tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82886419070849876402024-03-14T11:13:49.871-07:00Caulk is a Girl's Best FriendSmokeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16515470164040663468noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288641907084987640.post-59865349970872627202015-02-08T19:07:00.000-08:002015-02-08T19:07:42.704-08:00Fall Art Project - Pumpkin Canvas<span style="font-size: large;">I always wanted to be one of those people that change out their wall hangings seasonally. Something bright and cheery in the Spring and Summer; pumpkins, gourds, and leaves in the Fall; Santa, and frosty, bare-branch trees in the winter. A perpetual seasonal Pottery Barn catalog. You get the picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not really one of those people, but in my quest to become one of those people, I created an art project that I WILL hang every Fall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For this project, I used a canvas from Hobby Lobby (on sale, of course), a paint sample from Lowe's, some wall spackle (plenty), and some leftover paint, tinted glaze, and satin poly (water-based).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the finished product.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnOq0HEEiIISJJsNm7oLnkR083JxeTWF-kvvw_xFPZxZaRhnXrzgFMv_S4nEzpaV_GGIMw0PHuSeue2TJaKvb0Jxa0DXLGwgJJM4byLLxn5NYP97_FENgwE3Y0vFJaB7mlaXADoo1mB0/s1600/IMG_20140930_104526_215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnOq0HEEiIISJJsNm7oLnkR083JxeTWF-kvvw_xFPZxZaRhnXrzgFMv_S4nEzpaV_GGIMw0PHuSeue2TJaKvb0Jxa0DXLGwgJJM4byLLxn5NYP97_FENgwE3Y0vFJaB7mlaXADoo1mB0/s1600/IMG_20140930_104526_215.jpg" height="499" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was inspired by this great pear art by Tracy on her SoulStyle blog, found <a href="http://www.soulstyle.ca/diy-art-pears/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So pretty! Love the white-on-white!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyWMImBmzGdwl5ulr8U9l8TiIAXbaPBdlAGuVqhpJoyc0IeIqC1TAI5aM2jTrh1pmlpHuz3XbjFzcaIGesoCPA7mMQ-OrVKCC1ybEUq3gjwQbBjXi-s083ZOkaeFxwoqu91gi961hWWY/s1600/pear+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyWMImBmzGdwl5ulr8U9l8TiIAXbaPBdlAGuVqhpJoyc0IeIqC1TAI5aM2jTrh1pmlpHuz3XbjFzcaIGesoCPA7mMQ-OrVKCC1ybEUq3gjwQbBjXi-s083ZOkaeFxwoqu91gi961hWWY/s1600/pear+art.jpg" height="486" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The pear art above is fairly large, and I wasn't feeling quite that ambitious for my first foray into wall mud art, so I picked up a 20" x 30" canvas on sale at Hobby Lobby, and got down to business.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I googled for pumpkin art, pumpkin images, etc, and found a photo of a pumpkin to use as my drawing model. Let the drawing begin!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDJmSXf8UknjfKOQAjT3YJg-VkRQD_pSB3IK2a7aV_dK0k4J6GMcRCDI6WqmUW5OAb5zPJ4NIN-v4gir2grrLBdXgVEKPvPkvqnnwxFtpEqd9LJpDEAlEH-wfYG91-Ea2Ln-8D3eIePQ/s1600/IMG_20140921_124708_915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDJmSXf8UknjfKOQAjT3YJg-VkRQD_pSB3IK2a7aV_dK0k4J6GMcRCDI6WqmUW5OAb5zPJ4NIN-v4gir2grrLBdXgVEKPvPkvqnnwxFtpEqd9LJpDEAlEH-wfYG91-Ea2Ln-8D3eIePQ/s1600/IMG_20140921_124708_915.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span id="goog_1818506712"></span>And viola - my plain old imperfect pumpkin drawn on bare canvas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now the fun part! I used the wall spackle that I already had on hand, which I buy from Lowe's. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJmckwqPA3z9QUgZ6q_7MEcfa3f-SvgQh_9urGq4iRgQItL0bdSqbjd4cGthJi0dlQYFETfWPkfydx2q0_s2zLivX-70znq9oxzmCSMCgg1gwKcj6ZkEpK4xWsM4IfhWS080p1JXWaAA/s1600/IMG_20150208_175019_166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJmckwqPA3z9QUgZ6q_7MEcfa3f-SvgQh_9urGq4iRgQItL0bdSqbjd4cGthJi0dlQYFETfWPkfydx2q0_s2zLivX-70znq9oxzmCSMCgg1gwKcj6ZkEpK4xWsM4IfhWS080p1JXWaAA/s1600/IMG_20150208_175019_166.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I started filling in the pumpkin sections, spreading the spackle out fairly roughly in the individual pumpkin sections. I worked every other section and let it dry a bit before filling in the remaining sections. I wanted that distinction between the sections. Otherwise, this thing was going to turn out looking like a beach ball. I built up a few layers. Then lightly sanded it, and sanded the edges between sections to round them a bit.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwTV569qRT3RN4x00iWcMhlzm2DfdThbWEEFRhjq1YZ5VdHxsWCFxX9XE4w7ocWNGKXGI3pf6yGLe_9cqPMZnodw0LRzYp3kpdF9RaLVXX-uR5FXjy6Oyk1tGURUOP2PHNCV9uiTja3c/s1600/IMG_20140921_130802_096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwTV569qRT3RN4x00iWcMhlzm2DfdThbWEEFRhjq1YZ5VdHxsWCFxX9XE4w7ocWNGKXGI3pf6yGLe_9cqPMZnodw0LRzYp3kpdF9RaLVXX-uR5FXjy6Oyk1tGURUOP2PHNCV9uiTja3c/s1600/IMG_20140921_130802_096.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once the pumpkin was filled in, I added a thin layer of spackle to the rest of the canvas, and textured it with a damp stiff paint brush. I just brushed the wet spackle horizontally outward from the edge of the pumpkin.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJCgBX3cS9SN7v5sgrsgOzryhi3l7ss1O-faVK_-cUScsYTrPq3grxU1SDo3zl4ETVzlWHbrJOQnX9iyhlzaUYQuasnXBTzFGcJcaubCV43H6uiWMF77NSuDEYWa_tVxNjJY2FlvlMrJo/s1600/IMG_20140926_180927_042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJCgBX3cS9SN7v5sgrsgOzryhi3l7ss1O-faVK_-cUScsYTrPq3grxU1SDo3zl4ETVzlWHbrJOQnX9iyhlzaUYQuasnXBTzFGcJcaubCV43H6uiWMF77NSuDEYWa_tVxNjJY2FlvlMrJo/s1600/IMG_20140926_180927_042.jpg" height="482" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">You can see the light texturing on the background in the close-up below.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iRoc1LamMsx7cSmb1CuNZnT0IWuLnyih1bd7uWo7h6-EzSlecyNV5vgw-CXvPN-U_Q09-33arzQ6AlmRrh3w2hCWa_UlWVyJJEr8_n-jMw2wdJCCvK6t05fP62L3W1Uq821_BVeKDbs/s1600/IMG_20140926_181004_668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iRoc1LamMsx7cSmb1CuNZnT0IWuLnyih1bd7uWo7h6-EzSlecyNV5vgw-CXvPN-U_Q09-33arzQ6AlmRrh3w2hCWa_UlWVyJJEr8_n-jMw2wdJCCvK6t05fP62L3W1Uq821_BVeKDbs/s1600/IMG_20140926_181004_668.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nest stop, paint. I painted the background with some gray wall paint that I had.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJquWmEyWmGwpwPEuKkFOPC1bRjRrBDUxKpMXWo1n26ix3kTiLJCKyHp1ARULjP36df3X69MyqjWq4eitunC24HJY_4k4-CemBbiR-iXBidJaphr4exD28TOhzdTCBxAYTshl4ajc8RzY/s1600/IMG_20140926_214253_892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJquWmEyWmGwpwPEuKkFOPC1bRjRrBDUxKpMXWo1n26ix3kTiLJCKyHp1ARULjP36df3X69MyqjWq4eitunC24HJY_4k4-CemBbiR-iXBidJaphr4exD28TOhzdTCBxAYTshl4ajc8RzY/s1600/IMG_20140926_214253_892.jpg" height="502" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then painted the pumpkin with an orange paint sample from Lowe's. It's sort of an orange sherbet color called Golden Chime.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyyKUGrsJKsVu1Ld5VPD5T317h7zVgOKp93Cz2PouRUFBLpsE3WKeKa-CExYvPXlyFCsohoWgDiDtA2WnK0Vy3TnGgM6lXZ3Zua_eNpMmIGpPym4Sh6_KphitnbrFrDdkvBimltALeY1c/s1600/IMG_20140926_222410_665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyyKUGrsJKsVu1Ld5VPD5T317h7zVgOKp93Cz2PouRUFBLpsE3WKeKa-CExYvPXlyFCsohoWgDiDtA2WnK0Vy3TnGgM6lXZ3Zua_eNpMmIGpPym4Sh6_KphitnbrFrDdkvBimltALeY1c/s1600/IMG_20140926_222410_665.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZpTjn0TdQrfhAxwLshh-Kz-5Oh5Dq3XQRElj-BRXmixtm9bewfzb-DNBexUl3kHEB9IH5A782hy5ptvAt79vbDiw1lvSTdDWMhSqzWdh5iciC0Ch4aedhPC7jy7PsjNnI4CEQtG6oBc/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZpTjn0TdQrfhAxwLshh-Kz-5Oh5Dq3XQRElj-BRXmixtm9bewfzb-DNBexUl3kHEB9IH5A782hy5ptvAt79vbDiw1lvSTdDWMhSqzWdh5iciC0Ch4aedhPC7jy7PsjNnI4CEQtG6oBc/s1600/1.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Too stark, right? Right! So I used some brown tinted glaze to emphasize all the dimension and texturing, and add a little shading. Brush on, wipe off, like stain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Glazed the pumpkin first, then the background. Last step was to coat the whole thing with some satin water-based polyurethane. This step is not necessary, but I wanted the whole thing to have the same sheen, and the gray background paint that I used was flat, while the orange paint sample was satin.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-hyuTi1l3AhhzHQE1GUxGOvUdcqFDVpnb9xt_JB78WEW0FJAoWIHCHh9yNoYqNmeka3P9oHVB0VBcB_vx-KrgzJbHV4U7Iz5kia8nnyqFF1EHc_RhE8EJucNOyjgjzGJDsmD7Bsm_xs/s1600/IMG_20140927_142246_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-hyuTi1l3AhhzHQE1GUxGOvUdcqFDVpnb9xt_JB78WEW0FJAoWIHCHh9yNoYqNmeka3P9oHVB0VBcB_vx-KrgzJbHV4U7Iz5kia8nnyqFF1EHc_RhE8EJucNOyjgjzGJDsmD7Bsm_xs/s1600/IMG_20140927_142246_003.jpg" height="464" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glaze on only the pumpkin</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And there you have it. Can't wait to hang it next Fall!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Shout out to Tracy and her beautiful pear art, for inspiring me to try my own wall mud art!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSnFtSazJGIQR-pexKidMHYnXpzoRib3kq5LpGUjQ77deONA_6FnogOk078LbC6KofOwS4Rm2HtV2gEn7vCP9TBqrux-ytJlCGSruPhuYNxxoAbRr_-bBPp4PStU_uUTBP9uIw5dV9Lc/s1600/20150208_183601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSnFtSazJGIQR-pexKidMHYnXpzoRib3kq5LpGUjQ77deONA_6FnogOk078LbC6KofOwS4Rm2HtV2gEn7vCP9TBqrux-ytJlCGSruPhuYNxxoAbRr_-bBPp4PStU_uUTBP9uIw5dV9Lc/s1600/20150208_183601.jpg" height="482" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Smokeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16515470164040663468noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288641907084987640.post-90357753522410231022015-02-08T13:23:00.000-08:002015-02-08T13:23:22.119-08:00Master Bedroom - The Plan<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">As with every room, I start with an idea of something I want to try (like a paint technique or a color combination), or an inspiration piece (like art or a fabric that I want to use). For the master bedroom, I had both a paint idea that I wanted to try, and a piece of art that drove the color scheme.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">First, the paint idea. I had an idea rattling around my brain for a while; before I ever laid eyes on this house, actually. The idea was for a stenciled wall.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1QIxk-jPZGqEDmN4aQIZXJ4TZur2g9YPsYXcJnx1Y9SyOR4-f2VZk0MnHTKdSB0vVHwwfAw4r9XCAolnSgR4fMUyxTM-cb2GCqLhJFrzlpDmRtHiJtwA0ZpvcPC_HahRv1gPJZg4678/s1600/IMG_20140919_182354_358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1QIxk-jPZGqEDmN4aQIZXJ4TZur2g9YPsYXcJnx1Y9SyOR4-f2VZk0MnHTKdSB0vVHwwfAw4r9XCAolnSgR4fMUyxTM-cb2GCqLhJFrzlpDmRtHiJtwA0ZpvcPC_HahRv1gPJZg4678/s1600/IMG_20140919_182354_358.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">No, not like that, Crafty! No, Nope, Negative.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">More like this.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guest Room - light gray on dark gray paisley stencil</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">I had done this wall in my last house, in a guest bedroom using light gray stenciled over a darker gray base. Sorry for the poor photo quality. It makes it look like a wall full of leaves, but it's actually a paisley design. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Anyhow, the new version of the idea in my head was a tone-on-tone thing, where the base color and the stencil color would be the same color, but in different sheens. Base color flat, stencil color glossy (or base color flat, stencil done with clear satin or gloss poly). In my head, that would look like tone-on-tone damask fabric, similar to this tablecloth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqnpgxhydBqwDjGKzPJ_AXpxTCUNDXp5dv75KXrhHVCSZylmagnN7T1odmDAFrKBhZAf7Cf2GaNGpVU8kTB5BNVLfMBRmsDKkkDTGki0nAyqyCwOx_VGoIQtTl7IDhLxEOxaHuwvGp2Y/s1600/damask+tablecloth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqnpgxhydBqwDjGKzPJ_AXpxTCUNDXp5dv75KXrhHVCSZylmagnN7T1odmDAFrKBhZAf7Cf2GaNGpVU8kTB5BNVLfMBRmsDKkkDTGki0nAyqyCwOx_VGoIQtTl7IDhLxEOxaHuwvGp2Y/s1600/damask+tablecloth.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">So that idea had been in my head since I did the last stenciled wall. Just suspended there, waiting for a duty assignment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">On to the inspiration piece.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="600px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/W-JdZU7EhQfMyPKaqSvdw1B3H1hi9r57v_8bq8xtv7nTk2_31igIRsYLUN_Ys7rqJWcqw5mXtjv5FBe9aicWTrica9E7uq7emU933BHB7518l6UbqhAAjx-qhBWJRdL0DQ" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="600px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My lovely inspiration art</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-6e84914c-8fa4-16f1-1ed9-b7d31b348c03"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">I stumbled upon this piece of art at a furniture store, and fell in love with it. LOVE, people. It's serene, yet the berry color is so rich. It's also a statement piece at 48" x 48". It was also $149. LOVE. $149 for a giant piece of art that soothes my soul every time I look at it? Sold! In actuality, I did not buy it the first time I saw it, because I was between houses, and had nowhere to use it. But in spirit, I was sold! And like the stencil idea, this piece of art hung in my head (see what I did there?), waiting for a duty assignment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Fast forward to short sale purchase, and I have my opportunity to use both ideas. The entire color scheme was based on that piece of art - gray, cream, and berry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">From that starting point, I needed to add all the usual necessities: bed, dressers, nightstands, lamps, bedding. And I definitely needed to do something about the window treatments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Behold the vertical blinds.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6LKDBaGy8rt34Ze6XbLbzx03BtW1CmlVECsbgzNebki8PwCefrZMnU6eOHgELNHIj0Ex0RiASPP03AdNSLPTHI-Dd7aUX9Qchyphenhyphens3WN97t4PaXOPxIAHf9Ov03GW0zSNmYAbAs3jQHVE/s1600/window+wall+before+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6LKDBaGy8rt34Ze6XbLbzx03BtW1CmlVECsbgzNebki8PwCefrZMnU6eOHgELNHIj0Ex0RiASPP03AdNSLPTHI-Dd7aUX9Qchyphenhyphens3WN97t4PaXOPxIAHf9Ov03GW0zSNmYAbAs3jQHVE/s1600/window+wall+before+3.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bedroom - window wall before</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Those have to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">You know what else has to go? These ...</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="352px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eMySeIdp-x8A_cKoH4iJd7RBG-tBqlyUAce-vLhGYkKL963nimawNcA5EWkIu1aZoo6xc4o8m1fVSUHJhYPV5l4MfDLYV-zZCEftjGGYZaZ4E9GI8L4_e2UU1QWOobMLgw" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="624px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baseboards - before</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-6e84914c-9013-f5d8-ac12-00c56d1d9fa8"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The narrow, anemic-looking baseboards. I'm guessing it was a builder cost-saving measure to outfit the entire house with the narrowest baseboards known to man, but they don't do the house justice. It's like putting a 2-inch angel atop a 10 ft Christmas tree. The mismatch in scale is visually jarring. Plus, it looks cheap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">So now I had a direction, and I just needed to put it all together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Here's a sneak peek at how the tone-on-tone stencil idea turned out in real life.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVV72hPH3LD0PuSjdoccZvtJoAw1e_sweaxhvLeAww2yjDTPj175OHCU49K3d1b-MIKK80ewachyLsZf03J9CtbCUWTJoiAjtmmq2gxBDpGWoEgmExvMqfDEIzG-lgtJl8D41g6qPhMA/s1600/IMG_20131011_123806_109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVV72hPH3LD0PuSjdoccZvtJoAw1e_sweaxhvLeAww2yjDTPj175OHCU49K3d1b-MIKK80ewachyLsZf03J9CtbCUWTJoiAjtmmq2gxBDpGWoEgmExvMqfDEIzG-lgtJl8D41g6qPhMA/s1600/IMG_20131011_123806_109.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Get a load of that! That right there looks like high-end wallpaper. That is exactly how it looked in my mind. Nailed it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Tune in again to see the finished room.</span><br />
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Smokeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16515470164040663468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288641907084987640.post-35378304748644997632015-02-08T11:52:00.000-08:002015-02-08T11:52:11.644-08:00The Lint Bucket<div style="text-align: center;">
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I bought this bucket (really a plant pot) to use in the laundry room as a tiny trash bin for dryer lint.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgU_b8wvIQRP9_rICLfqiI-TjyMdQ78bgQcdwb9ipIPAFZAzrtMpHSNWFUSVETKOfNikq43nSg9N0gJG26JwAn7LB63C5aVWPu9gUo6w3wIvxp6zPuNjI_TVdQvPigljiFtbWxMVJsaA/s1600/IMG_20150207_160420_665.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgU_b8wvIQRP9_rICLfqiI-TjyMdQ78bgQcdwb9ipIPAFZAzrtMpHSNWFUSVETKOfNikq43nSg9N0gJG26JwAn7LB63C5aVWPu9gUo6w3wIvxp6zPuNjI_TVdQvPigljiFtbWxMVJsaA/s1600/IMG_20150207_160420_665.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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My little lint bucket</div>
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Mr. Caulk was with me when I bought it. He knew the intended use. I just put some lint in it this morning. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vKs5qJphfTHR2TCZQwqSYsMIkMI8sbbIQB2U1TPbOin815v3ZRHSVs-wYMfnESnbPWY6QvY6ik8bUz3vS2jZ39gcGogMqq589Yt42rZVkF0mIxXga8qTFKO78vQCtDN28dLDMuTSmzw/s1600/IMG_20150207_160521_574.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vKs5qJphfTHR2TCZQwqSYsMIkMI8sbbIQB2U1TPbOin815v3ZRHSVs-wYMfnESnbPWY6QvY6ik8bUz3vS2jZ39gcGogMqq589Yt42rZVkF0mIxXga8qTFKO78vQCtDN28dLDMuTSmzw/s1600/IMG_20150207_160521_574.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Headed to the grocery store, and this is what I saw when I came home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKih7VAbTcM1v7nXWvMtrVm23XpUOzCKuBnMh81S_QgFx3ef1eWjUkC8OOU8KmtBAHM0mqqRW7DK1j1R5p6ZNfCVgDKQSp6ALzFpCHb-ES7TLdCh3uXaB8PEPgZeNZfXmeyMbww1NW6A/s1600/IMG_20150207_160722_848.jpg"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKih7VAbTcM1v7nXWvMtrVm23XpUOzCKuBnMh81S_QgFx3ef1eWjUkC8OOU8KmtBAHM0mqqRW7DK1j1R5p6ZNfCVgDKQSp6ALzFpCHb-ES7TLdCh3uXaB8PEPgZeNZfXmeyMbww1NW6A/s1600/IMG_20150207_160722_848.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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This makes me giggle like a schoolgirl. The lint is literally a foot from the bucket. Mr. Caulk said he didn't see it. The bucket is bright blue, and right next to the dryer.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CnxQ6sB40QCkODgGe9IIrSWFJ7f1RI5dlmPJM4ljYIcUKbfP0F2N4lQacAbU42GwGm6tP-L5VzErMKFqXkjKeFBMWn8fuVa7qCv0Hx8N2l362JA1ICqbqVbG7cIyJt-RM08RHti4eCk/s1600/IMG_20150208_101331_410.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CnxQ6sB40QCkODgGe9IIrSWFJ7f1RI5dlmPJM4ljYIcUKbfP0F2N4lQacAbU42GwGm6tP-L5VzErMKFqXkjKeFBMWn8fuVa7qCv0Hx8N2l362JA1ICqbqVbG7cIyJt-RM08RHti4eCk/s1600/IMG_20150208_101331_410.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some perspective</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 36.79999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I must confess that I'm not very good at getting 'before' photos. I'm usually so excited to get started, that I forget to take photos until I'm part way through a project. The master bedroom is no exception. These before photos are really after the initial cleaning, to include carpet cleaning. So you don't really get the full impact of how dirty everything was.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 36.79999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are the (sort of) before photos:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQyB-014sYCWq9f_cC4CQJKa-OsPU46DY7rYzvOyP9j5-e5O9nJn8zzEb7S4NEEATuASv9mf4uveKy5d82R9nIICp-aFmz8ZT1u2gDMsqII7Z-aE1RlIyUPiVD874Em62FVl-tAZ3IKg/s1600/bath+wall+before+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQyB-014sYCWq9f_cC4CQJKa-OsPU46DY7rYzvOyP9j5-e5O9nJn8zzEb7S4NEEATuASv9mf4uveKy5d82R9nIICp-aFmz8ZT1u2gDMsqII7Z-aE1RlIyUPiVD874Em62FVl-tAZ3IKg/s1600/bath+wall+before+.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 17.25px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">Entry to the master bath. This wall is exactly opposite the bed wall below. Notice I had already begun patching the hole where the door handle hits the wall (right hand side). Again, I am sooo bad at getting 'before' photos.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMd7X9j20Wd1wbWIbKYljWj-TyuTeAA_aIyMnfzleSwAUy083lt6lRMNJBiVFROA28WcPrXM5IwPgkgbgNW2YeqRtj96iiVD-znyBZtPIRTTTlj52bRQ8VnYr6OuqrpdngLI_JGkImVw/s1600/bed+wall+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMd7X9j20Wd1wbWIbKYljWj-TyuTeAA_aIyMnfzleSwAUy083lt6lRMNJBiVFROA28WcPrXM5IwPgkgbgNW2YeqRtj96iiVD-znyBZtPIRTTTlj52bRQ8VnYr6OuqrpdngLI_JGkImVw/s1600/bed+wall+before.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bed wall</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJJbe-rZdaBrsCmlx9tP3HNLoVab6jmfdc8wM4pIKpLtXZK0EVWdaYDjPvQjrVZ5Y4EmEb7tN79wAYVbTM2CrEGkkJP4kiNp09j09OqNE6dXNCq_0GoyIRUfM2BVvYPAi17LBptaVi1s/s1600/window+wall+before+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJJbe-rZdaBrsCmlx9tP3HNLoVab6jmfdc8wM4pIKpLtXZK0EVWdaYDjPvQjrVZ5Y4EmEb7tN79wAYVbTM2CrEGkkJP4kiNp09j09OqNE6dXNCq_0GoyIRUfM2BVvYPAi17LBptaVi1s/s1600/window+wall+before+3.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Window wall. Hmmmm, vertical blinds.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The room was beige, with beige carpet. Color-wise, it was not terrible, and it didn't have any wallpaper, like so many of the other rooms in the house, so that was a bonus. However, the walls were dirty and had a lot of dings and nail holes. And of course, there was the aforementioned hole behind the door, where the door handle had hit the wall.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The carpet was filthy, and came complete with a cat dropping. The listing agent told us that a stray cat had gotten stuck in the house after wandering in during a showing, and was freed days later during another showing.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The windows wore a film of dirt and dust and despair. Ceiling fan, likewise. Baseboards, ditto. As with every other area in this house, it was just dirty and dusty. As I mentioned in the previous post, </span><a href="http://caulkisagirlsbestfriend.blogspot.com/2014/09/we-bought-project-we-bought-dream-house.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27.600000381469727px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">We Bought a Project</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this house was a short-sale which had been vacant for just over a year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Caulk took on the task of cleaning the windows, and I cleaned the carpet. The windows allowed light in once again, and the carpet turned out remarkably clean! I really though we'd have to replace it, but I was willing to try to clean it first, just in case, and it turned out great!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">On to the ceiling fan! I should have cleaned this before cleaning the carpet, but since I didn't use that logic, I just put a drop cloth under it to catch all the crud. It cleaned up nicely.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">After cleaning, a couple of initial tasks were needed, right off the bat: painting, and a mini-makeover on the ceiling fan.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me just take a moment to address the ceiling fan. I</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">f I were doing this from scratch, i.e., building a house and picking out the lighting, I would not choose this ceiling fan. But overall, it’s not terrible, and I’m not trying to spend a lot of money on things that will stay with the house when we move on. The biggest problem I had with it was those glass shades for the bulbs... I mean Really! This house was built in 2002, but those shades look like they’re from the eighties. And they look like Ma and Pa Kettle were living here instead of a young family, the latter of which is true. So for all that is good in the world, I had to do something about it. This called for a tiny makeover in the form of new glass shades.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3R_zX4MvtaFc5TEtmeJ1Y7ix3blr-gB6VUbVO3tFcFVVrM77RDuSmk6OycuOKT4nkv4W2MRXZEDqEcr8BKTSPOAgK8j5VNF-5QNUlQwWDfVNlcHToKxOoPvT7e-n7qwqpdOooWbj8ng/s1600/Ceiling+Fan+Before+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3R_zX4MvtaFc5TEtmeJ1Y7ix3blr-gB6VUbVO3tFcFVVrM77RDuSmk6OycuOKT4nkv4W2MRXZEDqEcr8BKTSPOAgK8j5VNF-5QNUlQwWDfVNlcHToKxOoPvT7e-n7qwqpdOooWbj8ng/s1600/Ceiling+Fan+Before+2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ceiling fan Before</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWUl3QwFaguPMYzWyZyLRBS80oywQOAyNUh4Q-f0DPG5-POxVP2sZ1SGwXvmQ5F_tdrK6wQe62ASGK0vSkz3e5G2Hh0vYByhvpa5k3cM6VQxR6VD_j2qkzZ3AOpaosy4ka23Dl7hGT7I/s1600/Ceiling+Fan++After.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWUl3QwFaguPMYzWyZyLRBS80oywQOAyNUh4Q-f0DPG5-POxVP2sZ1SGwXvmQ5F_tdrK6wQe62ASGK0vSkz3e5G2Hh0vYByhvpa5k3cM6VQxR6VD_j2qkzZ3AOpaosy4ka23Dl7hGT7I/s1600/Ceiling+Fan++After.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ceiling fan After, with new glass shades. Ahh, that's better.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The replacement glass shades didn't make the ceiling fan beautiful, but they at least brought it into this century.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now for the painting. Whoever painted the room the last time broke the cardinal rule of painting, which is, “Don’t get it on the ceiling!” So I was going to have to paint the ceiling, or live with beige paint spots here and there around the edges of the room. No, that </span><span style="line-height: 27.600000381469727px; white-space: pre-wrap;">wouldn't</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> do. Even one beige paint spot would be too many. Okay, it </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">was</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> just one beige paint spot, but as I said, it was one too many. That one spot would just ruin the entire visual. And let’s not be lazy, People; do it right! My first-born knows what I’m talking about (you get me, you really get me).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ceiling-painting is my least favorite painting task, and the ceiling was in great shape, other than that one beige paint spot. I was cursing the previous painter for the careless blunder and wishing that person had just grabbed a wet paper towel and wiped up their terrible, terrible mistake. Why don’t people wipe that up?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I purchased a gallon of my favorite trim color (Valspar Statuesque, 7002-5) in semi-gloss, and I picked up a gallon of the same color in flat for the ceiling. Like any good painter, I started with the ceiling, so that little splats from rolling the ceiling would not land on newly painted walls.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started cutting in around the ceiling edges, where the wall meets the ceiling, and the paint color looked remarkably similar to the color that was already on the ceiling. As it dried, it looked even more similar. No Way! My favorite off-white that </span><span style="line-height: 27.600000381469727px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> been using for trim for years, actually matches the ceiling color in this house? Serendipity! I </span><span style="line-height: 27.600000381469727px; white-space: pre-wrap;">didn't</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have to paint the ceiling after all! I just cut in around the entire room, covering that beige spot, and the previous imprecise line between the walls and the ceiling (another pet peeve), and I was good to go!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spoiler alert: color scheme ... I'll address how I arrived at the color scheme in another post. I painted all the walls except one with a light gray color in flat (Valspar Gravity, 4005-1B) and painted one feature wall where the bed will go in flat dark gray (Valspar Mark Twain Gray Brick, 4005-2C). I like flat paint, because it hides imperfections better than anything with a sheen (and looks like velvet), and I don’t have little kids running around, so I don’t have an issue with keeping walls clean. If I did, I would definitely go with an eggshell sheen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">So to review ....</span></span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQyB-014sYCWq9f_cC4CQJKa-OsPU46DY7rYzvOyP9j5-e5O9nJn8zzEb7S4NEEATuASv9mf4uveKy5d82R9nIICp-aFmz8ZT1u2gDMsqII7Z-aE1RlIyUPiVD874Em62FVl-tAZ3IKg/s1600/bath+wall+before+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQyB-014sYCWq9f_cC4CQJKa-OsPU46DY7rYzvOyP9j5-e5O9nJn8zzEb7S4NEEATuASv9mf4uveKy5d82R9nIICp-aFmz8ZT1u2gDMsqII7Z-aE1RlIyUPiVD874Em62FVl-tAZ3IKg/s1600/bath+wall+before+.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 17.25px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">Entry to the master bath, before paint.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJV_v8aE1v3Nk7Gy2JTjMznK4_oSR9cmFEQQ9CL5BZAxOoLJwZ92FHa2Izo1-Nn_DPOBNHXsfpd_XjoFAfUPre8jXocs1aByo6DPEK02Kgat8aFz3czD5jPnGXOOfSGHNI4MMelPgOUEc/s1600/bath+wall+painted+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJV_v8aE1v3Nk7Gy2JTjMznK4_oSR9cmFEQQ9CL5BZAxOoLJwZ92FHa2Izo1-Nn_DPOBNHXsfpd_XjoFAfUPre8jXocs1aByo6DPEK02Kgat8aFz3czD5jPnGXOOfSGHNI4MMelPgOUEc/s1600/bath+wall+painted+1.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Entry to the master bath, after paint.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMd7X9j20Wd1wbWIbKYljWj-TyuTeAA_aIyMnfzleSwAUy083lt6lRMNJBiVFROA28WcPrXM5IwPgkgbgNW2YeqRtj96iiVD-znyBZtPIRTTTlj52bRQ8VnYr6OuqrpdngLI_JGkImVw/s1600/bed+wall+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMd7X9j20Wd1wbWIbKYljWj-TyuTeAA_aIyMnfzleSwAUy083lt6lRMNJBiVFROA28WcPrXM5IwPgkgbgNW2YeqRtj96iiVD-znyBZtPIRTTTlj52bRQ8VnYr6OuqrpdngLI_JGkImVw/s1600/bed+wall+before.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bed wall before paint.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XQBW2iReFHFbgChnIzNW36H78tYSIx50fnxZdaiRI1wTwRAkoKXlRxHVLBNopZjDmSfxPrxQZ-NUkNMKaTZYGh1rTpA26R8QmV665H8DST69PK6KkjeL5JCSKCMJw_2Mc5VZSNAsy_c/s1600/bed+wall+base+paint+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XQBW2iReFHFbgChnIzNW36H78tYSIx50fnxZdaiRI1wTwRAkoKXlRxHVLBNopZjDmSfxPrxQZ-NUkNMKaTZYGh1rTpA26R8QmV665H8DST69PK6KkjeL5JCSKCMJw_2Mc5VZSNAsy_c/s1600/bed+wall+base+paint+1.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bed wall after paint.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">And after all that, I had my starting blank palette. Next stop: furniture, accessories, window treatments. You heard me. I'm not keeping those vertical blinds.</span></span></div>
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Smokeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16515470164040663468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288641907084987640.post-27512615741258944782014-09-18T11:10:00.000-07:002014-09-18T20:26:30.950-07:00We Bought a Project<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">We bought a dream house. A used house. A neglected and abused house. Our dream was to find a house we could live in, and work on, simultaneously. We were looking for a project house, and we found one that fit the bill perfectly. Our plan is to live in this home a couple of years, while making improvements, and then sell it and move on to another project house. When this house is done, we’ll see if we really have it in us to do it again. This place might break us in more ways than one! </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6e84914c-89e6-4089-80bc-eefc1095609f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted to update family members out of state on a regular basis, so I decided to document all the projects and progress by way of a blog, and this is the very first entry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, here’s a thing you can know about me: I have a need to engage in the creative process, on a continual basis. I have to have a project (sometimes multiple projects) going at all times. Chances are, if you don’t know me, and </span><span style="line-height: 36.79999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">you've</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stumbled upon this blog, you might have that same drive. And then maybe you understand why a neglected and abused house is </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: line-through; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> my dream house; it just presents so many opportunities for projects! I absolutely love home improvement! Not just the design process, but the implementation process as well. That’s why this house is not a ‘flip’ like you see on TV, where the home is transformed in a matter of weeks by a small army of contractors. In our home, I do nearly all the work myself. I say nearly, because we did call in an air conditioning guy, and a pool guy. I don’t do that stuff. But my point is that when you do it all lone-wolf style, it takes a while. So we figure it will be a year or two before everything is done. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who is ‘we’ you say? It’s me and my husband; newly minted empty-nesters. He works from home, which is convenient when I need an extra pair of hands, but for the most part, he stays out of the fray. He likes to spend his free time on the golf course. This home improvement thing is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>my</b></i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> passion. I don’t force him to be engaged in the home improvement projects, and he </span><span style="line-height: 36.79999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">doesn't</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> force me to spend hours on the golf course. It works out.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s a second thing you can know about me: I love tools. In the traditional sense, not the current slang sense. Hand tools and power tools. I love to acquire them and I love to use them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here’s a third thing you can know about me: I am a perfectionist. Perfectionism is time consuming. Thus the extra year leeway in our time estimate of when this house will be done. It’ll be done when it’s done (and when it’s done right!).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enough about me, let’s talk about the house. It is a 2 story house built in 2002, and has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths in 2600 square feet. We were really looking for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch, but we stumbled upon a great short sale deal. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh yeah, and it has a pool :-)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our house sat vacant for just over a year before we bought it. It was dusty and dirty. The carpets were atrocious, the bathrooms disgusting, and the ceiling fans caked with grime. The pool was empty, save for some green sludge in the bottom. It was perfect!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One more thing about this house. It gives the impression that it was decorated in the eighties, which is quite a feat, given that it was built in 2002. How can I tell the decor of an empty house? Glad you asked. It’s the wallpaper. Oh, the endless wallpaper. And the wallpaper borders. And the paint colors. And the light fixtures. All of it. So there's a lot to do!</span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome to my journey!</span></h2>
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Smokeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16515470164040663468noreply@blogger.com0