I Heart Spray Paint: A DIY Project

Really, its just amazing what you can do with an hour and 2 cans of spray paint!

Start with an old black wicker chair.  Add a really cute dog to keep you company.

Several years ago, this chair was discarded by one of my neighbors in Virginia when she was moving.  It used to sit in my entry and it was a great place for putting on winter boots or to put books to return to the library and that sort of thing.  Imagine the entry with custom painted stripes in a rich camel color and this chair really popped.   Now that I'm in Florida I want bright, cheerful colors - aqua, coral, hot pink, lime green - tropical colors to match my new environment.  Enter 2 cans of Rustoleum Painters Touch Ultra Cover 2X spray paint in a gorgeous aqua.

I also bought one of those gun shaped trigger attachments to ease the finger cramps, but these cans have a larger 'comfort fit' nozzle and the attachment didn't fit over the can.  It is definitely a nicer nozzle than the traditional spray paint nozzle (at least the cheapo kinds) but after using 2 cans I did have that spray paint finger cramp going on.  A small price to pay for a gorgeous new chair!


After one coat, I realized that I was not the only one in the garden with a DIY project.  Someone decided to give the back of this flower bed a makeover.

"Mulch, pea gravel and dead leaves are so last year, you need freshly raked dirt!"

She's lucky she's cute!  But, I digress.  After letting the first coat dry a bit, I tipped up the chair on its back legs to get up underneath with a light coat, and then back over everything with a second coat.  I went backwards from how I sprayed it the first time, figuring that as the first can started to run out I used a lighter touch.  I just love the braided trim, and I gave that a triple coat along with the toplines of the chair.  I presume the arms will get the most wear so I thought some extra attention there wouldn't hurt.

My advice for future projects is to keep a small amount of the paint for use on the feet.  I have used up both cans completely, but I see some thinly painted spots on the very base of the back legs that needs better coverage.  I can probably mix up a suitable color in craft paint to cover those, and I'll keep that in mind for next time.

This is much better isn't it? 

In search of inspiration or is it really procrastination?

My recent search for inspiration is really thinly veiled procrastination.  It is not an easy job to fit 1800 square feet of stuff into about 1200 square feet and as much as I am trying to rise to the challenge, it is sometimes kicking my butt.  Its not a tough decision to choose whether to attempt to squeeze four more 3-cubic foot boxes of kitchen goods into an already full kitchen, or to hop on the internet and find dreamy photos of beachside cottage homes or brightly colored fun crafting studios.  Off to the internet I go!

One great place to find color combination ideas and inspiration is Coastal Living, such as the shot above.  They provide beautiful photo galleries full of ideas for kitchens, living rooms, outdoor rooms, small spaces and just about any room you'd be looking to redecorate.  They have one collection of coastal styles that is organized by color scheme - you can choose blue and white, seaglass, citrus, whites only, pastel etc.  The above photo is from the seaglass collection.  As much as I have not wanted blue to be a part of my decorating scheme, I have to admit I'm drawn to the concept of seaglass colors.  Somehow a washed out cobalt or teal is not blue in my head.  Weird, I know!

I'm also finding loads of color inspiration from some of my favorite fabric-related websites.  Along with most of the world, I'm crazy about Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner and Heather Bailey.  The Amy Butler site has a series of inspiration pages where they show the fabrics in real settings.  There is also a page showing her studio, which is not as bright as I would have expected.  Perhaps a neutral palette allows for more creativity?

Anna Maria Horner's blog includes some great project ideas and she seems so nice and personable.  When you walk into a fabric shop, you don't necessarily think "Hmm, some person just like me who likes to quilt and sew came up with this great design."  You just think "Oh I HAVE to have that."  Don't you?  She has some free projects on her blog that I'd love to try once I get the studio all set up and can actually use my sewing machine.  I think the dog leash pattern will be first!  She also links to Flickr groups where her fabrics are turned into wonderful things by crafters everywhere.  Lots of fun to check those out!  This is the promo for her new fabric line to be released this fall.

And then there's Heather Bailey.  She's a girl after my own heart - just look at the hot pink peonies!

Her blog is fun to read too and she links to photos of projects created with her fabrics.  She and Anna Maria Horner are both designers for Free Spirit Fabrics, and you can find their full collections here.  Wish they had a gallery like Amy Butler, but you can find FO's out there on Flickr and other blogs.

There's my procrastination for the day.  Off to unpack some studio boxes and get the cabinets in there re-organized.

Vintage Family Linens

While we were up for my dad's wedding, my sister and I took some time to go through some of the boxes of linens from my mom's side of the family.  We found some real treasures and it has certainly fanned the flame of my love for vintage items.  When I moved to Florida I thought maybe I'd try to go a bit more modern in my decor, but I can't ignore my love of cabbage roses, toile and hand embroidered or crocheted lovelies.  Here's a few of the cutest things we found.

Blue Irish linen embroidered hand towels. Why didn't anyone use these?

My favorite find - cock tail napkins. See his little drink? They are too cute.

A hand embroidered breakfast bib with bunnies. How sweet is that?

A set with table runner and several round cocktail napkins, embroidered with bluebirds.

As much as we loved unearthing these beautiful keepsakes, it was a little sad too.  I dearly wish I'd taken the time to go through them with my mom when she was still alive and we could have talked about who made what, or what special occasion something was used for.  Some things I know, like her mother quilted and my dad's mom did both knit and crochet, but there is so much that I don't know or just don't remember.  It makes me listen that much more to my dad when he talks, in the hopes that I'll remember and be able to pass on family details.  I also am going to try to make notes to keep with my vintage linens, handmade items and other treasures especially since some are family pieces and others are things that I've purchased.

Color!

So I've finally gotten all my stuff moved in to the new house and I'm thinking about maybe changing color schemes here and there. I've really only committed to three areas - the office space is black & white with red and then my bath is light blue with silver and mercury glass accents. That bath already has a beautiful embossed wallpaper painted in a pale blue, reminiscent of the old tile ceilings. The guest bath is pink flamingos with aqua accents. Love it! So there's three decisions made, but they're really the simplest.

I thought that once I got my furniture into the house it would be easy to 'see' what I wanted, and whether I wanted to stick with my old color schemes. Not so much. The very front room of the house is painted in a lime sherbet color with a gorgeous tile floor in white and terra cotta with black accents. I've put in a black wicker chair and my pine craft cabinets. The room is sunny on two sides and I think I'll be using it as a knitting space and a crafty place for when my niece and nephew come over. Not sure what to do there, and that's just the beginning! I need to choose color schemes for the dining room / kitchen, the living room, the master bedroom and the guest room. Insert big sigh here.

Have you ever done just a simple image search for "color" on Google or Yahoo? Oh the things you'll see!

blogged by Corner Paint

I don't want to get too cliche and fill my house with palm trees and pink flamingos (just a bathroom full is ok, right?) but the tropical inspiration out there is heady!

blogged by Hospitality Design

 This one might be a bit much for me, but I like the color combo

blogged by StyleBeat

 I love the idea of removable vinyl wall stickers, especially in a rented home.  NouWall on Etsy has some beautiful choices.

gorgeous wall vinyl from NouWall on etsy

More soon!