Painting Up a Storm

I have a thing for painting everything in sight: woodwork, bookcases, decor accents, furniture -- you name it. My mother is the same way, so I guess the apple falls not far from the tree. So enamored we are of transforming our respective home environs with paint that we've been nicknamed "The Krylon Girls" by other members of the family.

These past three months there have been a number of painting projects on my agenda as Hubs and I had the exterior of the house landscaped, and then had our screened porch converted into a three season room. All this home improvement had me doing lots of painting, since I'm a terrible perfectionist who'd rather go for a root canal than sub out the work to someone else. (None of these projects included the paintings in various stages of completion in my studio, mind you. Those are in a different category altogether, and do not involve latex paint!)

Anyway, here are just a few of the projects that have kept me busy for the past several weeks -- and somewhat neglectful of updating this blog:

Remember these?? I wasn't sure how I'd use them until....

It occurred to me they'd do a good job camouflaging an old utility box that was a real eyesore.

I painted this adorable little table that we inherited from my hubby's grandmother. Originally stained dark brown with a broken top, it now does colorful duty as an accent table on the sunporch. I also painted the old carpenter's bench in front of the wicker sofa. It makes a nice coffee table.

 

This chair and another just like it were being used in the breakfast room, but now the pair has been moved out to the sunporch and given a new look, below....

I had just barely enough fabric left over from the sofa cushions to recover the two chair seats.

Another chair, found at a thrift shop, received a coat of bright lime green paint. The woven seat was falling apart so I turned it into a planter that sits in front of my studio. Love that lime green and purple combo!

Oh, and I also completely repainted all of the woodwork on the porch in advance of the enclosure installation. But I'm not done yet! Still on my to-do list is repainting a glass top table that we're using for dining out on the porch. Meals taken out there are delightful, but I will enjoy them even more when I can treat that table to a lovely coat of fresh white paint!

Text and images ©2015 Lynn Edwards

Spray Paint: Magic in a Can

Ever feel like you're in a whirlwind? I do. The past couple of weeks have been filled with frenetic activity as Hubs and I prepare to dive into some major home improvement projects. One includes turning our screen porch into a three season room. Along with that, I've vowed to make our front porch look more welcoming and attractive.

Because today was actually sunny and clear for once (!!!) with only a light breeze, I took advantage of these ideal conditions and went crazy with the spray paint. I spray painted two large wicker chairs and a wicker plant stand. The chairs, formerly dark-stained and drab, are now a crisp white. The plant stand -- originally dull brown with ugly black trim -- was transformed with a dreamy shade of pale blue. Holding a lush Boston fern, it'll be the quintessential Southern porch accent.

More wicker pieces still remain to be painted: a sofa, a glass topped side table and a glass topped coffee table. For those items I'll need to buy more spray paint. Starting Monday, the rain is supposed to return and be with us for at least a week. Plenty of time to shop for the paint. As soon as another calm, sunny day comes along, I'll be all set to break out the Rust-o-leum, Krylon and Valspar. I absolutely love the stuff. It's magic in a can.

Spray paint and upcycling/rehabbing go hand-in-hand. All these wicker pieces were thrift shop finds from Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul. The chairs, sofa, plant stand, and two glass topped tables cost just $200 total. Throw in $25 worth of spray paint on top of that. My kind of decorating -- fast, fun and on the cheap!

©2015 Lynn Edwards