Tag: Painting

  • Working With Digital Paint Swatches

    Working With Digital Paint Swatches

    Here’s a question from my recent FAQ post. Nicole wrote:

    Maybe this is a silly question, but how did you get the paint colors off the brand’s websites? […] I wanted to email a “true” swatch [to my family] with my photos but couldn’t save a swatch from the Valspar website. Did you get permission from the companies or am I missing something??

    Thanks for asking (and nice name, by the way). All of the big paint companies use flash for their websites, which means you can’t right click to save swatches. You can get around that though by taking a screenshot and grabbing your color from the image created.

    So how do I make the brush strokes and paint blobs for my mood boards? I made my own custom set of Photoshop brushes, but you can use a font like Blobs, Brushstrokes & Balloons or this free ink splat font instead. Just pick your color and then use the brushstroke or blob of your choice. If you’re feeling fancy, you can play around with the layer effects in Photoshop.

    Paint Swatch

  • The Porch Rug (Revisited)

    The Porch Rug (Revisited)

    I thought I’d talk about painting the porch rug in a bit more detail today. So many of you loved the project (thanks!), and it really is something that can be easily done in your own home if you’re so inclined.

    front porch before and after

    I started by sketching the pattern on paper first. As I had mentioned before, I was inspired by a rug from Urban Outfitters (no longer available) and the flower petal patterns my Grandma Rose used to draw with me.

    Gathering Ideas for the Front Porch

    Once we were ready to begin, Brandon and I cleaned the porch and marked off the area for the rug with painter’s tape. We didn’t sand the floor first, though I’d recommend it if you have the time. Two coats of the base color (green) came next, and then it was time to figure out how to get the pattern drawn out on a large scale.

    Painted Rug in Progress

    I ended up putting in some rough guidelines with white chalk. I focused on placing the flower centers where I wanted them and then sketching out the general movement of the petals from there. I then painted everything freehand, stepping back every so often to make sure that the petal shapes and sizes were remaining consistent.

    Painted Rug in Progress

    If you’re considering a similar project, I’d say just go for it! It’s just paint — you’ll get a huge impact for very little money. And painting the rug while nine months pregnant was difficult (to say the least), but if I was able to handle it then the more able-bodied among you should have no problem!

    Front Porch

    If you liked my porch redo (all done in 48 hours with just $500), please take a moment to vote for it. There are two and a half weeks left, and I’d really appreciate your support during this time. And remember, you can vote once each day!

  • Paint & Fabric Instead of Wallpaper?

    Paint & Fabric Instead of Wallpaper?

    I hated the blue upholstery on the new dining room chairs (I’m just not a big fan of the color). I peeked underneath and saw green, so I decided to take off the blue fabric. I figured the fabric underneath would either be gross and need to be recovered (which would be fine), or it would be in good condition, having only been covered up for a change of color. Luckily it was in pretty good shape.

    Old Upholstery

    I rolled up the orange rug that was in the dining room and in it’s place I put the rug I’d been using in the living room. It’s not my favorite, but it’s neutral. It’s a pretty close match for the couch color, so it does bring a little continuity between the two rooms (like the orange rug and chair did).

    The New Dining Room Set

    One armchair is still blue because Mabel’s always sleeping on it and she looks so content I don’t want to move her. Kili is on another chair in that photo – in fact, there’s a cat on at least one of the chairs approximately 82% of the time.

    I’ve been looking into upholstery weight fabric, and I’ve found some great options. I love Amy Butler’s Primrose Lime from her Nigella line:

    Amy Butler’s Primrose Lime Fabric

    Maybe with a table runner made out of her coordinating Ritzy Stripe?

    Amy Butler’s Ritzy Stripe Fabric

    Anna Maria Horner also has some great fabric that will be coming out soon:

    Anna Maria Horner’s Drawing Room Fabric

    Then of course, there’s Tantsu and Satula, both by Marimekko. Oh, how I love them. I wrote a haiku about them last year.

    Tantsu:
    Marimekko Tantsu Fabric

    Satula:
    Marimekko Satula Fabric

    I ordered a yard of Satula, and I love it even more in person. So… I’m thinking of using paint and fabric instead of wallpaper for the dining room.

    The chevron wallpaper from Romo would have been “the one”, had I decided to keep the west elm table. The chunky, squared off lines of the parsons table offset the graphic zing of the zigzags. The new table and chairs are beautiful, but not with that wallpaper.

    I thinking of putting the large (huge!) scale Satula fabric in the back of the hutch. I could cover some luaun, or maybe just use little thumbtacks. I’d paint the walls a somewhat dark olivey/brown color, and then make curtains out of Tantsu. I can always use the curtains in another room if the right wallpaper comes along.

    Fabrics & Paint for the Dining Room

    Of course, this would also work with any of the other fabrics too. And I don’t mind recovering the seats if the green doesn’t work out.

    Thoughts?

  • A Change of Plans

    A Change of Plans

    The bathroom is further along, but I’m afraid I’ve deviated a bit from the original plan!

    I hated the lights above the medicine cabinet, so I bought a new fixture for $30 from Lowes. We had to take the cabinet down to install the new light, and then realized that we couldn’t put it back up. The lights wouldn’t clear the top, and there were going to be some harsh shadows.

    The new plan: hang a mirror instead and add a small medicine cabinet to the right, over the toilet. I bought a mirror ($30) and a cabinet ($40) from IKEA. Oh, and I repainted.

    Bathroom Redo

    It looks pretty good so far! The trim still needs to be primed and painted, and I haven’t done anything to the vanity yet.

    So far, so good

  • Oops, Wrong Color.

    Oops, Wrong Color.

    I painted the bathroom a few days ago. It looks much more blue than I thought it would. Oops.

    Here’s what the bathroom looks like so far…

    bathroom progress

    That’s “Antiguan Sky” from Benjamin Moore. It’s a pretty blue/green color that I pulled from the shower curtain, but it’s much brighter than I was expecting. It doesn’t look so terrible in the photo, but I just took that picture a few minutes ago (it’s midnight). It’s a very *ahem* cheerful color during the day.

    I hated it at first and immediately thought I would repaint. Now that I’ve added some towels and a bathmat from IKEA, it looks kinda cute. Kinda.

    *addendum*
    Here are some new photos, taken at 10:30 a.m. with lots of daylight coming in:

    bathroom progress

    another progress photo