In Which I Paint And Paint And Paint Some More

Print by Iveta Abolina

Hoo boy I did a heck of a lot of painting today.

I've put one coat of primer and three coats of paint on Ellen's desk in the last two days, and despite my best efforts at screwing everything up it's actually starting to look pretty cute.  I'm going for a vintage, slightly worn look, which involves priming and painting and sanding and painting again and then sanding and painting one more time and then glazing and waxing the whole mess.  Who knew making something look old could be so much work?  Heck, most days I look way older than I really am and I'm not even trying.  I finished all the painting today, but I still have the glazing and waxing to do. 

Then I have to pick out some cute knobs for it, line the drawers and I can show you the finished project!

Anyway, in the process of doing this desk I've learned a bit about paint-- mainly, that the paint base you use makes a huge difference in how the paint goes on.  Since I got the paint colors I'm using at three different times in three different places, they all have a different paint base.  The mid-range priced Sherwin Williams paint base goes on like butter, covers like a dream (only one coat needed on my walls with no primer!) and looks like a million bucks.  The relatively inexpensive paint base from Home Depot behaves itself if you ask really, really nicely, but you're going to need at least two coats of the stuff to get a nice finish.  And last (and also least), the dirt cheap bottom-of-the-rung Sherwin Williams paint base openly laughs in your face and then leaves to go hang out in the back alley and smoke cigarettes with all the other delinquent paint. 

That paint is a total jerk.

So moral of the story-- if you are covering a large area and want it to look nice, go for a slightly pricier paint base.  It all looks pretty much the same and may initially seem more expensive, but the fact that you don't have to put six coats of the stuff on will probably end up saving you money-- not to mention all the quarters you won't have to put in the Swearing Jar once you realize just how much work it's going to take to get the stuff on the walls.

Luckily I was just painting topcoat on the desk with the cheap stuff, or I'd be totally broke today.

 So besides completely covering myself in paint, I also went to Ikea today and picked up a dresser for Ellen's clothes.  Except I forgot to get one of the shelves.  Then I managed to break one of the hinges on the thing while putting it together.  So guess where I'll be going back to tomorrow?  Sigh.

I also picked up the one print I bought for her room from the frame shop.  While she'll be picking out the rest of the decorations for her walls when she gets here, I didn't want them to be totally blank when she arrives.  If she doesn't like it I'm sure I can find somewhere else in the house to put it. 

The fabric in the picture is going to be used in a variety of small projects, like lining her desk drawers and for a throw pillow or two.  The poppy fabric is one of the ones being used in her bedspread, and the cream fabric is also being used in her bedspread, but in a different colorway.  I already had the little vases, and I picked up the silver jewelry box at a local antique store for a song.  I'm redoing the liner, and then she can use it for bracelets and whatnot. 

Despite all my complaining, I'm having kind of ridiculous amounts of fun. 

~Jess