Paint power

Over the past few weeks I've been working with my wonderful father-in-law on some home improvements.  He's been building us some shelves and cupboards into the alcoves either side of the chimney breast in our dining room. He does the skilled complicated stuff with wood and scary tools and I follow on behind with a tin of white paint and a brush. One of the alcoves was finally finished last  week (I'll show you  pictures tomorrow) and I found I had really gotten into the painting groove. Sometimes I find painting stuff a chore, but last week I was loving it. What I should have been doing was dealing with the humungous pile of papers and books and general chaos in our dining room which is seriously hindering our movement around the room, but instead I really had the urge to paint. So inspired by Clairey's newly painted Duck Egg Blue wall I toddled off to Laura Ashley to look at the paint.  The colour pallette they have is not huge, but oh so lovely! Really easy-to-live-with colours that are just suited to my taste :: not too wishywashy, not too sludgy and generally very tasteful.

First up for the paint treatment was a small wooden Ikea side table. I can't tell you how much the finished result pleases me, it was hard to photograph to show the true colour, but trust me it is beautiful. The duck egg blue is not too blue, and not too pastely with a sophisticated hint of grey. Normally this little table is covered in newspapers and library books but I did a special tidy up for the photo and put my jug of roses on it for good measure, I guess you could say I styled it. But it was only after I'd uploaded the photo's onto the computer that I noticed the windowsill in the background. Look, there's Snow White galavanting with some Sylvanian family members and a toy car or two. The Little People always find a way to remind me of their presence.

As well as the duck egg blue I also bought a tin of pale eau de nil, which is similar to the DEB but with a slightly more green tone. I decided to have a go at painting a bit of wall in my nastily-decorated kitchen. The kitchen, like most other parts of our house it's in desperate need of some TLC. Actually, I don't think TLC will cut the mustard here, a complete overhaul is needed. No doubt the previous owners thought the scheme was tickety-boo but quite frankly I think it sucks. You can see the dodgy wall tiles in the picture, which are beautifully complimented by vinyl wallpaper in a silvery grey with textured silver streaks running through it. Nice.

Anyways, back to the point...remember on my shopping trip to London last month I bought a clock from the Conran shop? Well I really wanted to put it in the kitchen because it goes so well with my crockery and I thought it would cheer the whole room up a bit. But I simply could NOT bring myself to stick my lovely, funky clock on such dubious wallpaper, hence the eau de nil. I am pleased with the way it came out, although it makes the rest of the kitchen look even more drab. Maybe when I've finished painting my second alcove I might have an eau de nil fest and paint the rest of the kitchen walls. Maybe I might just put the kettle on instead and go and look at my lovely new bookshelves...can't wait to show you them  tomorrow, there's something really satisfying about a Before and After project that actually reaches the After stage.

Comments

[Joann J Moree]

Amazin creative designs! Your every work is an inspiration for the craft lovers.

[April]

It is indeed surprising to know what a small coat of paint can do.It can totally change the appearance of the furniture or the room which is being worked upon.Painting is also one way to restore old furniture.New furniture are quite expensive a lot of furniture enthusiast buy old furniture and restore them to give it a vintage classy look.

[Val]

Such clever ideas. . . How do you iron material onto a magnetic notice board? I am wishing to make a fairly large notice board for my 16yr old daughters bedroom. Something pretty and feminine and can be removed when her bro returns home to take over his bedroom again!I am not very clever at making anything and all those that I see advertised are too small.

[Tonin Casa]

nice blog

[bedroom furniture dressers]

WOW beautiful designs! The clock is absolutely exquisite! I wish I had one of those in my bathroom. You are a very talented young lady :-)

[pool furniture]

I love the stool cosy. It's great. My grandma makes stuff like that. I bought pool furniture at http://www.cozydays.com/ and she made me crotched pillows.

[Jerri Bagley]

First, let me say I have to have a peek of your beautiful crochet blankets everyday. Next, I love your dishes and tea towels. I too am a prisoner of color and light, so I must thank you for always getting my day started with a cheery photo. Thanks !!!!

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[julia]

Thanks for visiting, I'm so glad you did because it brought me to your lovely blog which is being added to my bloglines feeds asap.
We (or should I say "I", Ian doesn't do painting!) used the DEB on some of our kitchen units. It's a gorgeous colour but I found it took 4 coats to cover, no laughing matter when you see how much I had to paint!
I love the granny blanket, the colours are amazing. I bought a crochet book ages ago but I haven't the courage to start.
We too have an ever increasing collection of Hama bead creations gracing this house!
Julia x

[Maddy]

I found a link here...

http://www.home-rejuvenation.co.uk/bathroom.html

And I just noticed it's a UK company too.

[Maddy]

There is a very good treatment for tiles that I have read about. You scuff the surface of the tiles with an acid based product, then you spray them with an enamel-based paint any colour you like. I have seen this done with terrible tiles sprayed white and they looked amazing. The pattern of the tiles actually looked fine once they were white.

I do love the table and the clock, very funky baby.

[Clairey]

Oh my goodness I've been blogged!

Still loving the DEB!

[Simone]

You really do have an eye for colour. The clock complements the crockery perfectly. I also like your choice of paint colours. Nice soft backgrounds against vibrant colours.