New Painting and Living Room

Remember when Brian and I stretched a canvas? Well I put some paint on that canvas and it currently resides in our unfurnished living room. A little disclaimer: I paint entirely for fun and for therapy. I like to be creative with colors but have zero training. I really just enjoy it. 

Originally my concept was a sort of underwater feeling and looking up toward the sun. When Brian saw it he felt that it was reminiscent of looking behind a wave. I really wanted to bring a lot of color into the room and have it on theme with beachy without being too literal. I think it turned out pretty good and brings a ton of color into the room. 

You can also get a good shot of our painted yet entirely unfurnished space that we are living with right now. This is basically our looking out the window waiting for dad to come home space. We are on the hunt for a couch, chairs, rug, window treatment but we are picky and trying to wait for the estate sales to start popping up. 

Below is a before shot of the living room for fun. I took all the before pictures on a super cloudy day so they are all super dark but it does look quite a bit better.  

Now we just need some actual furniture so we can put a pin in the living room. Oh and so I can have a comfortable place to sit besides camping chairs. We are real classy that way. 

Happy Wednesday!

Update: Kitchen and Paint Colors

Time to share some progress with you guys. I have been painting my little heart and have made good progress on two rooms and a lot of trim. Today I can give you a little update on the kitchen progress. 

First a little look back to where we started. 

The orange oak trim is EVERYWHERE in this house. 

There was also a strip of super old wallpaper in the dining area. 

This stuff was awful to get down. Brian's hands were actually sore the next day from all the scraping. 

 What we have done so far:
   -removed the wall paper (details here)
   -painted (most of) the trim
   -painted the ceiling
   -added our island (from the last house)
   -painted the walls

Here is our progress picture...

And a wider shot of the kitchen.

Yes we have a partially ripped off

 back splash and no I am not a fan of the island in this house

but I really need the counter space.  

Well you can clearly see we are a work in progress. We have a HUGE list of things to do for the first stage of our kitchen makeover. We are loving how things are looking so far with just a little paint

The paint color in the kitchen is Sea Salt in Harmony by Sherwin Williams. It took two coats to get a nice even color on the walls. The trim paint is just an off the shelf low VOC semi gloss. We use low or no VOC for all of our paint. I am the one that does 75% of the painting and since I am pregnant and home with a toddler and a dog it makes sense to use it. Painting the trim was a bit of a task because the low VOC primer can sometimes need a couple more coats to get good coverage. I ended up doing 3 coats of primer and two coats of semi gloss on the trim and did no sanding before and the coverage is good. 

For the first phase of kitchen beautification we are planning:

   -new light fixtures

   -paint both doors in the kitchen

   -remove the rest of the back splash and paint

   -painting the kitchen cabinets

   -painting or changing the counter tops

   -adding shelving (already on the way!!)

   -new floors?? maybe.

If feels like I have been painting for a weeks straight and we have a lot more to do but I think we can get phase one done by the July deadline.

I also wanted to share the color scheme we are leaning toward for the whole house. We want a beachy neutral cottage palette. I, of course, would paint the entire house white and grey but Brian needs some color so a nice beachy palette is a good compromise for us. Since we can see the ocean it fits the house perfectly :) We are mostly sticking to the colors below and maybe adding a little coral for some pop. 

Our last bit of news is regarding the front door color. We have picked our winner. Thanks everyone for your votes and input. We have decided to go with the second one down. It is a nice bold teal color and I am trying to step outside of my painting comfort zone and go for something bold. I originally was sure it would be the fourth one down but it looks very similar to the kitchen color. Can't wait to get started! 

Happy Monday!

Choosing A Color: The Front Door

I love the trend of painting the front door a fun color. Our home normally has a very subdued palette so we have decided that it would be fun to add a pop of color and personality to the front door. Inside we have a beachy coastal color scheme (basically greys with some blue and green hints) so I wanted to stick with that theme for the front door but make it a little more bold. Now I just need some help deciding. 

The door is immediately surrounded by brick and then has weathered wood shingles beyond that. 

The colors are all Sherwin Williams HGTV colors. The top color

is reading pink in this picture but it 

is more coral red. 

When I zoom out from the door you can get a better idea of all the colors and textures we are dealing with. You can also see a guest appearance from Amelia and Goose if you look close :) 

 We also plan on removing the storm door eventually so that big

 silver thing wont be in the way. 

Here is a close up of the colors. Brian and I both have favorites but I would love to hear some opinions from other people before we decide.  

Let me know what you think :)

Stretching A Canvas

Last year for Mother's Day Brian got me a big roll of canvas. Yes last year! We moved not long after and my poor roll of canvas has been sitting in storage. Finally we are getting settled and I was feeling inspired so it was time to put that canvas to good use. I asked Brian to make me a frame while I checked out tips on stretching canvas. Turns out it is really easy. 

Supply List:
-Un-primed roll of canvas
-Wood for frame (they have pre-measured frames at craft stores)
-Staple gun

Brian used 1x1 pieces of pine and made a basic frame. The frame measures around 40"x50". 

First I unrolled the canvas a placed the frame on top. I left about 6 inches of canvas all the way around the frame since I am a beginner. Next time I will leave less excess. 

I started with one of the long sides and folded the canvas up and put one staple in the center. I then did this to each side (long sides fist and then short sides) and pulled the canvas tight each time. 

Once I had a staple in each side I then went to each side (following the same pattern) and put two staples in. I would pull it snug using the frame each time. I did this until I got to the corner of each side. 

This picture is with the sides all stapled. You can see that the canvas is pulled tight underneath. The trick for me is only putting in a couple of staples each side and then following the same pattern as you move from side to side. I can see that if you  tried to do one side at a time you may end up with ripples. 

Once I got to the corner I folded the extra fabric so there is a 45* angle fold on one side and it is smooth on the other. I then put a couple staples in. 

Once all four corners are stapled you have a stretched canvas! You can see that I had a lot of extra fabric but it came out nice and tight with no ripples. Not bad for our first try. 

All trimmed up and ready for primer. 

The entire project took about 30 minutes. I am including the 10 minutes it took for Brian to build the frame. Brian also did the stapling while I did the pulling and stretching. It would have taken much longer if I did it alone but it is entirely possible. This pregnant girl is not above asking for some assistance these days. 

After we stretched the canvas I grabbed the Gesso to prime. This step actually took me longer than the stretching. The canvas soaks up the primer really fast and it took a while to get nice coverage. I ended up doing 2 coats of Gesso before I started the actual painting. 

I loved this project. I now have a custom size canvas for far cheaper than any store bought pre-stretched canvas. It really was as easy as it sounds and I would recommend trying it. Custom and cheap, you can't beat that. 

ps. I have since finished the painting and will hopefully post some pictures on here next week :) When I am feeling inspired, things get done!