All White With Me

My Craigslist Kitchen Cabinet has been in desperate need of an update for a while now.  I painted the inside of it back when I bought it, with leftover paint from our family room. That room has been repainted, (thankfully) so the cabinet looked out of place with a yellow inside.  I have since painted it with paint I mixed myself, and I don't like it, but that's a different day. ;)

 

What I am loving, is the look of all white dishes and platters in cabinets.  Problem was, I had no plain white dishes and didn't feel like hunting all over for the perfect "imperfect"  collection of them.  So when I was in my local Restore, I found these...

I know right?  But they were only a dollar each, so why not?  I spray painted them with glossy white (two coats on the flower power dish) and they look perfectly mismatched now.

I'm open for ideas on the interior paint???

 

How To: Rustic Initial Fall Wreath

 

 

 

 

Today I'm posting my easy, (yes, you can do this) way to customize a wreath.

 

Initials and burlap are all over, and I happen to have both on hand to spruce up a basic, leaf wreath I found in my Fall bin.  I used a pre-primed white initial from the craft store.  I chose a more "formal font" since I think the curly fonts remind me of spring and summer.   I knew I wanted it painted a peacock-family blue color, but not solid.  So I experimented and came up with a treatment that made it look rustic.

 

 

Here's the boring, store-bought leaf wreath. 

 

 

 

 

Burlap and a "G"

 

I didn't take pics of the letter treatment, because I really didn't think it would turn out, but I can break it down for you. 

 

First, I spray painted the letter with blue paint, after waiting patiently for 6 minutes as it dried, I brushed on some rust orange craft paint.  

I placed a paper towel over the letter and pressed gently, then lifted it off to remove some of the paint.  I did that again with brown paint a few minutes later after the rust color dried.  Now it looks old. (Excuse the flash).

 

 

 

I used the wide burlap on a roll and wove it through the wreath, then glued it place every so often. 

 

 

 

See?  How easy, right.  Done before Dinner!

Blue Bamboo Dresser

 

Before

 

I've finally gotten around to tackling my bamboo dresser, it's done (sort of) and she is quite lovely, I might add.  I followed the same steps I used when I painted the matching side table here. It's true color isn't captured in the pictures, it's really a deep cobalt color.

 

The top of this dresser is laminate, and this might be handy for spills and glass rings, but I just wanted it painted.  I used two coats of Kilz Primer only on the top,

sanding between coats, and then let it dry for three weeks.  (OK... you only need to wait 24 hours but back-to-school, the landing zone, the spouse's kidney stones, etc. held up some progress) 

 

I spray painted the dresser with a beautiful blue by Valspar, called "Deep Sea Diving."  (It came out so very bright on screen though). I Removed the paint from the pulls and knobs, and I still need to coat it with a poly, just for durability. I'm loving the gold hardware and high gloss, and this piece is perfect for stashing all kinds of slop  DVD's and toys in the drawers, while still looking like an accent piece !

Later, I've got a little project to share on tying in that touch of gold throughout the room.  Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

 



Removing Paint from Furniture Hardware

So, good news, some progress is being made on the bamboo furniture, but I wanted to share the easiest way to remove paint from furniture hardware.  This is worth knowing, people. 

I wanted my bamboo dresser to have gold fixtures, but didn't want to spray paint them because it seems to me that it would just chip off eventually.  I could see that once-upon-a-time, these drawer pulls and knobs were gold, but were painted over.  I tried Brasso and sanding them, until I gave up and Googled for a solution. I found a few, and was skeptical, but figured I'd try anything.  Here's how simple it is. 

You'll need a pot (use an old one, just trust me here) and a 1/2 cup of Cascade Dishwasher Detergent.

 Place the hardware in the pot, fill with enough water to cover the hardware, add the Cascade, and bring to a boil.

I tried to foil line the pot because I didn't have an old one, that idea didn't work, so now I do have an old pot :(

I let mine simmer for about 20 minutes, because I didn't trust that this could be so easy. 

 When I took one drawer pull out to test the progress, the paint just peeled off.  Whatever paint was stuck in the grooves, rubbed right off with a paper towel.  It was that simple, and not a bit of paint was left on any of the pieces.