For the Love of Print
Oh Hey There!
When I was at Home Hardware I noticed that they had a Krylon spray paint in Latex. Normally I wouldn't go for that but I wanted it to be safe for the little ones room with the least amount of off-gassing as possible. So I chose a primer, and 2 colours. An Off-white called Niagra Ivory Mist and a Gray called Gulf Gray. Here's a pic of those.
Next I sanded down the whole thing with a 220 grit sand paper to lift off all the nasties that this thing had shed over the years. Now it was ready to prime! I did very light strokes of this paint.
So the cool thing about this latex spray paint is that it dries quite quickly (with minimal odour). When using an oil based paint, it is best to wait at least 12 hours. This was about an hour when all was said and done. Next I painted the off-white on everything. Again, using light even coats. I have always found with white colours especially, it always takes an extra coat or two to achieve the same look you get with a darker one. The problem I found with this paint is that it is a lot runnier than other brands so when I thought all was good and even, I walked away to later return and find that it had ran in a line down the side. Poop. I wasn't very happy. I sanded it down until smooth but this paint just doesn't cover the same as others. Oh well. I thought of a solution. That's coming up soon. The only part that actually was pure perfection was the drawers so at least those looked good. Considering that it's the front of the whole thing, I was pleased to say the least.
Next, I begged my husband to help me lay out the chevron print. I'm not so good at laying out precise things. I'm more of an abstract girl so here is where I needed his help. Desperately. We measured equal distances between the points top and bottom and drew pencils marks with a square. Then we laid painters tape along the pencil marks. I wish I would have used frog tape instead but I didn't have any on hand. I won't make that mistake again as it did bleed through a bit. Here it is taped and being painted with the gray colour.
So for all of those who know me, I'm a lover of print. Graphic print especially. A few months back I was especially intrigued with chevron. But to be honest, who isn't right now?? SO I decided that I needed to do something chevron. I started thinking about what I could do with it and what would I put it on. Then it came to me! One of my besties Shannon was having baby number 2 and needed a night stand for the little ones room! I kept my eyes open looking for the perfect vintage nightstand that had good clean lines and was also super cheap. I found this mystical creature at our local Salvation Army for only $10!!!! Can you believe it? Now isn't she lovely? (insert Stevie Wonder here). It's always a good idea to check that it's made well and sturdy. This definitely is. It's solid and oh-so-strong. Here's what it looked like before I began the process.
When I was at Home Hardware I noticed that they had a Krylon spray paint in Latex. Normally I wouldn't go for that but I wanted it to be safe for the little ones room with the least amount of off-gassing as possible. So I chose a primer, and 2 colours. An Off-white called Niagra Ivory Mist and a Gray called Gulf Gray. Here's a pic of those.
Next I sanded down the whole thing with a 220 grit sand paper to lift off all the nasties that this thing had shed over the years. Now it was ready to prime! I did very light strokes of this paint.
So the cool thing about this latex spray paint is that it dries quite quickly (with minimal odour). When using an oil based paint, it is best to wait at least 12 hours. This was about an hour when all was said and done. Next I painted the off-white on everything. Again, using light even coats. I have always found with white colours especially, it always takes an extra coat or two to achieve the same look you get with a darker one. The problem I found with this paint is that it is a lot runnier than other brands so when I thought all was good and even, I walked away to later return and find that it had ran in a line down the side. Poop. I wasn't very happy. I sanded it down until smooth but this paint just doesn't cover the same as others. Oh well. I thought of a solution. That's coming up soon. The only part that actually was pure perfection was the drawers so at least those looked good. Considering that it's the front of the whole thing, I was pleased to say the least.
Ok, remember when I was going to tell you about my solution to the paint drips? Well here it is.
Beat. It. Up.
Yes you read correctly. I used a paint scraper, a sanding block and a hammer and decided to distress it. Because like hair, light colours show everything and I just had to make it look like it was on purpose. I decided to leave the door fronts smooth and perfect so that the chevron went on just as smooth.
Here it is beaten up.
Next, I begged my husband to help me lay out the chevron print. I'm not so good at laying out precise things. I'm more of an abstract girl so here is where I needed his help. Desperately. We measured equal distances between the points top and bottom and drew pencils marks with a square. Then we laid painters tape along the pencil marks. I wish I would have used frog tape instead but I didn't have any on hand. I won't make that mistake again as it did bleed through a bit. Here it is taped and being painted with the gray colour.
After a couple coats of the grey, I let it dry over night. The next day while miss Ruby was napping I pulled off the paint slowly to reveal the chevron! As I had mentioned earlier, the grey did bleed through the paint on some spots and I had to touch up. I got a very small fine angled painter's brush and sprayed a little of the off-white paint into a paper plate and dipped and dabbed until near perfection. After all was said and done I sprayed the whole thing in a semi gloss varathane to give it a nice sheen and VOILA! It was finito! I ended up staging it at my place prior to taking it over to Shannon's because she lives 3 hours away and I still had to finish the decor in the baby's room so the staged nursery is for another post:)
I hope you enjoy my first blog post. Please give feedback as to what you think of it and things you think I can improve upon. Thanks guys!
xoxo
-L