Monday, March 15, 2010

Lipstick on a Pig

Before we moved into our REO house that had sat vacant for over a year, we did a MASSIVE cleaning. John literally vacuumed an entire shop-vac full of dirt and dust off the carpeted floors, and I spent hours scrubbing toilets/showers/sinks/cabinets. We were so happy to be done with the cleaning push and then the move, that we didn't even think about decorating/painting. So for the last year, I've been living with paint colours that hurt my eyes, and no motivation to change things. Notice the GREEN walls.

Last April, I bought some paint when Home Depot was having a sale on Behr, including a mail-in-rebate. And just like to mail-in-rebate, I never got around to painting. Until last week. I taped off the downstairs bathroom, filled cracks/holes in the wall, and painted like a mad woman. Poor Josh had to ask to use the restroom. I decided to just paint the walls and deal with the molding/ceiling later (self-preservation).

I used Behr's Light French Gray (swatch can be found here: # 720E-2) on top of the sagey-green that was in the bathroom when we bought the house. Two coats of paint later, and it looks a bit like a baby-blue, and the cool paint colour is REALLY clashing with the warm undertones of the travertine and slate tiles. So I think I'll be repainting in the future, but not just yet. Maybe next year :o) I want a warmer gray, for sure. Slate blue/gray.

I also put up come of the 6-piece brushed nickle bathroom fixtures that John and I scored at Costco a few weeks ago for $30. I can't find them online, but for the $30, we got a large towel rod, a medium towel rod, a glass shelf, a 2-prong robe hook, a hanging towel loop, and a TP holder. Not too shabby! I bought two sets, so I'm going to mix and match them between the upstairs and downstairs bathroom.
I also got the hang the drawing I completed last week!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Know Which Way the Wind Blows

Last April, I bought some paint. I was going to paint the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms, because the SAGEY green in the DS bath and the LEMONY yellow in the US bath were killing me. I'm more of a warm gray/blue kind of a person, and my eyes were telling me they were in pain.
Then, I lost the motivation (because there were other things to do), and the cans of paint sat in the spare bedroom, collecting dust in the corner.
This last weekend, I got off my butt and spackled the holes, filled in the dents and dings, and resolved that this week, after work, I would FINALLY paint the walls in the damned DS bath. It'll be my first painting project as an adult (I remember half-heartedly helping my mom as a kid, though I doubtlessly did more harm than good), and I'm nervous about it (chicken-heart!).
But, I'll give you before and after pictures, so you can ooooh and aaaaah about my madskillz.
In the meantime, this is the drawing I completed the put in the bathroom once it's all painted and purty.
It's based off a photograph I found years ago (and I cannot find the original source of the picture, but here's the image). The original artist took a photo, pushed the contrast up to 11, and then created a negative of the image.
And here's my interpretation:

I think I like the original better--the square orientation is great, and I love how the trees look all wild and yet strangely calm.
Regardless, it's so moooooody, and I think it'll match the lovely french grey I chose for the bathroom, and the sheer size of it will help to fill up the massive blank wall above the tub. I'll post piccies when it's in place.
Click for more flash-tastic pictures of the drawing.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A New Life, What I Wouldn't Give to Have a New Life!

The lyrics to "A New Life" from Jekyll and Hyde are rattling through my head, because I gave a New Life (hah!) to a sad little seat-less chair John and I found outside ReStore last Octoberish. You might remember the picture from my post back in November. That it's below. Cute, isn't it? As I remarked, I'm certain the chair was hand-crafted, and the person who made it just gave up on finishing it. There were glue drips on it, and it was missing the center spindle on the back, and there were pencil details where the person had planned on hand carving the arms. It was solid, supple wood, and I decided that I simplyhadtohave it, so I doled out the $10 and John and I stuff it into the back of the Prius.And it sat in our dining room for several weeks. Around Christmas, when I was getting the house cleaned up for hosting John's family for Christmas dinner at our house, it got stacked on top of the other rescue-chair and placed in the spare bedroom. Then in February, I got the itch to DOSOMETHING with it, so it went out to the garage.
I first set about sanding it. Stupid, I tried it by hand. Even with the 80-grit paper, I was getting no where. So I pulled out John's oscillating power sander and got to work sanding the sucker down. First 80, then 100, then 200.
After, oh, about 2-straight hours of sanding, I was satisfied that it was ready for staining.
I used Minwax Poly Oil in Red Mahogany, because that's what I had on-hand at the time, and I tend to prefer darker woods with red undertones (no oak for me!).I applied the stain using a sponge brush, and it worked out quite well. After letting it set for 20 minutes, I removed the excess stain with a rag. And it looked blotchy as hell. I was disheartened, and appealed to John's vast knowledge base of woodworking techniques. A second coat, he recommended.
And Boy oh Boy, did the second coat make a difference! Didn't it look much better?
A few days later, I was ready to apply the clear coat. I used a matte-finish Minwax Poly that worked with the oil stain.
I applied three coats, because that's what's recommended by the manufacturer. There are some slight imperfections in the coats, but I was alright with them and decided to stop futzing--after all, it doesn't have to be PERFECT.
Next I set about making the seat. This was a pain in the butt. First, I cut out a square from a sheet of crappy 3/4" plywood we had sitting around (NOT furniture grade, just the cheap stuff from Home Depot that we had originally purchased to make a work bench and never got around to using). I then cut out a large piece of clear plastic bag, and taped it to the seat of the chair. Using a marker, I traced out the seat-ridge on the chair, so I'd have a template to apply the the plywood. I cut the plastic to size, and then traced it onto the plywood. I started out using the band saw, but there's something up with the blade because it kept going off at weird angles. John wasn't around to help figure out what was wrong with it, so I just soldiered through. I also tried using the jig saw to cut it, but I think I was using the wrong kind of blade because it kept CHEWING up the wood without REALLY cutting it. I managed to whittle away enough wood to get it to sit correctly on the seat, so I was happy. The wood bottom for the seat looks HORRIBLE, but I figured that since it'll be covered with fabric, who cares? I (smartly) didn't take any pictures of the horribly ugly seat, so I will spare you the sight.
I then took the chair and seat into the house, and attached the fabric in the same way I did with the other chairs I reupholstered.
I bought a 2" foam pad, and once I got the fabric on, I decided I didn't like it much--it resembled a mushroom, and wasn't the sleek look I had in my mind. So at SOME point in the future (who knows when?), I'll redo it. But for now, I'm happy with it. I think the chair looks lovely, and I'll ignore the puffy set with the off-center pattern, and enjoy the new seat in the living room.
Click here to see more pictures of the process (no commentary, just pictures). All in all, I think I probably spent, oh, 6 hours working on the chair. Here's the budget breakdown.
Chair: $10
Fabric: $10
Stain: Already had
Clear Coat: $5
Sandpaper: Already had
Foam Pad: $12
(Mostly) Finished Product: Priceless
I'm going to start working on the other chair we bought at the same time, sometime soon.