Festival of Lights – Day 3

Tags

light fixture, makeover, paint, spray paint, update

From Brassy to Classy!

I had some spray paint leftover from the light fixture makeover. However, the shiny brass finish on the three hall lights was mocking me. The shape of the lights are fine, it’s just the finish that needed updating.The lights were fairly easy to take down, but I did make Hubster do the electrical part. The most time-consuming part was taping each little glass pane! I also taped over the sockets and the sticker warning me not to use more than 25 watt bulbs. After a few coats of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint and removing all that tape, they looked so much better.

Hubster then mounted them back on the ceiling for me. He decided he doesn’t like where this is going… 5 ceiling fans to update, 1 kitchen light, 1 more bathroom light… Oh, well! those are projects for a later date.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Advertisement

French Chic Postage Painting

Tags

acrylic paint, chic, France, home decor, paint, painting, Paris, postaday2011, postage, powder room, silhouette, wall art

I’ve been working on a painting for my powder room for a few weeks. I prepped the canvas, started to paint and then (unhappy with the result) started all over again. I got so frustrated, that I turned my canvas and easel to face the wall. Last night, I realized that I had put my canvas on “time out”! I turned it back around and started again. It was late and I was tired, but inspiration hit. I continued to work even with my exhausted shaky hands.

French Chic Postage Painting

It started as a vintage postage stamp Paris collage type painting… I’m not sure how to define it. The quality isn’t perfect and smooth, but I like it. It’s powder room perfect.

I took the picture before the paint was dry and the clear coat sprayed…

What project did you work on this weekend?

xoxo,
Young Wifey

Apple Blossoms & Golden Finch

Tags

art, bedroom, birds, canvas, craft, destress, fine art, flower, flowering tree, golden finch, guest room, hobby, home decor, home making, paint, painting, postaday2011, relax, relaxation, stencil, tree

Rainy Saturday
I’ve been extremely stressed recently, on top of work, two weeks before the end of my course, my professor decided to extend the class! Can she really do that? We’ve stalled on our home projects. There are still walls to be painted and boxes to be unpacked… I often forget how much painting relaxes me. Painting canvases, not walls…  played around with the idea of flowering branches and birds. I played around with a silhouette idea, but didn’t like it for my walls. The inspiration has to hit at just the right time.

Blossom Detail

Today, while checking out a local community yard sale (during the pouring rain), I saw a cute stencil. Now, I’d never stencil flowers and birds on my walls (and I was quite harsh about the ones on the walls when we bought our first house), but I saw a cute stencil and thought that it would be great as a painting. For 25¢, you can’t go wrong.

Quickly after we got home I was playing around with the stencil. I was going to use it on my canvas, but it had three layers of stenciling craziness and the result would become a mess. So I looked at the image on the packet and used the images to guide my painting.

I rummaged through an unpacked box to find my paint brushes and acrylic paints. I kept my blank canvases handy, knowing that I’ve been itching to paint. I still need to spray it with a clear coat before Hubster hangs it on the wall. This is what I created…

Apples Blossoms & Golden Finch

This painting is perfect for my guest room, It’ll tone down the green walls and matched the bird-cage theme.

What did you do yesterday???

Spray Paint Series: Nightstands for Guest Room

Tags

bed table, bedroom, before & after, end table, guest room, home decor, night table, nightstand, paint, postaday2011, side table, spray paint, table

Catching Up:
I was really bad at posting last month (and an even worse blog reader), it seems to be my July trend. Despite me being sick for a week and a half, we did get a lot done to our house. I however haven’t been in the kitchen much. July has come and gone and now it’s almost time to go back to school. I had surgery yesterday (don’t worry, it was diagnostic and had good results) and have a few weeks of healing ahead of me. Stuck on the couch or in bed seems like the perfect time to share a few of our projects with you and for me to catch up on my reading…

A Can of Spray Paint Can Do Wonders
Last week, Hubster and I purchased these two black nightstands at Ikea for our guest room. After all, the guest room currently only houses a box spring & mattress (sitting on the floor) and an antique wooden dresser. I know what all I want to make and add to the room, but it’ll take a while (and a lot of projects) to get it to where I want it.

Ikea Before

I had chosen a soothing green for the guest room, with a bold (for us) green accent wall. Hubster was very unsure of my color choice, but I told him to trust me. Knowing once my vision was complete, he’d approve. It just needs to be toned down with white and natural accents.

I wanted to paint our new tables white with a glossy finish, but Hubster suggested a pearl essence finish. Nice! After I put the tables together with my new allen wrench, I started to paint them with spray paint that promised primer & paint in one. Well, even after a few coats the tables were a shimmery silver… beautiful, but not fitting into my vision. The next day I picked up white spray paint and decided to use it as my primer. After a few good coats, I topped it off with my pearl essence top coat. Once they were dry, I placed them in the guest room and topped them with the beveled edge glass.

Young Wifey's After

Now the tables are on each side of the bed, this one topped with some antique vases (family heirlooms) with a white hydrangea bloom and a few books on the shelf below. Please ignore the stained carpet, the previous owners were really rough on the house, I did steam clean this room TWICE (we plan to replace it with a hardwood floor in the future)!

Just a small project to share, but it added a big impact in the guest room.

What miracles has spray paint worked for you recently?

PS – If any of this post didn’t make sense, please blame it on the percocet… 

Button Art – Heart

Tags

art, button, button art, canvas, craft, home decor, interior design, paint, painting, postaday2011, Valentine, Valentine's Day

Happy Early Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Hubster & I always make homemade Valentine’s for one another. In lieu of a Valentine’s Day card for Hubster this year, I made a perpetual Valentine for our home. Now I just need to get him to hand it up…

Valentine's Button Art Heart

I started by painting a base coat on a blank canvas and blended a few shades together. Then I used a darker paint and stenciled it over the base color. Last, I glue button on the canvas in a heart shape and I wrote him a special note on the back of the frame. The brown and blue match our bedroom decor well (colors are a bit off in the picture).

I’m also working on another button art panel for our living room (not a heart though)…

When is the last time you made or received a homemade Valentine?

Riverscape Painting

Tags

art, canvas, decor, decoration, fine art, home decor, landscape, Monet, paint, painting, riverscape

Hubster and I have several blank walls in the house. Other than photographs, we have no artwork on our walls. The bare walls have begun to nag him more and more. I looked through paintings at many stores, generic art that doesn’t go with our style.

On a whim today, I purchased two canvases (I haven’t painted in years). Hubster had ruined my good brushes using them to paint the trim in the house. He has no clue when it comes to art. I decided to paint a river landscape for the bathroom. It’s the only girlie room in the house, using Monet inspired colors (I do have big plans to redecorate the bathroom when we add another bathroom in the next year or so but then the new bathroom will become the Monet bathroom).

Riverscape

The bright sunlight washed out the vibrant colors just a bit in the picture I took. What do you think of my painting?

Detail from Riverscape