A trip to your local hardware store to select paint can often become overwhelming. There are lots of different types of paint out there and knowing which type of paint to choose for a project can get confusing. Use this guide to learn about the different types of paint and which would be the best paint for furniture, wood, plastic, metal and laminate surfaces.
painting
Best Paint for Cabinets
Ready to give your kitchen cabinets a coat of paint? That’s great! It can be stressful determining what kind of paint to use on cabinets though, right? This guide lays out the best paint for cabinets and the pros and cons of each, as well as my personal experience with each. I get multiple painting…
How to Paint Baseboards
When you decide to renovate a house, you pretty much know that the renovation will include painting just about every single room.
But when you see that house the first couple of times, you are too caught up in the potential to realize just how much painting there is to do – and not just painting of walls, but also of ceilings. And baseboards. And basically all trim. And all doors. Oh and then all cabinets.
And that’s when you want to go in a corner and cry and hide and ask yourself why, why, why did we do this to ourselves???
Oh ok, that’s just me.
No it’s not. Admit it. You’ve been there or at least been in a similar situation.
Every single room, every single door, cabinet, baseboard and piece of trim have to be painted in the 70’s Landing Pad.
Now, I wasn’t too concerned about how much time it would take to paint the walls – rolling doesn’t take too long. The same was true of the doors and cabinets – I would be able to spray a good portion of those with my paint sprayer.
All the trim though – particularly all the miles and miles and miles of baseboards were causing a touch of anxiety.
But get this – in the end, it took me about 30 minutes (minus drying time) to paint all the baseboards in the living room, dining room, and hallway of the 70’s Landing Pad.
Click the link below to read the rest…
How to Paint Trim and Doors | Painting 101
Have a lot of trim and interior door painting to do? This guide will walk you step-by-step through the entire process for how to paint trim and doors. We’ll cover what kind of paint to use on trim and doors, the tools you’ll need and what to tackle first.
FAQ: Painting Furniture
I feel like I should preface posts where I give tons of information like this with “I’m not a professional!” I don’t have a degree in painting furniture, interior design or anything like that. What I do have is nearly a decade’s worth of painting furniture, decorating and things of that nature under my belt….
DIY Painted and Patterned Doors
After you complete a project and you look at it and say, “Hello, lover,” you know it’s good.
For example, “Hello, lover” doesn’t exactly fit with removing popcorn ceilings or ripping out tile. But it does fit perfectly for closet doors…when they look like these…
Click the link below to see how to paint doors like this!
How to Coordinate Paint Colors Throughout Your House
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve attempted to select a paint color and it has ended in either tears, drinking or both.
Usually both.
Throwing of hands in the air, slamming of fists on tables and/or walls is typical as well.
Obviously, buying sample pots of paint and testing those out on your walls is the way to go, but if I bought a sample pot of paint for every color I thought may work, I would have a closet full of sample paint pots.
One of my biggest challenges is often coordinating paint colors throughout my house – thus why there is a lot of black and white in my home.
Click the link below to find out about this super easy trick for coordinating paint colors!
Show Me Your Grain…Your Wood Grain.
I won’t lie.
The sight of a beautifully bold painted piece of furniture (preferably either kelly green, navy blue or a bold red) makes my heart soar.
Not as much as Grunt Labor makes my heart soar, but pretty close.
However, I have come to really appreciate a good grain…a good wood grain that is, because chocolate isn’t a grain yet, is it? I’m still waiting for chocolate to be classified as “good” for me.
Here are a few of my favorite stained and painted furniture makeovers…
Click the link below to read the rest and enter the giveaway!
Cane Inspired Accent Wall for $25
Sometimes I try to make things more complicated than they really are.
Not on purpose of course.
I just don’t think sometimes. Its like my mind sometimes turns off its “common sense” mode.
That’s also when I end up saying things I shouldn’t to people.
Whoops.
That common sense mode of my brain shut down when I started to do this accent wall.
You see I love caned pieces. Caned chairs, caned tables, caned light fixtures. I’m crazy over the pattern.
And I have a pillow with a caned pattern on it.
And I was determined to get that pattern on my wall. I knew I could. It was just straight lines strategically placed.
But I was overthinking it.
And it took Grunt Labor coming up to me, turning the pillow diagonally and saying, “Its just squares, Jenna,” for me to figure it out.
He was right.
But I didn’t say that because I’m not too keen on how saying he’s right tastes.
Like vinegar, I tell ya.
And once this revelation was made, I figured out how to make my own cane inspired wall.
Click the link below to read more!
9 Simple and Easy Bed Makeovers and Hacks
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ran across DIY headboards on Pinterest.
I’m confident DIY headboards could run Pinterest all by themselves.
Now, I’m not bashing on DIY headboards at all.
If you have patience and an insane amount of upholstery and tufting skills, then by all means make your own headboard.
However, I don’t.
I’m in favor of using what I’ve got.
This could also mean that I’m cheap. That’s cool too. I’ll own it.
I can paint a headboard faster than I can build one and cheaper too.
No, it might not look as chic as a velvet upholstered one would, but if it looks like any of these bed makeovers, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.
Make Wood Stain in Any Color
Want to kick your wood finishing techniques up a notch? Try making your own bright colored wood stains then! With this tutorial, you’ll learn how to make custom stain colors easily.
How to Make Furniture Glaze in ANY Color
Up until last October, I wasn’t a big glazed furniture kind of gal.
Glazed donut kind of gal…abso-freakin-lutely….glazed furniture…not so much.
But then I used dark glaze on the IKEA Tarva drink bar.
At that point, dark glaze and I started to become friends.
We experimented. We plotted makeovers.
We worked together on a glamorous dresser makeover.
Dark glaze and I were skipping happily along off into the sunset….
And then I met clear glaze….
And he swept me off my feet….because he can turn any color into a glaze….
Painting 101: Topcoats and when to use them
Wondering what top coat to put over paint? Specifically what kind of top coat for painted furniture? Consider this guide the holy grail for just that. It will walk you through all the different types of top coats and when to use each.
Easy Confetti Accent Wall
Have you been introduced to my new favorite wall?
Its shiny, its gold, its fun, and it was so easy to make.
My favorite thing about it? There’s no way you can screw it up.
Meet my Confetti Accent Wall.
Painting 101: How to Paint Walls In Less Time With Less Mess
No one ever taught me how to paint walls.
I learned how to paint completely by trial and error after my Pap died and I had to paint every wall and ceiling in his house with two coats of primer and two coats of paint.
My uncle handed me a five gallon bucket of primer, a five gallon bucket of paint, some rollers and left.
I called in reinforcements.
My friends and I painted Pap’s entire house over the course of a couple months all while wearing his XXL overalls that we duck taped in the back to hold them up on us.
That’s one of my favorite memories and a couple pairs of those overalls are safely tucked away now.
Needless to say, after all that painting and all the painting I’ve done in my other homes, I’ve learned pretty quickly how to paint walls – and how to do it in less time with less mess.
Painting 101: Why is my paint peeling? Tips and tricks to keep paint from peeling and scratching off your furniture.
If you read the longest blog post in history (a.k.a. the reader survey results), you know that there were some questions about furniture painting – what finish to use, why is the paint peeling, etc.
Since I am a woman for the people and cannot let my people down, I decided to start a little Painting 101 series with basic tips and tricks for painting furniture.
The first thing we are going to chat about is:
Why is my paint peeling?
Tips and tricks to keep paint from peeling and scratching off your furniture.
5 Knock-Your-Socks-Off IKEA Tarva Hacks
Remember when I turned that IKEA Tarva three drawer dresser into an awesome drink bar?
And remember how I mentioned it was part of a challenge presented by HomeRight to five of their bloggers?
Guess what?
All five of us ROCKED this challenge.
If I do say so myself.
And now, you can vote on whose is the best.
And the winner gets $500.
And one lucky voter wins a Finish Max Pro (You just have to be a registered user on the HomeRight website to be eligible for winning the Finish Max Pro).
So……….
Obviously, I would LOVE your vote.
And greatly appreciate it.
But……
All of these girls totally kicked their challenges outta the park.
Here are all of our projects:
The No Priming, No Topcoat, Way to Paint (Seriously, I’m not even kidding.)
Let’s be honest about a couple things:
1. I’m lazy on occasion.
2. I’m impatient.
How does this effect my furniture makeovers?
I hate having to prime a piece before I can put some glorious color on it.
Hate it.
I need instant gratification.
Anyone else?
And when the color is finally on, I can barely wait to get the piece back in its place.
Oh, but wait….it needs a topcoat.
That means I have to wait more.
Did I mention I was impatient?
Did I also mention I found a solution for this problem?
Well, not a solution for being lazy and impatient, but a solution for the priming and top coating.
There is a way to paint that requires no priming and no top coating.
Boom.
World altered.
IKEA Tarva Hack: Drink Bar
If you follow me on Facebook, you may remember a month or so back when I posted a picture of an unfinished three drawer chest.
HomeRight offered a challenge to their brand ambassadors.
They offered to send us one of the IKEA Tarva 3 drawer chests and then have at it.
There are three things I have never passed up in life:
1. A Good Challenge
2. Free Furniture
3. Cheap Beer
My fingers and toes and arms and legs were crossed in hopes that I would be one of the five chosen ambassadors drawn from a hat for this challenge.
And I was.
*Insert 7th grade girl squeal here, along with fist bumps.*
So what did I turn my chest into?
A drink bar.
A green one.
With pretty gold accents.
DIY Painted AstroTurf Rug
It all started with Nancy Drew.
The Hidden Staircase to be exact.
After reading the book as a middle schooler, and being a lover of all ghost stories and mysteries, I became convinced that a secret staircase was nearby.
Under my grandparent’s screened-in porch.
As I was walking around my grandparent’s house one sunny spring day collecting old glass I found buried in the ground (convinced it held a secret meant for only me), I stumbled onto their screened-in porch and began to examine it.
The porch was a simple square structure that came off their dining room. It wasn’t above their basement though, as the rest of the house was. It was supported by four sturdy walls of brick.
There had to be something under that porch, and there had to be a staircase that led to whatever was under there.
I immediately rushed up to the porch and started stomping my feet on the AstroTurf covered floor to find a hollow spot where a door leading to the staircase might be.
My feet were met by the sound of concrete.
I persisted, making my way to the outer edges of the porch where the AstroTurf carpeting ended.
I attempted to pull it up, but discovered it was securely glued down.
Darn the AstroTurf.
The secrets of the porch were never uncovered.
However, I’m now coming to love AstroTurf very very much.
Seriously, what other 6 ft. x 8 ft. rug can you find for $20?
Only AstroTurf baby.
How to Paint a Refrigerator (It’s actually easy!)
So, can you paint a refrigerator? The answer is a big YES! When you don’t have the budget to upgrade that dated fridge, just give a good ol’ DIY paint job. Find out how to paint a refrigerator below – it’s actually not that hard at all!
Top Furniture Makeovers at Rain on a Tin Roof
You guys know I love a good furniture makeover. There are furniture makeovers I’ve done that I haven’t even posted about. There is so much furniture waiting for a makeover in my garage, that I can’t park in there. And sometimes Grunt Labor can’t park in there either. And he does not like that. But,…
French Country Dresser Makeover {DIY Chalk Paint}
Like furniture makeovers? You may want to sign up for my free email subscription here. Just another Craigslist furniture makeover…. A French country dresser makeover… Isn’t she a beauty? I love love love the gray and white contrast. She had humble beginnings: