Trimming Home: Painting Furniture Black

My new paint looks fabulous, but the black furniture that I had concerns about, now looks even better!  Who-da thought painting the walls would make everything all sparkly feeling?!  I was so inspired that I grabbed a roller and brush; my handy-dandy-always-keep-it-on-hand high glass black paint and rescued a few stragglers that had yet to be transformed.  There was that horribly marred up end table from my grandfather, and a bookcase from Sam's Club.  Finally transformed.

There are a lot of reasons painting furniture black is a great idea.  The fact you can touch it up with a sharpie being foremost.  It's just super relaxing, in a home with children, to know you can roll on a fresh surface coat every now and then with little effort.  Just like the little black dress, black furniture fits every occasion, style, and budget.  And it always looks good.  Well...there is the dust issue, but we'll just be thankful for swiffer dusters (they're machine washable, you know!) and little girls who like to use them.

I forgot to take the before picture of the table, but take my word for it; it was a mess!

What do you think?  Sweet black high gloss paint!

Getting Home Ready for the Holidays

I'm in!  I'm excited to follow Aby's 28 day challenge to get my home (and hopefully myself!) pulled together for the holidays.  With my large family coming for Thanksgiving, every bit will help. 

So what about you?  Are you in?

Trimming Home : Living Room Redo

We've lived in our new home for just over a year and it's time to paint!  The living room is currently two color and not as light as I require to get through an Indiana winter without feeling like I'm living in a cave.   With that time of year fast approaching, I'm in the mood to trim out our home.

I love home trimming projects because I love to make things functional and beautiful.  I also really enjoy the process of planning a good project.  This room's trimmings will include patching and painting, installing window moldings, changing out light fixtures, and changing furniture layout.

I've measured the room and used a paint calculator to estimate the amount of paint & primer needed.  I've chosen  Valspar's Oatlands Yellow, sampled it, and I'm ready to patch some holes.

I recently saw a technique for patching wall holes that gave me new hope!  I can't stand lumps of spackle under my paint!  No matter how much I sand, it's not until the last coat dries that I seem to see how bad a job I did.  Grrr!  So here's the tip:  use a hammer to dimple the hole, and its edges in.  Then when you plaster, it will be completely flat.  No rough edges. No mounds of spackle.  Smoothing the surface is much easier and painting is so satisfying!

I can't wait for a fresh, bright room!  Pictures still to come.

Do you enjoy home painting?