Rub 'n Buff

If you do Pinterest or read DIY blogs you are more than likely familiar with Rub 'n Buff.  If you aren't familiar with this glorious little tube of goodness....allow me to introduce you.  In a nutshell it is an alternative to spray paint that works on a variety of surfaces to give a different finish.  It comes in a ton on colors, but the most popular is the Antique Gold which is was I bought.

I found mine at Michael's in the fine arts section. (near the professional paints and brushes)

I've had it for several months and have a number of projects that I want to tackle.  However,  in typical Julie fashion it sat in the drawer for two months until I finally pulled it out a few weeks ago to give it a try.

Graham's crib was first on my list.  I love this crib, but at first I hated the wheels.  I was ready to take them off when we were putting the crib together 2 years ago, but my best friend, Kiley, urged me to leave them on.  See she is more experienced and wiser than I am.  For once I listened to her, and am so thankful that I did.  We are constantly wheeling the crib away from the wall to change the sheets, hunt for pacifiers, or make the lamps out of arms reach (we learned that one the hard way).  

So taking the wheels off wasn't an option, but I still hated the nasty, bright yellow plastic wheel covers. Aren't they terrible! For a while I thought about painting them black, but was afraid if the paint chipped that the gold would stand out even more, and I certainly didn't want that.  So I decided to try Rub 'n Buff.

The wheel on the Left has RnB and the one on the right doesn't.  So much better right?  I think so.  It is still gold, but not the horrible yellowy gold.

And the best part is it took me all of 10 minutes to do all 4 wheels.  I just rubbed it on with my finder and let it dry.  After a few hours of drying I lightly buffed it with a clean, dry towel.  DONE! No taping, no brushes, no mess....That's my kind of project.

Hoping to have some time in the next few weeks to tackle another RnB project or two!

Skirted Table

Amongst all of the baby/nursery preparations we have been doing some other rearranging to make room.  Now that our guest room is the nursery we had to move our guest room downstairs into what used to be the office/sewing room. 

When it was the office we had a desk that we used for the computer, files, and any other junk we could come up with.  There is nothing special about the desk...it is just your typical computer desk, but recently I have noticed people making box pleat skirts for various tables and desks.  We were needing a TV stand in this room and rather than go buy another piece of furniture I decided to try and make a skirt for the desk.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about these are a few examples of skirts I was looking to mimic.

Great idea right???  I read on one blog that recommended lining the skirt with blackout lining to give it some weight and to help it hang properly.  So I took all the measurements, cut out the fabric (just a plain linen from Joann's), cut out my lining and started putting all 22 pieces together.  I know 22 pieces!  It was somewhat difficult to get on the sewing machine due to the size and weight but in the end it was well worth the effort.

This is how it turned out.

Before

After

I was so excited when my sister-in-law (she is an interior designer) came over and said that she really liked it!  I am always unsure of my decorating ability so when I have her approval I feel like I have done something right!!!

Painting the INSIDE of the front door BLACK

I know at first the idea seems strange, and when I first mentioned it to Nick he said absolutely not. But then I showed him some examples of what I was talking about, and he caught the vision and was on board with the idea.

This idea all started with the two pictures I posted earlier this week.  Such a simple concept and makes the door pop rather than blend in with the rest of the molding.  Once I started thinking about doing it I began to notice that many other people have done the same thing.  Isn't that the way it always goes...once you start thinking about something you start to notice it all the time.  Below are a few examples of other black doors I have come across.

Do you notice what else is painted black in most of these pictures???  The railing and newel post.  I think it looks great....maybe I will put that in the lineup of future projects!

Since last week was Spring Break week in Birmingham (and I was the only person in my office on Friday afternoon) I decided to leave a little early and start painting.

-First I washed the door with soap and water.
-I taped off the hinges and lock mechanisms with painters tape (however in the end we decided to take the lock and door knob off all together)
-Then painted.  It took two coats to fully cover up the white.

I used a quart of this paint.

It is premixed and in my Lowes is was next to the spray paint.  Ask them to shake it for you at the paint counter.

I used a 4" foam roller and a foam brush (to get in the crevices and around the edges).

I am really pleased with how it turned out and once again just wish I would have done it a long time ago.

Please excuse the quality of my pictures... I am a horrible photographer.

Front Door Revamp

Check this out:

Doesn't painting the back of the door black make a big difference!  This is not my front door, but mine is very similar to this and it will be getting a coat of black paint very soon! 

Stay tuned for pictures.

Framed Mirror

Over the past few weeks of reading various blogs about DIY projects I have noticed that many of the DIYers have framed their bathroom mirrors.  Honestly I thought about doing this a while ago, but I didn't think I had the tools to be able to pull it off.  But after seeing the process these other ladies used I was convinced that I could do it.  So I decided to try it in our guest bathroom since the mirror is a smaller than the one in the master bathroom.

Nick was playing golf on Saturday...so off to Lowes I went to get supplies for my little project.

This is what I needed:

Molding
Miter Box
Paint
Liquid Nails
Caulk

For the actual frame I bought (pre primed) casing.  Basically the stuff the that you woudl use to frame out windows and doors.  I bought and 7' and 10' piece and had them cut each of the four pieces to the size I needed.

Next I bought this little gem...a miter box!  This is the part that got me a few years ago when I thought about doing this.  I thought you had to have a miter saw in order to cut molding and trim at an angle.  Well that is not the case you can get a miter box for about $15 and it comes with the saw!  Awesome. 

This is what the bathroom looked like before.

First I had to cut my molding at 45 degree angles to form the corners of the frame.

Once all the pieces were cut  I painted them.  (Tip - Be sure to paint the back side of the molding as well because when it is up against the mirror you can see some of the back.)

Once the paint dried I applied a generous amount of liquid nails to the mirror.

Then placed the molding on the mirror and held it in place for a few minutes.  I repeated this step until all pieces where in place.

The next day I used caulk to hide the small gaps in the corners where the pieces fit together.  This caulk is awesome because it goes on pink and dries clear!

Once the caulk was dry I lightly sanded it and painted over the corners.  All Done!  What do you think?



For $25 I think it makes a big difference, and it will be even better once I debrass everything! 

Kitchen Knobs

I have always heard that the fist step to recovering from an addiction is to admit that you have one.  Well folks I am here to tell you that I have an addiction to spray paint!  Nick is in constant fear that he is going to come home and I will be spray painting the car.  I doubt that I would go that far, but you never know.

So last weekend my spray paint /debrass project was the kitchen knobs.

This is what they looked like before....

(can you tell that the oven is circa 1991 as well)

First I removed all of the knobs and washed them with soap and water.

After they were dry I used a medium grade sand paper and I scuffed up each knob.  From what I have read this provides a rough surface and the paint will adhere better.

 I used Rustoleum Satin Nickle spray paint and applied two coats.  Not sure how these will hold up since they get used a lot, but for now they are working great!

More de-BRASSING

I was just looking back over our last few posts....craigs list, spray paint, and popcorn salt.  Wow we are really boring people!  I am amazed that anyone even reads this blog.  Hopefully we can come up with something really exciting, entertaining or informative to share in the coming weeks.

But for now more lame updates on my de-brassing efforts.  Last weekend I tackled the light fixture in our foyer.

This time I used Rust-oleum Clean Metal Primer and Rust-oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

Check out the lovely spider webs!

Next to be de-brassed....Kitchen knobs!