Decked out!

Happy Monday! Boy was I tired today…I forgot how tired (and sore!) painting a room can make you feel. I always assume it will only take me an hour or 2 to finish but then after taping, trimming and priming I’m ready for a break. You’re going to totally pick on me when I tell you it was only half a room, as the entire other half is wainscoting. OK, OK, I’ll stop complaining but in my defense I also finished painting the “new” deck furniture and completely revamped this space. You know the saying “If you build it, they will come?” (I honestly just asked JD if this quote came from the movie Wayne’s World. After he laughed at me for five straight minutes, I learned it was actually from Field of Dreams! Makes much more sense now.) Well this saying totally applies to my deck furniture, as one of my best friends spontaneously stopped by for some much needed girl time on Saturday. Two bottles of wine and 4 brownies later, I was no longer in pain from a day full of painting and totally digging my new-to-me furniture and deck!

I started both chairs and the table by cleaning and sanding. The original paint was chipping badly, so sanding was a critical part of this revamp. After sanding, I dusted each piece thoroughly and then primed with my favorite Rust-Oleum spray primer. I had trouble picking the color scheme for the furniture, until I found this outdoor fabric on sale for $4 a yard at Hancock. I loved this shade of green but wanted the deck to feel like an extension of the interior, so I decided on cream for the chairs and green for the table. I chose to make extra large pillows so they could double as seat cushions if needed. Although you can’t see it in the picture above, I’m also planning to paint the larger table black with a chalkboard top for fun. Tic-Tac-Toe here we come!

I couldn’t find a spray paint in the exact shade of green in the fabric, so I chose an exterior latex paint from True Value. The only downside is that it takes forever to dry, so plan on some down time. Yes, that’s a banana popsical in the picture – they’ve become a must-have in my summer outdoor projects!

Project Total = $28

Adirondack chairs and table: $0 (rescued from the dump!)
Chair paint: 1 Quart / ~$10 from True Value
Table paint: 1 Quart / ~$10 from True Value
Fabric for pillows: $8 from Hancock (used old throw pillows for filling)

Until I have a bigger front porch, back porch sittin’ will work just fine

My next project of the weekend was painting the dining room. This room has such fabulous wainscoting and crown molding that I needed a richer color to really make them pop. Since the bathroom downstairs is painted an intense blue grey, I wanted to stay close to this color range. I chose “Stonington Grey” by Benjamin Moore (although I bought the True Value version) and love, love, love it! The color sample had a little more blue in it, but I’m really digging this subtle but warm shade of grey.

Since there was a $20 price difference between BM and Easy Care, I obviously chose the latter but am really happy with the results! Painting a room grey definitely provides some instant gratification. I’m thinking the guest bedroom might just go grey too!

I also spent sometime this weekend organizing my hot mess of a garage. Since someone must have broken into our house and only taken my two paint rollers and edging brush (a.k.a JD threw them away on accident!), I really needed to organize my supplies. So I installed a 6 foot shelf and organized by the following: Spray paint, tools, towels/rags, and paint gallons.

While I was writing this post, one of my super sweet neighbors stopped by to bring us fresh tomatoes from her garden. I may dislike a lot about The Bumpass, but I do love my sweet neighbors and their yummy tomatoes.

They were the perfect addition to Taco Night. Thanks neighbors that don’t read my blog and may not know my name! We’re still the new kids on the block… xoxo, Jamie