Around the House - Projects, Tips etc.

[Dawgluver]

Done painting

6-8 hours of painting
4 coats of white
3 coats of purple
A sprained thumb
A couple dog paws around the house, in paint of course
A Barney impersonation

AND a partridge in a pear tree

Before :

After :

Very nice, Bella!

I once spent a summer painting the whole inside of our 2 story house, did some sponging and faux finishing, now we hire a guy and his parents, they get it done in a day with sprayers and such.

 

[Bella99]

Very nice, Bella!

I once spent a summer painting the whole inside of our 2 story house, did some sponging and faux finishing, now we hire a guy and his parents, they get it done in a day with sprayers and such.

Thank you!
I'm going to hang this picture there in the middle (with my bed & headboard under)

 

[Dawgluver]

Thank you!
I'm going to hang this picture there in the middle (with my bed & headboard under)

Sweet! There are a few of us here ( myself included) who love purple and lavendar. What a pretty picture!

 

[bakechef]

I so need artwork in my bedroom. I have painted it a beautiful blue, have some really nice white faux wood white blinds and white trim. The artwork I do have is some of my own black and white floral photography in black frames with white mattes. I just need a stunning piece for over the bed, and the room will come together. I also have some floating shelves with antique cameras that I've collected over the years. I like to inject my hobbies and interests in my decor but without them being the whole decor.

 

[CWS4322]

I so need artwork in my bedroom. I have painted it a beautiful blue, have some really nice white faux wood white blinds and white trim. The artwork I do have is some of my own black and white floral photography in black frames with white mattes. I just need a stunning piece for over the bed, and the room will come together. I also have some floating shelves with antique cameras that I've collected over the years. I like to inject my hobbies and interests in my decor but without them being the whole decor.

To add texture to the walls, paint a base coat. Then sponge some colors you like. Get brown Kraft paper. Cut it as if it were wallpaper. Paint the wall a 2nd color (I go dark for the base, light for the 2nd color). Oops=do this first before painting the wall a 2nd time: Measure the Kraft paper, tear the edges so they aren't straight. Crumble it. Paint the 2nd color on the wall, apply (one strip of Kraft paper wide, but feather the edges) as if it were wallpaper. Starting at the top, apply the Kraft paper. Pull it off. What happens is some of the 2nd coat of paint comes off--you end up with a wall that looks as if it were an old stone wall. Some color combinations to consider would be a dark grey, 2nd coat would be a light blue grey. Or you could go white on white. I did a slate grey with a sky blue in one room, a custom-mixed lilac with a lighter lilac in another room; a sage green with vanilla in another room. Toss the piece of Kraft paper and repeat for the next section. The end result is a wall that looks sort of like a stone wall. Hides dog drool, nicks, dirt. I keep wanting to do a deep purple with a light purple, and then a third application of silver or gold...someday.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Done painting

6-8 hours of painting
4 coats of white
3 coats of purple
A sprained thumb
A couple dog paws around the house, in paint of course
A Barney impersonation

AND a partridge in a pear tree

I LOVE that purple wall! Beauty!

 

[Bella99]

I LOVE that purple wall! Beauty!

Thanks! I'm thinking I want more purple around the room, maybe some stripes.. but the painters tape we got was horrid. (You can see some purple marks on the ceiling in the pics) and the baseboards you can see it in person).

NEVER buy it. (Scotch green painters tape)

 

[CWS4322]

Supposedly the "Frog" tape is supposed to not allow "bleeding." I too love purple. The master bedroom and two other bedrooms are lavender. The bathroom has royal purple accessories (walls are a light, light grey). If you don't like purple, don't come stay at my house!

 

[bakechef]

I like doing an accent wall and then bringing that color around the room with accessories, fabrics and such. I find that a bold accent wall with the other walls being more neutral, keeps the room feeling light and the accent color not too overbearing.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Neutral with accents works very well. Unfortunately that is not a well known or well understood concept. I've been house hunting the last several months, and one thing I know for sure: "gross" is a well understood concept, at least if numbers are any indication.

I'm amazed that so few people have understood the concept of "neutral" considering all the disgusting primary and glaring colors I've seen in homes that are purportedly up for sale. I sometimes wonder if people in foreclosure paint their homes in these clashing colors and strew their personal garbage and clutter around the homes, in the hope that they can continue living mortgage payment free for many months to come, secure in their knowledge that nobody is going to want to buy a house like that.

In one house the kid's room was so full of ... stuff ... that I couldn't even open the door enough to see the whole room. I think the walls were painted black.

 

[Bella99]

Neutral with accents works very well. Unfortunately that is not a well known or well understood concept. I've been house hunting the last several months, and one thing I know for sure: "gross" is a well understood concept, at least if numbers are any indication.

I'm amazed that so few people have understood the concept of "neutral" considering all the disgusting primary and glaring colors I've seen in homes that are purportedly up for sale. I sometimes wonder if people in foreclosure paint their homes in these clashing colors and strew their personal garbage and clutter around the homes, in the hope that they can continue living mortgage payment free for many months to come, secure in their knowledge that nobody is going to want to buy a house like that.

In one house the kid's room was so full of ... stuff ... that I couldn't even open the door enough to see the whole room. I think the walls were painted black.

A friend of mine has a huge obsession with pink. Her father used to be a painter so he painted a few rooms in her house pink, but put the ceilings purple.
I walked in and it felt like a 6 year old girls' playroom threw up in her house, but she thought it looked amazing and stylish.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Uh, Bella, I think I saw that house 2-3 times although I'm not sure which one it was. Okay I'm in CA (California) and you're in CA (Canada). I suspect there is a bigger concept here...

My opinion of most of the house decoration skills I've seen in recent months:

"The horror! The horror!!!"

 

[CWS4322]

Finally--I got the first coat of finish on the birch floor in the bedroom. And, you gotta love the wall-to-ceiling closet with the 10-drawer dresser inside. If you want the plans, I can send them to you. I designed this and it works--you can stand on top of the drawers at the bottom to reach the top cubbies. I'm 5'6" and got tired of not being able to reach the shelf in the closet (and stuff always falling off). And the drawers at the bottom are great for storing linens, out-of-season clothes, and standing on to reach the top of the closet and those cubbies.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

House Beautiful

Interesting Post ... Thanks to all the Members that have shared their home improvement and / or renovation projects ...

Have lovely Sunday.
Ciao.
Margi.

 

[CWS4322]

Interesting Post ... Thanks to all the Members that have shared their home improvement and / or renovation projects ...

Have lovely Sunday.
Ciao.
Margi.

Closets in NA are not designed anything like they are in Europe. What's with that stupid shelf at the top (everything falls off of it) and making closets an "L" behind a door? I waited 17 years to get the closet I have in the master bedroom. It uses all the wall space. It has drawers on the bottom that form the closet floor. I can stand on top of this and reach the cubbies that are at the ceiling height. I had 2 5-drawer dressers built in, and have 6 areas for hanging clothes, besides the additional cubbies. I also had a pull-out mirror built in the closet. I love this closet and 2 friends have copied it in their homes.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Finally--I got the first coat of finish on the birch floor in the bedroom. And, you gotta love the wall-to-ceiling closet with the 10-drawer dresser inside. If you want the plans, I can send them to you. I designed this and it works--you can stand on top of the drawers at the bottom to reach the top cubbies. I'm 5'6" and got tired of not being able to reach the shelf in the closet (and stuff always falling off). And the drawers at the bottom are great for storing linens, out-of-season clothes, and standing on to reach the top of the closet and those cubbies.

That is amazingly beautiful and that closet is to die for, CWS! Now I want that closet!

 

[Margi Cintrano]

CWS, Buonasera,

The outdated 1950s - 1960s Closets in Spain are horrendous ... However, the wall to wall closets in the Loft are great. When we had rented a tiny apartment so that we could look for an " apartment home ", we hunted for almost 4 mos. It was quite a feat I must say ... In Italia, more or less the same nightmare ...

We are accustomed to NYC large wall to wall closets, perhaps bigger than any NYC bathroom ! and of course in South Miami Beach and San Francisco, we had wonderful closet space as well ...

We are presently living in the centre of Madrid, in a relatively recently refurbished apartment loft ... I have a wall to wall in the bedroom and The Vet has a big walk in.Then there is a hidden storage by the duplex steps which is used for suitcases and tools, my old USA published works in Portfolio, The Nativity and Christmas decorations, magazines I cannot throw out unless I scan what I need, amongst other valuables and treasures to us ...

Yes, I see your new wardrobe is phenomenal ... This is something similar to what we are planning to do in Italia at our home in Puglia ... The basic difference is the doors. We want to re-create the antique doors that we had seen in a Relais Chateaux Hotel, out of antique rustic country "wood" ... I like contemporary yet with that rustic country feel to things ...

ENJOY THE WARDROBE, IT IS FAB.
Margi.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Bella 99, Buon Giorno,

Lovely seascape in amethyst and violet ... Nice decorative touch.

We rent a centre Madrid Capital Apartment Loft, and thus, it was fairly liveable when we moved in ... However, our home is in Puglia, Italia on Adriatic, in the Gargano Peninsula close to Bari Port.

We are doing a similar job in Mediterranean Sea Turquoise Blue with antique white ... in July ... We have just finished the kitchen in same, Mediterranean Blue with white over the Easter holidays and thus, now it is time for us ... The guest bedrooms also require a facelift, renovation and paint job ...

Roma was not built in a day,
Have lovely wkend. Thanks for sharing your lovely renovation.
Margi. Cintrano.
Ciao.

 

[Claire]

Well, due to a little windfall, we can do (not DIY, mind you, I mean hiring a contractor) a couple of jobs in our old house. When we bought it, I swear every room was blue or plaid or both (plaid wallpaper in a bathroom and in the kitchen). I got a fast lesson in living in a small town one time when I was at a neighbor's party and complained about the kitchen (plaid wallpaper with heavy curtains, almost drapes, in a coordinating floral. The kind of curtains you can't wash yourself, have to go to the cleaners. First act as owner was to take them down and give them to Goodwill. Drapes in the kitchen?). Turned out a woman who was in the group I was conversing with was the "interior designer" for that room. My heavens, what was she thinking of? I'm pretty sure the previous owner didn't really cook. Anyway, the drapes went first, and now, after 11 years, I've saved enough and got the aforementioned windfall and just had our favorite general contractor come in. I want tile backsplashes and just paint on the rest (from the waist down it is beadboard wainscotting painted white, and I like that). The thing is when we had the dining room painted, we discovered that the plaster is directly on the bricks in the additions (the first two rooms are plaster on lath, circa 1854; don't know about the age of the dining room). So I'm afraid that the plaster will all come down with the wallpaper. This is what I mean about DIY. You have to be a serious craftsman to replaster an entire kitchen. A part of me thinks it would be neat to just go with the brick, but not practical.

Colors are an issue. The counters are Corian made to look kinda like stone in a light sage green. Don't want to make the entire house green (front rooms are). Cabinetry, beadboard, and all other woodwork are white. Husband is thinking of yellow walls, which I would like; sunny in the winter which would make me happy (yes, I'm one of those who is affected by color). So what color and type of tile? We're debating the glass tiles that are popular now, or something maybe a light terra cotta in color.

 

[Bella99]

Love the wardrobe!!

Oh the things I could do with that! LOL