has dried. I've tried in the past washing the rollers, but I can never a finish as perfect as the first time use.

For small nooks, use these:



These actually clean up pretty well, so you only need one of them. It's really just the rollers I like to replace.

Step 3 - Paint

Let's discuss types of paint first. I always use your basic Interior paint you find at Lowe's, Home Depot, Benjamin Moore, etc. Nothing fancy like oil-based. Just plain latex paint.

I always buy FLAT and use poly as a finisher (I'll get to that later). Flat finish is the best because it's easy to sand (also get to that later) and doesn't show air bubbles or brush marks.

As I just mentioned, an important step in between coats is sanding. Be sure to use your fine 220 sanding sponge for this step. Sand your piece lightly so that any and all air bubbles and strokes are sanded down and the finish is smooth. You MUST wait for the paint to completely dry before doing this step. Typically a start to finish paint job takes 3-4 days because of the waiting.

The job will take anywhere from 2-4 coats, depending on the color of paint. The more coats the better! You'll be able to tell when you've reached your last coat, the color will be rich and perfect.

Step 4 - Poly

So what's poly? Here's a picture:




It's a protective gloss that gives your furniture a beautiful shine and durability. It comes in satin, semi-gloss or gloss. I like all three, it really just depends on what type of look you want. But I usually go with clear gloss.

If you are going to follow any tip of mine, please follow this one: Buy Minwax Water-Based Polycrilic protective finish. The exact stuff from the picture above. I have purchased so many different types of poly's... water based, wipe on poly, regular poly, even those that claim to be completely clear... They all leave ugly yellow stains on your furniture. This is the only poly that leaves your white actually white and not off white. Trust me on this.

I've used both foam brushes and paint brushes for the poly step; I personally like foam brushes because you can toss them out (it's hell getting poly out of one of your good brushes). Just make sure to apply even, THIN coats and you'll be good. Especially watch out for drips, if you don't catch them they will dry and look like teardrops on your furniture :(

Sand in between the coats of poly, too. Except after the last coat of course, or it won't be shiny!

By following these steps, you should have a very nicely painted piece of recycled furniture. If anything is unclear or if I've forgotten anything, please do leave me a comment and I'll respond to all comments in this post for everyone to see.

And with that I'll leave you with more pictures of my painted desk:







Updated: Q&A

Q: Bryn, do you have a favorite 'white' and favorite 'black' color/shade for furniture? There's a lot to pick from when it comes to black and white!

A: I actually don't have a favorite black... I haven't ever painted a piece of furniture black before! But when I paint my master bedroom black I'll definitely share which color that is. As for white, I really love Lowe's Valspar Bistro White. It's the white that I used on the desk in this post and it's a really great white and a good price.

Paint It Black: Before & After

First, Happy Labor Day! I'm sure things will be dead around the blogs today, but I finally finished painting the dresser in our entry and I just had to share!

If you remember, in this post I was leaning back and forth on whether I wanted to paint it or sand it down to it's original stainless steel finish. Almost all of you said "stainless!" but I went black (for now) for a couple reasons:

1. I felt the room needed the contrast

2. It would have been pricey to get it to it's original stainless steel finish. I would have wanted it done right, so it would have had to go to a professional refinisher. $$$$

3. I can always have it stripped in the future.. it will always be stainless steel and the paint is only spray paint.

So black it was!

And here was the before:



And here is the after!





And I love it!

As you can see, I kept the original knobs, and also kept the feet silver. This gives a little nod to the original piece. I was going to replace the knobs (I even bought some new ones that will be returned). But when I put the original knobs back on temporarily, I realized they were perfect.



At first I was going to do lacquer gloss spray paint. I purchased it and did one quote but it was all wrong. So I sanded down and did Satin finish.

I used this spray paint:





The mirror and lamp are "just ok". But they were already owned and work for now.

What's going on here at our first place

If there was a line graph of progress here at our first place, it'd look something like this:

[graph found via google images]

And the drop off point would be when our family left us.

Priorities have shifted to getting my office done. When I find free time, I put a coat on my office desk. It's a vintage mid century modern piece that came to me really beat up, so I did some patching and sanding and a couple coats of paint.





The color is Martha Stewart Falcon (mixed in BEHR premium plus ultra). It's the perfect Army Green with a bit of milkiness to it.



Originally I wanted a super gloss finish, but I've been liking the smoothness of the flat paint. So I will use Satin poly instead of Gloss to protect it. I still have at least two more coats of paint and a couple coats of poly to go.

Switching gears, I've also been testing cream samples in our master bedroom.


For at least a week now, I've been trying to decide between Sherwin William's Creamy (third from left) and Sherwin William's Dover White (first on the right).

I think Dover White wins. It has more yellow than pink tones, and I think it will create a nice warm, calming space. I also think it's better to go with the yellowed tone cream for warmth in the winter. Thoughts? I just went upstairs to look at the swatches again, and Dover White seems very yellow. Still undecided.

I need to prime the walls before I paint to cover the blue/green, so I'm not sure when I'll get around to that.

The third space I've been actively working on is our master bathroom. There isn't much to be done in there, so I'd like to finish it up soon. I need to paint, add a couple wall shelves, add new window treatments, and then I'll be done!

Here are the wall shelves I think I'll be adding:



Even though our other spaces still look somewhat like a construction zone, I'm 'workin' with what I got'. Here is what our entry currently looks like:



(Flowers picked from the only flowering plant we have on our property. They are a pretty color, aren't they?)

I'm debating whether or not to paint this piece black, OR have it professionally stripped down to it's original steel body. Similar to this:





What do you think? As much as I LOVE the original steel, I'm leaning towards black. I think it will contrast against the blue/gray walls better than steel. I can always sand down to original finish later down the road for a different use/room. Like a nursery!

So, that's where my head is at! Going in many different directions.

edit - I'm already getting votes for the steel! I sort of knew that would happen ;) I'm still leaning towards no steel.. here is a picture of the room. I'm feeling that the steel just doesn't "go" with the blue/gray. Please persuade me otherwise if you feel strongly for steel though!

Loving right now: black curtains

Right now in my head I'm loving black curtains. Maybe you aren't brave enough to paint your walls black, like this gorgeous room in Windsor Smith's home:



Or maybe you really want to but can't (like me). Black curtains are a great solution to get a similar bold effect.

I haven't been able to find too many inspiration photos, but there is this one from the Ikea catalog:



But no, this is all wrong. The type of black curtains I imagine in my head are completely opaque. Something like Martha's roman shades:



They would be a very rich fabric like velvet.

Ah ha! A quick google search and I found these:



Black, velvet with a blackout back panel. Perfect!

Then I would line the sides of the panels with a rich color... like terracotta or rust.



And if you are curious, I'd put them in a completely neutral room with lots of large windows, like this:

{image via decorpad.com}

I'm thankful for my blog where I can log all my obsessions. :)

I love.. black painted windows

Black painted windows with white walls are something I have saved away in my "future home" folder. I love this look!









It wouldn't be a hard change - just a Saturday and Sunday with a can of glossy black paint and some Frog's tape.

If this look is a bit intimidating for you, adding black shutters or blinds is another option to create a similar look:

Classic Kitchen Materials (on a budget)

Seeing that stainless steel island at IKEA this week got me thinking about kitchens. I actually often think about updating our kitchen and what I would do when that day comes.

A beautiful kitchen with high end finishes is one of life's biggest luxuries (in my opinion). The day I can completely gut a kitchen and put in whatever I want is the day I know I've made it (ha!) But until then, you really can still have a pretty kitchen on a budget. And since I've had this "plan" in my head for years, I thought I would share it with you!

First up, a pretty kitchen to me is a classic kitchen. If you go to my Kitchen & Bath Pinterest page, you'll see exactly what I mean. Here are some of my favorites:

 

If you have somewhat decent cabinets, it's amazing what a coat of paint can do. When we bought our house, we had our painters refinish our cabinets. It sounds expensive, but it's not! They sanded and sprayed the cabinets with oil based paint. The previous owners had painted the cabinets on their own, but it makes such a difference when they are sprayed! Our cabinets aren't in perfect condition (some of them buckle a little), but they are "good enough" now that the finish is nice.

The last picture I posted above is my favorite, and pretty much what I would do to our own kitchen. I love the mix of elements, but they are all so classic and timeless.

Here are budget friendly elements I would/will use when it comes time to update our kitchen:

1) Inexpensive Black Granite For Main Countertops: This particular granite I pictured is "Black Pearl", but there are so many inexpensive black granite options out there. That's the great thing about black granite - it's so budget friendly and easy to care for.

2) Marble Subway Tile: Home Depot sells a great, inexpensive marble subway tile. It's the same type of tile that I used for our bathroom floors. It's only $5.49/sq ft. I recommend going through and picking exactly which tiles you like since the veining does vary a lot from box to box. It's tedious, but worth it! If you're on a really tight budget, you could always go with plain white ceramic subway tile!

3) Light Gray Grout: I love a good white backsplash with dark grout. But when it comes to picking a gray, I like a lighter gray. Exactly like the grout used in the 3rd picture above.

4) White Granite/Quartzite Island: THIS is a great thread all about Princess White/Super White quartzite with a lot of pictures. This stone is a great alternative to marble, and from what I've seen is pretty budget friendly. Especially if you are only using it for the island!

Okay, this post has made me really excited/anxious to update our kitchen! But we don't have any immediate plans to.. first I'd really like to tackle the floors (we still have vinyl floors in the kitchen! Ah!) But, I'm a planner... so I definitely have it all planned out for when that day comes :)

Random Thoughts with Random Pictures

I feel like since Thursday when the movers came I've been so disoriented. Not in a bad way, but moving to the other side of the country into an apartment and being reunited with the husband after months has really disheveled me, again not in a bad way at all. Like I was used to a certain routine and now everything about that routine has changed and I'm adjusting to a new one. My old life consisted of working 9-5, being alone the rest of the time while working like a mad woman on three interior decorating projects that I needed to wrap up (for the most part) before I moved. Now I'm here and learning to take the dog out regularly (she's been soo good!), living with someone else again (oh how I missed him!) and being my own boss.

I owe a ton of you emails, and I am sorry. Today is my first official "work" day and I plan on getting back to as many people as I can. And in between, I'll be putting up fresh coats of paint!

So to go with my random thoughts.... some random pictures:

I threw out all my old pillows during the packing process (it was time!) so I went to Tuesday Morning to buy some new ones. While I was there I found...



The COOLEST Pantone mugs and a pear terrarium. The pear terrarium was only $8 and they also had apples, oranges, and all different sizes. The mugs were $3. I got four total Pantone mugs, and I just love them so much. They remind me of my college graphic design classes.



As I mentioned earlier, we have no furniture except for one IKEA chaise and a blow up air mattress. Here is the current state of our apartment:



I can't believe I'm sharing these pictures... but I know I'm going to look back and laugh at this. My husband and I eat together on that tiny little table, me on the chaise and him in the chair. And yes, there is a sheet on the chaise. My husband put it there when he first moved out here and we have yet to take it off. It makes me laugh just writing this. But it will just make for better "afters". ;)



We did manage to buy a bed for Charlotte so that's where she's been.. can you see her?

Okay now on to the fun part...



Black paint! I only did two samples and I'm going with the one on the right. It's Home Depot's BEHR color match of Benjamin Moore's Onyx. See how it's a bit richer and less purple than the one on the right?



There it is on a different wall.

We're lucky to get so much light in the apartment, or else I wouldn't be painting the room black.

Okay, off to emails & painting!