Going Green

As I've sat on the couch in my living room and looked into the dining room a few things just didn't {sit} well with me...pardon the pun :-) My dining room bugged me and had for a while. Finally, one day I got it...my dining room was decorated in a way that I thought dining rooms "should look" not necessarily the way I wanted it decorated. 

I like color...I think I've mentioned that before...and this room needed COLOR!!! Everything I saw was brown. The floors, woodwork and dining table were all...yep you guessed it...brown. However, those three things were not changing. I will NOT paint my floors, beautiful woodwork or 100 year old gorgeous table. Soooo the color had to come in other forms.

 

I started with my buffet. I had painted it black many years ago so it was an easy choice for an update. Green is my favorite color and I love putting a pop of color on large pieces in my rooms. Also, the tapestry we picked up in Belgium 15 years ago had to be put away in storage. I would never get rid of it but WOW...15 years...it was time for a change!!!

Here's a before pic of the buffet. My grandparents gave this to us about 18 years ago when they moved to a new home and no longer had room for it. They bought it shortly after getting married so it's now close to 70 years old; and still an awesome piece

I decided to paint a harlequin pattern on the top to add a bit more interest. 

First I painted the whole piece green and then added the pattern on top. This allows for some of the green to peek through the gray. When distressing it's always important to think about what will show underneath. You have to think in layers.

Annie Sloan's Antibes Green is a bright green. Too green for even my tastes so I toned it down using brown wax.

 

I found these awesome knobs at Hobby Lobby. Aren't they great? Pardon the folded piece of paper that keeps the door closed...did I mention it's 70 years old :-)

 

Yummy distressing!!!

 

Now whenever I look into my dining room I smile :-) I love the added brightness and color!

I'm linking up to a few parties. Check out the awesome inspiration!

 

Oh the places we will go!

Here is another project I've completed recently for our home and I couldn't be more happy with it. I knew the moment I found this trunk that I wanted to use it in our toy room. We really needed a place to put all the pillows and blankets that gather in this room. I was constantly folding blankets and putting them back on the futon...ugh! Problem solved!!!!

Here's a before shot. It's not too bad black but I love me some color so of course it was gonna get painted!

The really nice thing about this project is that it was quick. No muss no fuss. It did take me a little time trying to figure out which fabulous color to use. As you can see there is already a lot of color going on in this room...but...it is a toy room so let's just go for it!

I knew this piece would be sat on, stood on and even drawn on...chalk board paint to the rescue. It's not too often kids hear their parents say "sure, draw all over the top of that trunk!" Their friends really like it too and it's amazing some of the things they draw. **idea moment** take pics of all the great drawings for memories and maybe another project down the line :-)

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint again in Antibes Green...my personal fave color. This is probably why the last two projects I've done for our home has been in green :-) I distressed the sides and again this works great for the toy room. If it gets (or when) more distressed it will only add to the character. Basically, it's kid proof :-)

Oh, and the cat C.C. would like to go wherever we might be going. She has to check everything out and wholeheartedly approves...how do I know??? She sleeps on top of the trunk most afternoons.

I just had to show you this picture. My camera is always laying around the house and so whenever I download pictures I never really know what I might find. This one cracked me up. I'm guessing from the point of view that it had to be taken by my 4 year old. What young child takes a picture of a can of paint??? My kid!!! I'm so proud!

I'll be linking up to several parties this week. Click on the buttons below to see what's going happening on those blogs.

A Full Circle

The desk is done!!! Whoooohoooo!

This desk has been a personal project for my daughter's room. I believe I started this around Halloween and it's finally done and in place. Ali is so happy and excited.

Here's a quick before shot. As usual I started it and then thought of taking a pic. This desk used to be my father-in-laws workbench in his basement. I was talking to my husband the other night and said "this had to be used as something else at another time." He thought about it for a bit and realized it was in he and his brothers bedroom when they were kids. Talk about a full circle!

I used Annie Sloan green chalk paint on the desk. I decided to use a little dark wax on it to tone down the green a little.

Using chalk board paint on the top of the desk means Ali can write all over the top of her desk and mom can leave reminder notes as well. Like...Ali, clean your room :-)

To "season" the chalk board paint you need to rub chalk all over the surface and then wipe it clean. This will ensure that whatever you write on the surface won't "burn in" forever.

The inside of the drawers were pretty rough. One of my favorite treatments is to decoupage the bottom of the drawer. I had these scraps of paper already laying around that worked great.

My little assistant who's always around to lend a helping hand!

A little distressing just makes the color pop even more. Also, Ali tends to be hard on furniture so I kinda figure I'm just working ahead :-)

Completing this project has me soooooo excited again to paint more furniture. I've got a lot of projects in the hopper so stay tuned.....