My Favorite Paint

While I was painting the dining room I knew I would do a post about my favorite paint. I had another amazing experience painting over dark walls so I had to share with you.

What I love about Aura paint from Benjamin Moore....

It has a built in primer. Yes, this paint is pricey but you are saving money by not buying a separate primer.

You are also saving time. This is what my wall looked like after one coat of paint. I knew going in two coats would be needed for the best coverage though.

I love that it's a low VOC paint and the odor is mild and dissipates quickly.

Using this paint is a little different to use. For best results, trim out along the ceiling and baseboards first. Then go back and roll it on. You can even come back and roll the next day and it will blend seamlessly.
It dries very quickly so you want to put it on the wall and leave it. Don't go back over it like you might with other paints.


Did you know you can wrap your paint brush and roller in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until the next day?

When I mentioned this to my friend who is no stranger to a paintbrush, I was shocked when she told me she didn't know about this tip.

While I'm talking about tips and tricks, here is one I had to use when I realized I didn't have another disposable tray liner. I lined my tray with a few layers of tinfoil; in a pinch it worked ok I just had to take my time. You could also use a plastic bag.

This time around I found out that Jimmy Buffet is great painting music.
Van Morrison will get you in a good even groove.
Bob Seger will have you daydreaming away.
Ray Lamontagne is always a good choice.
And I always listen to Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

How about you, do you have favorite painting music?

Estate Sale Finds

Wow, this has been such a busy week for me, and for some reason painting the dining room took forever to finish. Nothing on the walls yet but it's painted. I did make it to an estate sale yesterday and picked up a few things. I bought a kitchen table with really nice chunky legs, two chairs and a cute little bench with a cane top. I will share pictures with you once I give them a little makeover.

The sale was at a cool old house in the woods. I had to keep reminding myself to stop looking at the french doors with wavy glass and all the old details you don't see in houses anymore and hunt for treasures. Because of my sightseeing, I missed out on two chairs that closely matched my set of four reproduction chairs. Darn it!

Another find were these plates.

I only wanted a few but the women working the sale wouldn't break up the set until the next day, so I waited and hoped they would still be there today.

I got two dinner plates and four small plates for two dollars. They were designed by Raymond Loewy and the pattern is called Script, aren't they pretty?

I'm thinking of doing a plate wall in the dining room. I've seen so many inspiring pictures and the idea has really grown on me. What's your opinion?

The Practice Dresser

My sweet husband came home with this dresser that someone was throwing out and I was thrilled. Some of you might be wondering why a beat up old dresser with a missing drawer would make me so happy. Well, as some of you know I have been working on perfecting my paint spraying technique and I wanted to practice on something with drawers.

I removed a bunch of stickers that were stuck all over the top and sides and got it all cleaned up before I got to the fun part.

 My hardware cleaning station.

I was painting my dining room chairs white at the same time so white it was for the dresser. I distressed this piece quite a bit because it was already worn on the edges so I went with the shabby look.

All the original hardware was there.

The basket is from Ikea.

Now I feel ready to do some painting for a friend. I'm posting this on Craigslist to see if anyone is in need of a dresser with a basket for a drawer...you never know.

Linking to  Nifty-thrifty-tuesdays @ Coastal Charm  just-something-i-whipped up

                 frugal-friday

A Work In Progress

Hello everyone, happy Friday! Today is a painting day for me and its all for the dining room. I just finished two coats on the ceiling and I could not be happier that is done! Painting ceilings is not my idea of fun.

Painting chairs on the other hand is something I like to do. I have wanted to paint these for a while now. I'm going to do them up with my paint sprayer, kind of a bummer its ninety degrees out there! But like I said, today is my day....

Even the chalkboard paint came out today.

Goodbye green walls...I can't wait to share the room with you!

Have a fabulous weekend.

 

 

 

Our Weekend And The Winner

We got away this past weekend to my parents log home in Wisconsin. We always have a great time whenever we visit.

Their house is walking distance to Lauderdale Lake and about fifteen minutes from Lake Geneva. Would you like a little peek inside? I thought you might.

The living room is open to the dining room and kitchen. I bought the two cane back chairs next to the fireplace at an auction for five dollars. My mom had the cushions made to fit, she loves those chairs and you can't beat the price.

The downstairs bathroom has a flagstone floor and stone shower.

They did all the work themselves.

We spend a lot of time in the screen porch when the weather is nice. The curtains are drop cloths from Home Depot. I could go on and on and show you so many cool details but that would make this a very long post!

We never run out of things to do when we visit...

We get out on the boat and I look at all the beautiful houses.

This is one of my favorites on the lake.

We play at the little beach.

And try to catch butterflies.

We eat yummy food made by a serious Weber grill collector we call Grandpa.

And end the day reading a book with Grandma and announcing the winner of the giveaway.

Cassie from Primitive and Proper! You are the winner!

Congratulations Cassie

Outdoor Family Room

I have mentioned before that our house is cozy. And you know what that means...small. So we try to squeeze every inch of living space out of our house. That is where the outdoor family room comes in.

 The loveseat and two chairs were purchased at Target a couple years ago.

So was the gazebo and outdoor chandelier. Last year I hung painters drop clothes as curtains to block the sun when it's setting. I haven't gotten around to hanging them this year; the trees we planted are finally giving us a bit of shade. When the bugs come out we zip up the screens. The deck is in sad shape, this will be its last season. I would love to turn this into a real screen porch one day.

This has been a great extra "room" for us. We really like sitting out here in the evening.

Daisies are blooming like crazy right now.

This is my favorite place to write my blog and read my favorites during the summer.

That concludes the tour of the family room addition. Wish you were here, the lemonade is ice cold!

     

      Linking to somewhat simple feature-yourself-friday
                      Remodelaholics-anonymous

Sew Much Love Designs Giveaway

I have always admired people who sew. It's a talent that I do not have...at all. My friend Heather has this special talent and makes beautiful children's clothes. When I first saw her creations I was truly impressed with the quality and the fun mix of fabrics she uses. Heather just started a blog and recently opened her etsy shop Sew Much Love Designs.

Heather would like to giveaway one of her ruffle bum onesies or your choice without ruffles to one lucky winner.

You choose the onesie for the baby in your life. The sizes range from 3-18 months.

These make wonderful gifts and would be great paired with one of her bib and burp cloth sets.

Stop over and say hi and check out her esty shop to see all the beautiful things she makes. Heather is also offering free shipping on any order.

To enter...

1. Leave a comment and become a follower.

2. For a second chance, leave a second comment telling me you posted about the giveaway on your blog or added it to your sidebar.

3. For a third chance, tweet about the giveaway. Leave another comment telling me you did so.
Please leave your email address if you don't have a blog.
The giveaway ends Saturday July 10th (midnight) and I'll announce the winner, chosen randomly on Monday.

Contest only open to U.S. residents, please.  Good Luck!!

*Some comments are not showing up here but they are going to my email, hopefully it will be fixed soon.*

A New Garden

One of the few plants we inherited when we moved in was a big old lilac bush. I was never happy with where it was planted and couldn't figure out how to incorporate it into a flower bed. I had clematis climbing on the trellis for a season but it didn't come back in the spring. It wasn't the look I was going for anyway.

 Now I love myself some lilacs but this just wasn't worth keeping around for one week of blooms, so out it came.

The funny part is my ambitious hubby thought it would be quick and easy to get out of the ground.

Three broken shovels and a couple of hours later, we had this giant root ball. Now how do we move it? It was so heavy we needed a two wheeler.

We made the bed a bit bigger and made a plan for the new plants. Now it doesn't look wonderful yet, give it a year and I think it will be. We went the craigslist route again for some of the plants. The Shasta Daisies and Coreopsis came from someone who wanted to split her plants and make a few dollars. They are looking a bit sad now but will perk up soon. The two butterfly bushes were bought from a nursery, I like that they have three different color blooms on them. Between the butterfly bushes I planted a climbing rose. In a few years I hope it covers this section of the fence in pink roses.
 

I like the carefree way the daisies and butterfly bush mingle together.

The little one thinks it's pretty exciting when the butterflies come for a visit...I do too.
Have a fun weekend!