Hello there!! First of all, WOW, you Squeezies have some beeeeautiful Christmas trees!! There are 445 linked up so far � and you have till next Thursday to include yours. That has to be the prettiest post I�ve ever seen. :)
I�ve been working on some BIG changes in our den over the past week, and I couldn�t resist showing you the progress!
I mentioned last week that, in the middle of Christmas decor madness, I decided to finally take on the painting of our den. I know. I am a special kind of crazy. Fruit loop. Cuckoo!
When we built our house, we never had an overhead light installed in the den (bangs head against wall), so it�s always been darker in that room. I decided to go with that cozy feeling, and painted the walls a pretty brick red long ago:
It was cozy, but wow�it was just so dark. I know � it�s brick red Sarah, what do you expect?! So�when I found the inspiration for this room in the form of beautiful new fabrics, I knew I was ready for a change:
UGH�I. love. them. Beautiful!
Because I was going to have to prime the whole room to start the redo, I kept putting it off. And off. And then off some more. And then off for a couple more months. And then again. For about eight months. Or so. :)
But then the crazy hit and I just had to do it NOW. In December. Yes, my husband is a saint.
I started with some supplies, thanks to True Value:
I normally use an old sheet as a drop cloth, but I got to splurge a little bit and got an actual plastic tarp. Awww yeah�that�s the good stuff.
Thanks True Value -- double thump on the chest at ya! Yo.
I chose to prime because I was covering a dark color. Since I�m using white on most of the walls, it was absolutely necessary. I don�t usually prime if I�m painting a new color over another color � even though the experts say I should. :) But when covering a dark color with a light color, it�s necessary. (You will thank me.)
It took me three hours to prime this room � it was NOT the most fun I�ve ever had, let me just tell you. Keep in mind I had to prime the ceiling as well, so that added to the FUN. :)
I only did one coat of Kilz primer, and probably should have done two. But if you don�t know by now � I am incredibly impatient. I�m like a five year old, seriously. I just want to see the final result SO BAD.
I used Dutch Boy paints for the first time on the farmhouse table I found as my new desk. I used it again for the white on the walls -- that awesome pour spout had me at hello:
Oh�I LOVE it. You may notice I use semi gloss for the white over the primer � I know the thought of a gloss on your walls gives many of you the heebs. But I�m adding molding to that part of the wall, and semi gloss over everything makes it look more custom, more authentic. It does in my little opinion � I use it with almost all of my molding projects. (To see what I mean, click here or here.)
I also went ahead and got a new Purdy brush, because I am now obsessed with Purdy brushes:
I was SO excited because I found the coolest painting tool I�ve ever seen while at True Value � a big, huge, honkin� paint roller:
It rocked my world!! I was so excited about this baby � thoughts of finishing up the room in 45 minutes were swimming through my head.
But�I quickly realized I didn�t have a paint tray large enough to fit the honkin� roller, and that was a big problem. I headed back to True Value and they had just sold their last one (made specifically for that roller) just hours before.
Curses!! Shakes fists in air!
I got an extra large tray and it just didn�t work � I couldn�t get the paint on evenly enough. So it was back to the regular roller -- but I will use the honkin� roller one day�oh yes. I will. :)
What did work was this simple little paint brush comb:
I used the comb on the brush on the left after priming and painting. The one on the right�well, it�s pretty obvious I didn�t:
Can you believe it? The one on the right has been used more than two times, but still � you can see the difference it�s going to make. I won�t be without it from now on!
So, after one coat of primer on the whole room, and two coats of semi gloss white around the bottom 2/3 of the room, this is where we stand now:
Holy LIGHT Batman!! :) Yahooo�I love it!!
You know what�s weird? At first, after I painted over the brick red, the room seemed smaller than before. You know how everyone says dark walls make a room smaller? Sometimes I disagree � they also make the walls recede and kind of disappear in a way.
The white is without a doubt BRIGHTER. I know � duh. But it had me thinking � could I live with an all white room? Initially, I loved the crisp, clean, bright feeling so much, I thought maybe I could.
But with time, I know I need some warmth and a little bit of contrast � both of those will come with a color above the white, the beautiful fabric I showed you, and some art I can�t WAIT to show you.
I haven�t started any of that yet, but I can see it in my head and it looks ahhhmazing! ;)
So�what do you think? There some absolutely gorgeous all white rooms out there � stunning! Could you do all white, or do you crave some color like me? This room almost made me a convert�almost. ;)
*I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.*
Thank you to my sponsor!:
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