Paint it black

Not a shout out to the Rolling Stones, who are here at the moment...but a little painting project

While the kitchen renovation continues ...yes, it's still not finished... I've been working on a couple of other things, namely painting some bits and pieces around the house,

But I've moved away from the old tried and true "white" and instead have moved to the dark side

The dining room's been painted plain white and I thought I'd do something a little different. Just for a change

So my old pine chest of drawers are now BLACK

They are the same colour as my old pine filing cabinet - Bristol Abyss

You can see the kitchen wall/bulkhead in the background...the plasterer will be here Monday to put up the cornice and finish things off. On Tuesday the skylight will be going in, weather permitting, and fingers crossed the glass splashback will be here within two weeks.

Once that's in we can get the sink and the gas cook top installed. Fingers crossed it happens soon

Paint it Black - horror!

Still in the study...and something I never thought I'd ever say. "I painted something black"

But I did.

My old pine filing cabinet, which I've had for years and which has been helping hold up the desk in the study, had to be moved out while the room was being remodelled...and I thought it could do with a bit of a freshen up. So instead of painting it white or off white or beige, I bought myself a sample size can of a colour called Abyss. It's a Bristol shade and in some lights, it has a hint of a liquorice green tinge to it.

This is the best photo I could find of it in its original state.

I like it....never thought I'd hear myself say that, but I do. A lot.

It took about three top coats because I, stupidly, didn't get the undercoat tinted...and the white kept showing through

But I persevered and I think it turned out just fine.

I put some dark metal Ikea knobs on it and they help it disappear into the background...

Job done

Which white is white and which white isn't?

As you may know,  I don't mind throwing a bit of paint on the walls...but getting the colour just right can take a long time

Number 10 is the fourth house I've painted/renovated and I've always played it safe as far as colour goes. That's mainly because I'm not good with colour. I find choosing colour can be hit and miss because it's difficult making the right choice from a small colour card you get from the paint store. In fact, that's been the experience of a friend who's had a couple of rooms painted grey and who hates them because they're so dark now, but her husband says they're only getting painted once and he's not paying the painter to do it again.

There are so many darn "whites" out there that paint companies produce brochures dedicated to them...but you really have to ask yourself if there's a hint of tint in it, is it still white?

I started off, many years ago in a former life, painting the walls of my home at Number 3 a Bristol colour called "Clay". It was what I thought at the time was fairly neutral, because it was light... but at different times of the day you could see it taking on a real pinky/mushroomy tinge.

The exterior was always White though. Can't go past it for weatherboards.

Then I started having "Clay" toned down to half strength...it still had that pink undertone, but it wasn't too bad

Much better

Then at Number 10, I moved on to Antique White USA, which looks lovely with just about anything: linen, white, darker tones like black and brown...even blue. I loved it.

In fact I loved it so much, I even used it for some of the old chest of drawers I rejuvenated so they blended in with the walls and made the rooms look bigger.

Then I started half strength on that.....less creamy, more just a hint of colour.

The main bedroom drawers and walls - all A-W USA half strength

Now though, I'm leaning towards another white that has really caught my eye. It's been used in a truly gorgeous, just-renovated home I saw recently and I have to say it makes everything "pop" and complements the dark stained timber floors in the hall and living areas and the almost-latte brown carpet in the bedrooms.

It's "Builders White" and all it has is a drop of black in it to take away the "starkness of that straight-out-of-the-tin-white

That's what I'm after. A non-colour that doesn't bring out the undertones of the things around it.

What it also means though is apart from the walls, I'll have to paint all the chest of drawers...but at least I have the time on my hands to do it now

Planter - spruced up

MONT and I bought this planter a couple of years ago so it could hold a plant next to the front door, but I have to admit the colour never really did it for me

It was a pinkish/mushroomy colour and didn't really match anything we had. It also had a terrible mark on it, left by a price sticker from the nursery and a water mark around the bottom from it's days of sitting in a large saucer in the rain

So it was time for a coat of paint

Out came the roller and undercoat

...and yes, I had some help with the top coats...

One good undercoat and two top coats of exterior acrylic in white and it was good as gold.

Another little job done

Another little restoration...

I'm almost completely over the "bug" I had and am back into painting and restoring a few bits and pieces that have been sitting around and getting in the way

I bought this on eBay for a song a few weeks back and thought I'd paint it and add some new knobs and either sell it or use it.

As you can see, it has a nice little feature on the back

At the moment, I'm leaning towards using it as a bedside cabinet but will have to wait and see how it looks in the space. I don't want our new bedroom to look too crowded, if you know what I mean.

If it does fit in it'll be terrific because it'll give me a little more storage space and we can't have too much of that can we?

Actually, I bought two chests of drawers on eBay. (both were very cheap and in keeping with my Dottie Angel Challenge). They're similar but not identical and I think will look rather nice all painted and spruced up. This one might be for MONT if it looks OK beside the bed

I haven't touched this one yet...but I'll get around to him eventually

Ooh....I just got a delivery in the post and that means a great giveaway coming soon...and of course it's gorgeous!!!

Ryobi workout

I've been doing a bit of bargain hunting...on eBay....and I've found a couple of beauties that I plan to refurbish for Number 10.

This little cupboard really took my fancy because it 's a little like the other yellow chest of drawers  I found on the nature strip last year. You can see them here. This cupboard had been stencilled with a gold paint and had old fashioned china knobs that had also been detailed with gold craft paint.

 ...and on the sides, they'd placed sheets of wrapping paper for detail, then covered the edges with gold edged gift ribbon.

Well...the knobs have been removed and cleaned, ready for another project.

The two drawers have been sanded

The body of the cupboard has also been given the once over.

...And the ribbon and some of the paper's been removed so I can sand it all back and give it the "Number 10 treatment"

I'm not sure what was used to stick the paper down and then seal it, but when I tried to remove it by scraping, then wetting it, it went all gooey and sticky...maybe PVC glue? Not sure, but I plan to get some paint stripper to get all of it off so I can get it all nice and smooth and paint it....white or off white of course.

I also purchased another chest of old drawers. They can wait for another day though.

Back deck table

As you know by now I definitely have a thing about WHITE! and I seem to be painting everything that gets in my way at the moment

Here's our back deck last year. Hard to see but the little slat table was all uneven. If you click on the photograph you can see a little better

I've had the table for years but the slats had bowed and buckled and it wasn't safe to put your drink on and we can't have that!

Hard to see it in this pic under and among all the "projects" I had on the deck after the weather "turned".

But I bought a sheet of MDF, MONT cut it down to size and attached it to the table, and I gave it about four coats of paint to make it waterproof.

It's much better and much more functional now, although once this top goes to God, I won't be putting MDF on it again...I think I'll get a piece of marine ply or something a little more sturdy seeing it'll be sitting outside all the time.

Still pretty happy with it though.

To everyone suffering from the devastating floods in Queensland...my thoughts are with you. I once lived in Brisbane and watched as my backyard filled with water from the swollen creek that runs past my back fence...

It's been heartbreaking watching the tragedy unfold on television and my heart goes out to everyone affected.. 

Painting 101

I'm always looking to improve my knowledge about lots of thing and the other day I had the good fortune to meet a master painter on a job MONT was working at.  Number 10 is the third house I've painted but one can never have too much knowledge about things like this, so I asked him for some tips on how to get a professional finish.

Here's what Craig told me. Preparation is EVERYTHING! If you cut corners on your prep, it WILL SHOW....no matter how well you paint the room.

Always paint a room from top to bottom. Ceiling and cornice first, then walls, trim, like architraves and skirting boards and finally, the floors.

When painting a ceiling, use the fluffiest roller you can find and do the first coat across the "light source" in the room...when applying the second coat, go towards the light source. For instance, if there's a window in the room, work across it first, then back and forth towards the window for the second coat. That way you'll pick up any bits you've missed or have left a bit "hungry".

For the walls, use a roller with a medium nap and start about a roller width in from the corner of the wall and use long sweeping strokes instead of quick, short ones.

The lighter the paint, the bigger the room will look, the darker the paint, the smaller it'll look because it'll feel closed in. Also, when trying to choose a colour, paint a sample of it into a corner of the room where the walls meet so the paint reflects off itself and gives you a better idea of how it's going to look.

When painting a long hallway where there are a number of joins in the plaster sheets... minimise the chance of seeing any variation in the wall by painting with only long, sweeping, vertical roller strokes...

Finally from Craig: Take your time. Rushing it will mean you cut corners and it will show.

A couple from me. One of the best products I've found for patching dings and holes in plaster is Cornice Cement.  Despite other fillers promising amazing results, the best one for me has been plain old Cornice Cement. It doesn't shrink, you can mix as much or as little as you like, it's sands off beautifully and it's cheap!

Buy the best brush you can afford and always get the proper masking tape for going around the skirting boards etc.....I know someone who used regular old masking tape once and left it on a little longer than necessary. They spent hours trying to peel it off and then had to neutralise the sticky glug that was left behind.

If you have any tips of your own, I'd love to hear them. The more information the better I say