Pad Patter 4/27: Real Life Projects

[jenevang]

I am currently re-vamping my back porch and am so excited about it! It's not large, but a space we just haven't used b/c it was just. Well, ugly.

So, this Spring I have spruced it up... on a budget!

So far, I've replaced the cushions on the chairs around the table that we now use all the time . Wal-Mart: $8 each.

Last fall I found and purchased a lovely, if not completely weatherproof cabinet to store beach towels and small pool stuff. Flea Market: $50. Stuck random old wood items on and in it that I picked up from another Flea Market.

Replaced the fan (added a light kit) and the wall light which was actually rusted. yes, rusted. Lowes: $79 and $39.

And mounted various frames down the wall, filled with photos and small prints decorated with digi stuff! Prints: Stuff from my digi stash. Frames: Flea market (do you see a theme) and some I got 1/2 off from Hobby Lobby, eleven frames total averaging about $7 each.

NEXT: the floor. It's concrete and I think I want to paint it. Anyone with experience in painting concrete?

I'm excited about my project. I've been working on it for a while and it is finally coming together.

Do you have any house/home projects going on right now? Recently.

Of course, I want to see PHOTOS. I'll post some of my porch soon. Even though I sort of forgot to take "before" pics. Shoot.

 

[lmccandless]

I just bought some French Linen Annie Sloan chalk paint to redo a side table. I was going to work on it today, but it's storming. If you haven't played with this paint before, it's awesome. Easy to use and gorgeous results... pricey but worth it! I'll post some pics this week once I get started.

Your project sounds like a big though satisfying undertaking, Jen.
I haven't painted concrete but I have a couple of friends who have...and it really does look good. Go for it!!

 

[sm_amber]

If I can convince hubby, I'm going to redo our living room this summer (on a budget of course)... Simply replace our drapes, paint bookshelves and do some sort of cover for the couches.. we'll see how successful I am at persuading him...

 

[Karen]

Jen, I redid our basement "rec" room two summers ago for the same reason.... it was just ugly! I pulled up the carpet down there and was disgusted at how dusty and mold it was. I decided not to replace the carpet and I painted the cement floor down there and am so super happy with the results. It was SOOOO easy and has been completely durable and held up well to high traffic and 2 crazy boys playing down there. Not a single chip or bit of peeled paint yet.

Here's my Before and After:





I used a Sherman Williams paint that you just use a roller and roll it on. It covered great and was even water based so clean up was easy too.

 

[jenevang]

OH. MY. GOSH. Karen, you are my hero! I LOVE.LOVE.LOVE. your project. It looks awesome. You have totally inspired me. My research is telling me this is a long, complicated project with many steps and it's making me nervous.

I'm gonna head to our Sherwin Williams store and see what they have to say!

And I ADORE your blue dresser. You rocked it, girl.

 

[Karen]

Thanks Jen! I absolutely loved that project. It took my tons of time, but I kept selling stuff on Craiglist to pay for it and then kept finding cool furniture to repaint and repurpose too.

I know there are cememt enamels that you can use for like garage floors, etc that are multi-step and maybe more durable? but, I just used a paint that the Sherwin Williams guy suggested. Here's what I used:



Good luck! I wanna see before and after pictures too!

 

[MandaKay]

We have been spending some project time on our little summer retreat trailer. It is like a modular home with panel walls - like yucky flower panel walls, so I started with the bathroom, to see how it would paint. I did a nice basic "duck white" color (Sherwin Williams), and it painted beautifully, after 1 coat primer and 3 coats paint. Then I painted the oak cabinets a nice gray color - they too turned out beautifully! The pictures aren't great, but they give you an idea:
Before - shower area with flower walls:

After - solid color walls and new shower curtain:

After - linen closet cupboards painted and new anchor art piece above toilet:

We also did some work in the kitchen area - raised a set of cupboards that severely blocked your view when standing at the sink and then also took out some super ugly dropped ceiling panels that were in the kitchen for some reason, even though the ceiling above it was finished off just like the rest of the trailer, so that came down too. We still have to put up some new lights to replace the basic fluorescent ones that are up there, but looks way better already. Would LOVE to paint these oak cabinets the same gray, but not going to tackle that this summer. Now it is time to enjoy our retreat again if we EVER get warm weather here!

Here are the kitchen before pics so you can get an idea...I didn't get after pics - but you can see we took down those cabinets over sink and then we raised them all the way up to the ceiling. Wish we could have left them down because it opened the place up so much more, but we need the cupboard space. I also painted those ugly mirror panels with chalkboard paint, so that is already an instant improvement! (excuse the mess in there too - usually not like that! Ok - well sometimes in the thick of summer when kids are in and out and everywhere it can look similar to this mess! )