A Quartet of Delicious NEW Colors!

Kenny is at his pre-op appointment...

covered in paint!

He forgot it was today...oops!

Since he's tied up, I have a bit of free time

to share the new Amy Howard at Home One Step Colors with you!

Do you get as excited about new colors as I do?

First up, a lovely royal blue/navy 

called American Dream

What I love about this color is it's mix-a-bility (new word!)

Out of the can, it's a vibrant, rich blue

but it mixes gorgeously to create deep navy, teal, peacock, cobalt...

even a rich array of purples

For some blue inspiration, visit our Pinterest board:

Navy Inspiration

We live on the west coast of Florida, 

and the beach is never more than a few minutes away...

so these beachy colors make me happy, indeed!

Tick Tock is a fresh minty green shade...

add a touch of white for a softer look, or a bit of blue or green for more vibrancy...

as is, it is STUNNING!

(greens are SO hard to capture on film...

my pic reads a touch more soft than it's true greenish blue shade)

For some inspiration:

Mint Inspiration

Pale Aqua Inspiration

Get in Gear is probably my favorite of the four new colors...

strong and true, this reads a bit Kelly Green w a hint of blue

Jade Inspiration

Lastly, Table for One

A strong, mid range pink with a retro vibe

Out of the can, it's bold and wonderful

but it mixes well to create a variety of shades from subtle peach to coral, 

as well as just about every shade of pink, plum, or berry you can dream up!

Need some Inspiration?

Retro Pink Inspiration

We really enjoyed dipping into these strong new shades from Amy Howard at Home

I'm looking forward to seeing how YOU use them!

Weathered Grey French Desk

I saw this gorgeous vanity/desk on Facebook

a picker we buy from was selling it, and I was literally a minute too late...

Someone else beat me to it!

I was thrilled when that person offered it to me, 

because it was just too much of a project! 

Yep, it was a HOT mess!

Just look at her now...

We used One Step Paint from Amy Howard at Home in Selznick Grey

followed by an application of white dust over the damp wax

The top is "pulled and cracked" to reveal bits of the creamy white beneath

(Bauhaus Buff)

The white dust gives a really beautiful weathered look to the grey paint

We wanted to age the Buff trim, too

so we applied Dust of Ages (a greyish dust)

 mixed with a more brown colored dust

 We wanted the original hardware to look weathered, as well

so we applied white dust followed by Dust of Ages

The shape of this desk is amazing...

we've only had one other Kidney shaped desk before! 

Love this?  

You can find it in our Etsy shop

Gilded Age Gorgeousness

We recently had the opportunity to try out a new product

(OK, new to US!)

It's called Modern Masters

and I now want to paint EVERYTHING

metallic!

We used the "Shimmer" Metallic Paint

in Warm Silver

(and let me tell you, I AGONIZED over what color to try

there is a rainbow of shimmery hues!)

I know, I know...you want pictures!

Here you go!

Remember THIS set?

Well just LOOK at her now!

So about the paint...

it goes on like a DREAM

It's opaque, but we used a lighter shade, so we used three coats

When I told Kenny we were going to try metallic paint, he said:

"you better let ME do this project"

He said this because he is a perfectionist painter,

whereas I am NOT...

Usually, metallics are VERY unforgiving

and every brush stroke shows

(which explains why Kenny didn't want me to do it!)

but this paint is so SMOOTH!

It dried fairly quickly, too

These pieces had a shiny, varnished surface

so we lightly sanded them first

We distressed just a little, and the paint was easy to distress

To finish, we used dark wax

I was very worried that I'd opted to tackle 

such a LARGE project with one quart of paint...

but guess what?

We've got half a quart left!  

I am OVER-THE-MOON

about how this set turned out...

Modern Masters was the perfect choice

to GLAM it up...

I loved it so much, in fact, 

I'm painting my own buffet-turned-entertainment center next!

This set is available in our ETSY shop

Before and After and After

I have a rule...

NEVER, EVER REPAINT...

by that I mean once it's done...

We often start, rethink, adjust along the way...

but once it's done and photographed,

leave it alone...

SOMEONE will LOVE it.

 

 

This desk was driving me nuts, however!

It was fine...pretty, soft color

nice distressing...

but I DID NOT LOVE IT

so, I repainted it...

well, funny story about that, you see...

This was painted w milk paint

and sealed with burnishing paste...

"You better strip that" said Kenny...

"yeah, right, as-if" said I...

and I commenced to painting over the milk paint

with more milk paint

"It will only take me an hour" I proclaimed!

 

To anyone that wants to figure out how to force milk paint to crackle and chip?

I might have found your solution...

just paint over burnishing paste!

 

It was crackley, chippy awesomenesss...

Unfortunately, I did not want a bunch of crackle and chipping...

(isn't the way it always goes?)

 

so I had to sand the ENTIRE desk back down to bare wood!

(and it did NOT take me "only an hour!")

 

One day, maybe I'll listen...

but probably not

Two days later, and TA DA...

 

 (I know, coolest hardware EVER, right?)

 

It's simple and elegant now...

and so is the chair, which lived in my house for 10 years

this was painted gloss black enamel so I milk painted right over it

and I love how wherever it's chippy, you see gloss black

for a cool tone-on-tone effect

 

And don't you LOVE these paper flowers from Home Goods?

 

So I broke my own rule about NOT repainting,

but I think this desk went from OK to STUNNER

I'm sure plenty of folks will tell me they preferred the "before"

and that's OK, because I LOVE THE AFTER!

Prettiest in Pink

We created this custom painted piece

to serve as a changing table

in a little baby girls nursery...

It was initially a 2pc china hutch

We ditched the top portion

and voila, a perfectly sized 

dresser/changing table

The drawers offer loads of storage

for tiny clothes

diaper supplies

whatever :0) 

We strip the inside of each drawer

before re-staining them to look like new

Behind the doors, there is more storage

perfect for boxes of diapers, 

power, etc

The inside of each cubby has 

been repainted in a durable lacquer

We custom-mixed this mid-tone pink

using Chalk Paint

The piece was then sealed and lightly glazed

for a slightly aged appearance

Hope you've enjoyed having a peek

at this custom painted piece!