What Are You Afraid Of?

How many times do you think “I really want to (paint woodwork or brick, change a faucet, change a light fixture, paint ugly laminate countertops, put up wainscoting, use a power saw, etc.) in my home, but I could never do it. I wish I was that brave. Maybe someday.” I can relate to this fear. Really, I can.

With each project I tackle, there’s always a little fear lingering in the room with me. Fear usually hangs out in the corner, smoking a stinky cigar and saying discouraging things to me like “You’re going to ruin your house, ya know.”, or “Your project is going to look (silly, awful, amateurish) and nobody will ever want to buy your house from you.” You know…sweet things like that.

Honestly though, Fear is wrong 99% of the time. And even when it turns out that Fear had a pretty good point and something does look a little stupid or “off”, I can always fix it, and learn valuable lessons along the way.

Can I tell you how many times I’ve painted a room and hated the color? I could do an hour long Power Point presentation on the modern history of paint colors in my home. Those who have been reading my blog a while know this to be true. For instance see where my bedroom started 2 years ago: It had its good points but it was waaay too dark…for me) and by continuing to experiment with ideas, it’s now someplace I LOVE.

 

And yes, spending hours painting a room only to end up hating the color is incredibly frustrating. The good thing? It is soooo easy to remedy. A $20 can of paint and an afternoon is all it takes to get closer to finding a color you’ll truly love. And isn’t that better than spending years with a color you despise…or at least really, really dislike?

Need another example? Remember when I changed my bathroom faucets and warned you to reconnect the hot and cold hoses to the right valves? Um yeah…turns out I failed to do that on one of the sinks. After shaking my fists in the air and letting out a big “Gaah!”, I spent 5 minutes with a wrench and fixed the problem – and now I have lovely faucets that make me smile each time I see them.

And my most recent example?: my beautifully framed bathroom mirror. I love the concept. I love how it looks in pictures (or from a distance), but my cuts on the small trim pieces were a little off and the wood grain on the frame was bothering me. So did I tell myself “I’m a huge DIY failure and I should never attempt another project”? No. I learned from my mistakes and spent a little time fixing them. I took of the small (poorly cut) trim pieces, and made better cuts on a new ($3) piece of trim. I also got out my handy palm sander, gave the mirror frame a good sanding, and then skimmed the surface with a layer of spackle…followed by another light sanding by hand.

Note: Reflection grayed out to hide top secret bathroom projects underway.

The result? A more “professional” finish, and the satisfaction of knowing I did a job well all by my little self. And if I ever frame out a mirror like that again, I know to buy a smoother wood and/or sand/patch before painting.

The point is, do NOT let your fear of making a mistake keep you from creating a home you love. Do your research, plan ahead, but be kind to yourself if the results are less than perfect. Just pull up those big girl pants (or big boy pants if you’re a boy who’s reading this) and keep trying until you have that room you’ve been dreaming of. With a little trial, error and persistence you will get there.

What project have you been procrastinating because you’re too nervous to try?

De-Brassifying a Fireplace Surround

If you’re one of that rare breed that was just introduced to the internet, and even more recently introduced to the world of home decor blogs, this post is for you. You will be stunned and amazed as I turn my shiny brass fireplace surround into something entirely new…and from this century.

Here’s what my fireplace surround looked like until yesterday. I know the glare from the brass is burning holes in your eye sockets…sorry about that.

But with the help of some magic heat resistant paint, I was able to transform old glarey into something much easier on the eyes. I simply taped off the areas to be painted and used an inexpensive brush to apply the paint. This paint also comes in spray paint form, but I didn’t want to bother with removing the entire fireplace surround…and it’s a little to cold and wet outside to use spray paint at the moment (anyone else ready for spring?).

And the finished product? Ahhh, much better.

 

So there you have it. Happy painting!

I Heart Black Friday

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was really nice. There's nothing like being able to hang out and laugh with family.

I've been dying to tell you what I did on Friday...I have a feeling only you will truly be able to understand my out of my mind, giddy, Christmas morning when you're 5 years old excitement.

I saw that Lowe's Black Friday specials included a miter saw for $59. Choking...gasping for breath.....$59?! Are you kidding me?! So I dragged my Aunt and Cousin to not one, but two, Lowe's and finally got the last $59 miter saw. I was literally jumping up and down in the aisle (fortunately my family is very understanding of my obsession...er...hobby). Here's the link.

I also found a combo pack that included a jigsaw, power sander, drill and flashlight for $59. Score!!! Here's the link.

Ohh, the possibilities. I am so excited I can't even stand it.

I'll show you the first project I used them on tomorrow. Here's a hint: It will also be the second post in my bathroom redo. Well...that's kind of a hint.

Have a great Monday!

Master Bath Redo: Post 1 - Changing a Faucet

Raise your hand if you’ve changed a faucet before. Okay – yeah, that’s a lot of you (did you know I can see you through your computer?...just kidding...uncomfortable silence). But for those of you who haven’t, this post is for you.

I bought two faucets on Ebay last May (for a steal)…and then they sat in my closet staring at me for 6 months. Why didn’t I install them right away? Because I was skeered. Yep, Ms. Go-Get-‘Um was afraid to change faucets herself.

So, over the weekend I decided to woman-up and face my fears head on. And you know what? It wasn’t that hard. Now I feel silly for waiting so long.

There are lots of great tutorials on changing faucets on Google or Bing or whatever, so feel free to refer to those. They might be written by actual plumbers and expert-types. I’ll give you a rough overview of the process, though.

Step 1

Turn off the water by turning the water valves beneath the cabinet (I believe turning them to the right closes the valve...at least that's how mine were...and I'm guessing all valves are created equal...am I sounding like a blonde or what?). It might help to put a bowl beneath the valves to catch any dripping water.

Run the sink faucet to drain any remaining water.

Step 2

Use an adjustable wrench to disconnect the hot and cold water lines from the water valves.

Step 3

Use an adjustable wrench to remove the mounting nuts on the underside of the faucet (beneath the sink). I had to lay on my back inside the cabinet to do this...not entirely comfortable, but I think it was a good ab workout.

Step 4

There’s a little screw that’s attached to the (oh geez, what’s it called)…you know the thing you lift if you want to close the drain. It’s beneath the sink. Just loosen the screw and the drain opening closing thing will be loose.

Step 5

Remove the old faucet. You may need to use a putty knife to loosen it.

(Isn't the old faucet a beauty?)

Step 6

Clean the faucet area of the sink to remove any dust or grime.

Step 7

I don’t know if this is necessary, but the Lowe’s guy told me to do it…and I chose to believe him. Make a snake out of plumber’s putty and place it on the inside edge of the faucet (see photos below).

Then put faucet in place.

Step 8

Attach new mounting nuts on the underside of the faucet. And tighten the screw on drain opening/closing thing.

Step 9

Attach hot and cold water lines to the new faucet and to the water valves (make sure the right line goes to the right water valve). And you’re done!

See?…it’s a lot of steps, but it’s pretty simple. The only hitch I ran into was that my old faucet’s hot and cold water lines were copper and completely attached to the faucet. So I couldn’t reattach them to the new faucet. I took the old faucet (with the long copper lines attached) to Lowe’s and asked what to do.

The helpful man pulled out an inexpensive and easy to use water line (see photo below), so I just used those. Easy peasy.


I hope this helps those of you who haven’t changed a faucet before. I promise, if I can do it you can do it. Seriously.

Cheap & Easy Christmas Wreath (Sorry Pottery Barn)

I know...it's too early for Christmas wreath show and tell...but I just can't help it. Imagine your 5 year old jumping up and down and saying "Can we show them our wreath mommy?! Can we...can we?!!" Yep...that's me. I'm just so excited!!!

I admired this wreath at Pottery Barn, but not the $79.00 price tag (I'm pretty sure PB is going to start sending me hate mail...I'm sooo sorry PB...I really do love you.).

I knew I could replicate (does that sound better than "blatantly copy"?) this wreath inexpensively.

Enter my faux pine wreath (bought on final clearance at Hobby Lobby last year...it was probably $2).


A whole bunch of ornaments (some I already owned, and some I purchased...for a total of $5).


A few wire ornament hooks to secure the ornaments to the wreath (I wound them around the pine branches).


And voila! My own, lovely, easy, cheap, festive, sparkly...did I mention cheap?...Christmas wreath.

Um...please ignore the leaves on my doormat :).

This post is partying over at Kimba's DIY day. Feel free to head over for more great DIY ideas. We're also partying down at Cindy's party at Cottage Instincts.

Have a great Tuesday!

I'm Really Smart...Uh, Except When I'm Not

So, I'm a fairly intelligent girl...most of the time. I'm moderately handy around the house. I can use a drill, I've changed light fixtures, and I've painted...a.lot. So shouldn't it occur to a somewhat intelligent girl who knows her way around painting a bathroom that...um, I don't know...using the toilet TANK as a step stool to reach that really high ceiling is a bad idea?!

Nope...didn't even think about it. I just stood there, perched awkwardly on the toilet tank, wet paint brush extended, stretching like a yoga goddess to reach that impossible corner between the wall and the ceiling. And as I heard the gentle sound of water trickling, I thought (as the blonde I was meant to be) "Boy, that toilet sure is loud from up here."

Ha! Yes, Ms. AnNicole it is loud...that's because water's leaking onto your floor! Yep, my weight on the toilet tank broke the seal beneath the toilet. Hee, hee...oops?

So now this fairly intelligent, moderately handy girl is going to learn how to replace a wax toilet seal. Good times....

I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

DIY Monogrammed Door Mat

Well, The Cottage went and did it, she finally decided to get her own page on Facebook. This way y'all can have priceless insights into my decorating psyche. I think it will also give us a chance to interact a bit more. Wanna become a "fan" (ha...that term cracks me up)? Click the Facebook

box on my sidebar...or...below.

Now to the good stuff. Have you ever seen and admired those cute and classy monogrammed door mats at the fancy places like Williams Sonoma or Pottery Barn? And then have you proceeded to let out an audible shreik as you read the prices?

Pottery Barn - $59.00

Williams Sonoma - $69.00

Well, I decided to take a stab at making my own monogrammed door mat. How hard can it be, right?

Step One

I took a plain door mat that I already had (it was originally from Ikea, but you should be able to find them easily and inexpensively at other stores).

Step Two

I taped off the where I wanted lines to go around the edges of the mat with brown packing tape (it's what I had):

Step Three

This is where if your printer's working you print a large letter in a font you like. If it's not (blast!) you take a stab at drawing one yourself. Then cut it out with an xacto knife.

Step Four

I taped the letter down in the middle, and then covered the remaining exposed areas with tape. CAUTION: Be sure to put lots of tape on the back side of the flimsy areas of the letter (I didn't use enough so my edges were a little fuzzy...my one fatal mistake...oh well).

Step Five

I pulled out some black spray paint from my stash and sprayed away. I did a total of four coats because I wanted really full and durable coverage.

And VOILA!

My own monogrammed door mat. Cost? Freeeeeeeeee. (Although, if you don't already have everything you need like I did, you should be able to do this for under $20).

Paint That Bad Brass

Thanks for your nice comments yesterday on my painted light fixture. I think it's just further proof at what a can of spray paint can do! I had several of you ask how I painted the light fixture to transform it

from this (sorry I don't have a better before picture):

To this:

Basically, I didn't want to remove the entire lighting fixture ('cause I'm lazy like that) so I covered the wall and the counter below with paper bags so I could spray it in the room. I also covered the light sockets with tape so that paint wouldn't interfere with the fixture working correctly.

I didn't prime first because...well, again, I'm lazy like that. And really, it's not going to get a whole lotta wear so I felt okay about skipping this step.

I applied 2 or 3 coats of Rustoleum American Accents spray paint in oil rubbed bronze. This spray paint is now hard to find, but you can read about other options and where to find this one here.

I also replaced the glass shades on the fixture. They were that ribbed glass which feels a little dated to me.

And I felt like a more current looking glass shade would make a big difference. They were pretty inexpensive at Lowe's (I want to say $5 or $6) and I chose simple marbled alabaster shades.

A couple of you also asked about painting door knobs. I haven't done this yet myself, but I have spoken with several people that have, and they've all told me that they hold up very well. I would definitely recommend that you prime first and then apply 3 light coats (with plenty of dry time in between and before use) for optimal durablity (yes...I said "optimal durability"...can you tell I'm in "work mode"? I'll get back to human speak later.).

Happy painting! Let me know if you have additional questions.

Good Brass vs. Bad Brass

There’s good brass and then there’s bad brass. Good brass has been making a bit of a comeback lately. For instance, "Cutie-Pie" Nate Berkus (as his BFF Oprah calls him….and really, we all know it’s true...sigh), used brass hooks on the kitchen cabinet doors in his New York apartment. (You have to look reeeaaaally close to see them, but I promise I’m telling the truth).

And if you look really, really close you can see that he also opted for brass door knobs and hinges.

Here's anothe example of good brass:

Source: Ebay

And then there’s bad brass….Ahhh, brings back memories doesn't it?

(I actually have this faucet in my powder bath)

Can you see the difference? In one word “patina”. Good brass is worn and has a unique, vintagey character. Bad brass is polished to the point that you can see your fluffy, shellacked bangs from the 1980’s in its reflection.

Still have bad brass in your house? No problem. If you can't replace it, just pull out the spray paint and give it an instant update, like I did to the light fixture in our powder bath.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

See? Easy peasy.

P.S. Thanks for all of your supportive comments about my new pillows. I definitely know who to turn to if I want permission to splurge :-).

Oops, I Did it Again...

Ha! You know I've just been waiting to weave a Brittany Spears lyric into one of my posts. Anyhoo, "What did I do again?" you ask? Me and my sassy little self painted another laminate countertop...the one in my son's bathroom to be exact.

Here's how his bathroom looked when we moved into the house.

Obviously, the room had been decorated for the previous owner's 4 year old son....and it wasn't quite my teenage son's taste (I know...shocking isn't it?).

We took down the dinosaur wallpaper border, painted the walls tan (Sherwin Williams Nomadic Desert) and changed the towel rods about a year ago, but I kind of left it at that.

The old grey-blue laminate countertop wasn't horrible, but it wasn't exactly from this century either. And since I couldn't afford a new fancy schmancy granite countertop (or even laminate for that matter), I had to improvise...enter Paint, stage right.



I shared a tutorial with you when I painted my master bathroom countertops a few months ago, but I'll go ahead and do it again since I did do a couple things a little differently this time.

STEP ONE:

Before you do a thing, decide what you really want the final result to look like. Grab a sample of tile that you like from the store and examine the colors closely. Try to identify 3-4 colors in the sample, and then find paint colors to match.

I'd also do a sample board first (with the painting techniques below). The first time I did this I was really nervous, and it helped to feel like I knew what I was doing before I touched my countertops.

STEP TWO:

Clean your countertops really well. Make sure you get any grime out of corners, etc.

STEP THREE:

Lightly sand the countertops and then wipe any dust off.

STEP FOUR:

Apply one coat of oil based primer (I used BIN - you can see it in the photo below). Let it dry at least 12 hours...24 hours if possible. I know it feels dry after a couple hours, but it really needs time to cure.

STEP FIVE:

Apply a base coat of one of your 3 or 4 paint colors. This should be the color that's most prominent in your inspiration sample of tile (or whatever it was that inspired you). I used the wall color as my base coat...I figured it was a pretty save bet that the counter would work well with the walls that way. Also, my base coat didn't seem to have quite enough coverage, so I actually applied a second coat (waiting about 8 hours in between coats).


Let your base coat dry really well (I'd say at least 24 hours) before the next step. You might be blending a little and you need to make sure the base coat is totally cured so it doesn't chip or smudge.

STEP SIX:

This is the tricky part. I'm sure there are many ways to add your "stone look", but I'll just tell you what I did, 'kay?

I took a big fat sponge (see photo below) and lightly dipped in a a color that was darker than my base coat but not super-duper dark. I then blotted it on a paper bag to get some of the excess off....and then just went for it. I basically tried not to over think it and just blotted the paint consistently over the countertop, making sure to let the base coat still show through. I think it looks more natural and stone-like if you don't over think it...let it be a little random, but consistent (you don't want giant patches on one side and only a few on the other side...keep it somewhat uniform).



I read that a good method to try was a "splatter method", so I decided to give it a shot. I dipped a (clean and unused) toothbrush in some dark brown paint, and blotted the excess on a paper bag. I then I held the toothbrush over the counter with the bristles facing down and ran my finger through the bristles so that splatters of paint landed on the countertop (see photo below). It kind of worked...but not as well as I'd hoped. Some of the splatters looked more like shooting stars than splotches of stone, so (I didn't panic) I used my sponge to soften the splatters that looked weird.


After the splatters dried for a minute, I went back and continued to layer the darker (or medium) paint color and then added a little of the base color back in...all with a sponge (the same sponge actually). I just kept playing with it until everything looked uniform and stone-like.

Word of Advice: I was way too timid when I painted the countertop in my master bath. You seriously can't mess this up. Add lots of layers until you like the finished product...it's okay. Real stone isn't meticulously perfect...it's a little chaotic and imperfect. It's okay! As long as you choose good colors you'll be fine.

STEP SEVEN:

You still there? Okay, good...Once you're happy with how your countertop looks, let it dry and then apply about 4 coats of polyurethane - sanding lightly in between coats. I used a gloss finish this time and I like it a lot.

Also, last time I said that every paint person I spoke with at Lowe's, Home Depot (and one guy at) Sherwin Williams told me that I couldn't use polyurethane over latex paint. You all said those people were nutso crazy lunatics and that you've been putting polyurethane over latex from the dawn of time...I chose to believe you (since I'm pretty sure you all know much more than my local Home Depot employee...no offense HD).

IN CONCLUSION (does this sound like a research paper?):

That's it....as far as the counter's concerned. I still need to frame out the ginormous mirror, replace the faucet, and replace the light fixture, but baby-steps people....like Socrates said, "Rome wasn't built in a day"....actually I doubt it was Socrates that said that, but he could have :-).