Anyway.
Recently we took back square footage from our tribe of lost boys, the "p l a y r o o m" is now a home office! It's amazing, I've never had one and I haven't had my own room in almost 20 years. I feel like a human when I come into this space. Now. Not before the great purge of 2016. When I say we got rid of all the stuff, I mean all except the Legos and Lego table and I am theeeees close to disappearing those. How refreshing is it to just have empty blank space. One day I just sat on the floor dreaming about what I would do in this space and prayed it would be fruitful and that it would be a space worth having.
The first thing I did was paint the walls Sherwin Williams White Duck. For me, it is the perfect white. It's not cold or sterile, nor is it real creamy, it looks like white duck feathers. Thusly the name.
Second thing I did was move my desk and book case back in.
Third thing I did was get Michael to help me hang a lumpy arrow.
Fourth thing I did was decide yes, I do in fact want curtains. Not for privacy, for deadening the echo. For my podcast! Which has been neglected due to technical struggles and spiritual battles. So, I selected a rod on amazon that has a great curved return and chose the bronze option...not quite black, not quite brown...it looked good online. When it arrived I discovered that it was indeed just b r o w n. Not a good brown either. No worries! (When did we all start saying that? Sometimes there are indeed worries.) NO PROBLEM! I've been here before, this is nothing a little spray paint can't fix!
Fifth thing I did was call Michael and ask him to swing by the hardware store for some spray paint. I got a yes!
Sixth thing I did was quickly google "black matte rubbed bronze curtain rod". Several results came up and the one I liked best was this one from the ever faithful in delivering classic designs, Pottery Barn.
Seventh thing I did was text Michael a picture of that rod and asked for a matte black or rubbed bronze spray paint that looked like this finish.
Eighth thing I did was use the paint he brought home to find that it was too glossy and that it bubbled up in a few places. It was humid that night, I probably most certainly shouldn't have spray painted.
Ninth thing I did was lament the results.
Tenth thing I did was remember a week later to swing by the hardware store for a quick in and out trip for spray paint with all three of my boys.
Eleventh thing I did was forget to paint the rod when I got home.
Twelfth thing I did was to suddenly remember to paint midmorning the next day (today Cinco de Mayo!) We have unusually perfect weather today and almost ZERO humidity. Paint all the things today Mobile people!
Thirteenth thing I did was smooth out and scuff up the first paint job with my 0000 steel wool.
Fourteenth thing I did was stop and think about how to rig my rod so it wouldn't be a mess while I painted and it dried. This was gonna be the time it turned out right! So I grabbed a couple of empty cardboard boxes from the garage, assembled the sections of the rod, and stood it up on the boxes. Then I got some longer nails/screws with a small enough diameter to punch through the mounting bracket holes into the cardboard. It completely worked perfectly. So I did the same thing with the center support bracket. Done.
See how that worked! And check out that finish, that's the flat black 97¢ paint baby.
See how that worked! And check out that finish, that's the flat black 97¢ paint baby.
Sixteenth thing I did was to commence to painting! Here's a few tips I've learned that help me get a better finish using canned spray paint:
- Shake it like a polaroid picture! (I got that from Sharon @theprincipledtype)
- Work outside. It's the best.
- Get right with the wind. Don't try on too blustery a day, but take note of any breezes and where they blow from and go with them. Just like spraying SPF on at the beach.
- Eyeball your project and break it up into sections. Then spray in slow-ish smooth sweeps letting off the paint at the end of a pass. When you move to the next section, overlap ever so slightly where you just were and carry on with your smooth.
- Don't worry about full coverage in the first coat. This is the time for patience and just plan on doing a light coat with no drips. You'll get the full coverage on the second coat.
- Allow for plenty of dry time and then some. If you see any drips just use your 0000 steel wool to smooth them out then lightly touch up that area and let it dry. Let it dry real good.
- If you get any over spray on your hands or other objects, I have found that Lemon Essential oil works great to dissolve the paint.
Seventeenth thing I did was just wait for the paint to dry. If you're like me, when you get paint out you start looking around for what else you can paint. 2 birds one stone kind of thing I guess. Well, as it happens, our lamp post was looking rough and faded so I gave it a coat of the same black matte paint and it looks fresh and matte and black again. (See picture above with the pole in it.)
So as I type, the curtain rod has dried, thank you again Jesus for these rare low humidity days, and is in my office waiting to be installed. I'll share a picture of the whole shebang when I get the curtains hung. Right now, I'm leaning toward reusing a drop cloth curtain from another room. I might gussy it up and I might not. Going for simple and clean and fresh in this office haven of mine.
Hope this comes in handy if you ever need to know about that 97¢ spray paint! If you try it on your own home decor sprucing up project, let me know!
Talk soon!
Hope this comes in handy if you ever need to know about that 97¢ spray paint! If you try it on your own home decor sprucing up project, let me know!
Talk soon!
PS Here are the products I used for this post:
Curved return rod from Urban Nest on Amazon. I like this rod but I don't recommend the "bronze" finish. This link is my amazon affiliate link, hope you'll click to shop.
Lemon essential oil from Young Living is a favorite daily use oil and it's aroma and usefulness are well worth the $15 retail/$12 wholesale cost! I always share my wholesale discount so let me know if you'd like to order. Click the picture to see how I cleaned the paint off my finger after this project.
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