How To...Not To

I am on the road for my job and always love the travel.  However, I have become pretty antsy about finishing my kitchen and other projects.  I am going crazy during my off time on the road wanting to play with recipes, spray paint and lamps.

For those of you who knew me previous to this year's newest obsession...who am I?  I love it, but am in constant shock!

A few years ago, I was buying the coffee mug that said "Domestically Disabled" and now I am ready to put paint to the paper, plug in the hot glue gun and develop a new recipe using fresh spices.  It is incredibly refreshing to gain confidence in something I never thought was my cup of tea.  I am home in a couple days and ready to get some appliance paint for the kitchen!

Maybe I should put the aforementioned mug on my upper cabinets as an homage to past days.  I have more ideas stewing for that area and hope that my favorite shops on Etsy.com (http://www.etsy.com/shop/LavenderGardenCottag) and (http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveToFeatherTheNest) have some more cool items that are on my hit list or at least inspire my hit list.

I am still checking Fab.com and Ebay.com and Amazon.  Time to get home...so my "How To" is not a How To...Not To any longer.

I actually brought a lamp with me on this trip to paint, but am pretty tired at the end of the day.  Plus I forgot a screwdriver to open my paint can.  Yeah, that is it.  I forgot the screwdriver.  I even brought a garbage bag to protect the area where I would be painting (not spray painting).  There is no way I am paying for a desk.  However, there my lamp sits...unpainted.  Maybe I am only inspired while at home?

A Little Paint Goes A Long Way - Updating with Spray Paint

You want to make a statement really quick?  Take a look around your house.  What are the little things that you may take for granted that could make a BIG statement?

For starters, what about stair railing (if applicable)?  Is it really making the statement you want to make with your decoration efforts?  Mine was not.  I am working with Brazilian Cherry flooring, Tuscan paint colors and bold statements.  My stair railing is white.  Is that really the statement I want to make?  Not if I want to continue to GO BOLD.

White Stair Railing and pulled up flooring up my staircase.

After consideration I thought a great pop to my house would be a black stair railing.  Not only a pop of color, but a great way to keep the stair railing from showing dust and dirt.  Brown paper being taped off through the staircase and some flat Black Spray paint could make a nice showing.  Make sure to cover your floors, too!  The spray paint rains down.

Should have put something on the floor.  Goof Off was used to clean the floors without any issue.

2 coats of Rustoleum spray paint and a coat of gloss polyurethane made this happen.  Polyurethane protects and ensures the gloss coat I wanted.  Oil based polyurethane was chosen as it does a better job of protecting the paint job than water based.  With hands on the stair rails, I needed the best protection possible. 

The polyurethane chosen was MINWAX for its ratings and ease in applying.  A cheesecloth to apply the coat was all that was necessary.  Some time to make sure it is dry before using is certainly advised.

Another paint effort was with the gas valve cover on my fireplace.  I have gone with copper, bronze and golds downstairs.  A silver gas valve cover and key on my fireplace is obviously unacceptable.

Silver Gas Cover and Key is not going to flow with my color scheme.

A little Spray Paint in Hammered Copper sounded like a good idea.  The gas cover and key were removed pretty simply.  Then sprayed with two coats.  Again this is a two coat process.  Let it dry and then re-attach.  A $5 can of spray paint makes a big difference.

For about $35, big statements were made with really little effort.  I think it makes a huge difference and love it.  If I had not loved it, the nice thing is that I could have simply painted again.