Nature baby's room redo painting

I painted the ceiling a few days before Christmas, I did the pitched parts and the flat part. Technical terms, I know! It went surprisingly quickly, about an hour from start to finish and I did 2 coats. Then the sun hit it a few days later, out came the 3rd coat. The third coat was tricky to see where I had already painted and what needed a once-over. I supposed that's why tinted ceiling paints was invented.

As I painted the samples on the walls, I knew right away which one it would be. Galaxy purple, girly but subtle. I wanted her room to be calm and bright. The walls were easily covered, well as easily as textured walls can cover. The person who thought texture walls are a good idea is the devil. THE DEVIL! 2 coats and the walls were done. I'll be doing small touch ups for a long time, textured walls being the devil and all.

For the ceiling I used Valspar Ultrawhite, it's the same white I used in the living room and the same I will use for every ceiling in the house.
On the walls is Sherwin-Williams Galaxy Purple.

What do you think? I'm inclined that say that it's a huge improvement. Her room is now bright and girly, there is a clear difference between the walls and ceiling but it's subtle, definitely a color that she can live with for many years. By the time Nature Baby wants to new color I should forget how much of a pain it is to paint textured walls.

This will be my last painting project until help arrives, I just can't get enough done during nap time. I still need to paint the trim and the doors, the doors are bad! There is pain drips, scratches and dents. That'll be a project. And ALL the hinges are painted. Why! Can someone explain that one to me, please? I haven't decided if I will strip them or just buy new ones.

Now is the fun part, decorating! I'm not going to spend a ton but I did already by this little turquoise bench, I love it! It's the perfect height for her to put her books in and put some things on top. I have a few DIYs to do, and I'll be posting about them too! The only thing I've put back on the walls is her little elephant bunting, that was mine when I was a kid, hung in a very similar spot in my room for years.

What do you think?

Nature baby's room redo

Nature baby's room is ugly. U-g-l-y. I ain't got no alibi it's ugly. So ugly and dark! See!

I've been wanting and trying to paint her room for a while.  I was hoping to get it done while MIL was here but that was a cluster, to say the least. It's tough to paint a kid's room if you have to do it while they're awake and someone else is here.

Much like the room re-dos from last year, I'm not going to spend a ton of money. The dresser I bought on Craigslist last year for $80 (including the huge mirror that is in my living room) and painted. I would like to change the hardware. I'm waiting to find a bookcase and side table on Craigslist, because I'm cheap and with some patience Craigslist is AWESOME! I spent $30 or so on the thermal curtains in the fall and I'm going to replace the light fixtures and smoke detectors in both kid's rooms. The lights only have 1 bulb and are not bright, even with LEDs. Ideally, I'd like an enclosed ceiling fan with a light, but they're expensive! $500 and up! I can buy a portable air conditioner for $500, so that just seems silly. We'll see. Everything else we already have. I'd like to add a few shelves for breakables, frames and a lamp that need re-wiring from my Nana.

The ceiling has to be white. Every room in the house has the ceiling and walls painted the same color. I'm not sure what the thought process was behind that one, but it's not good. I could (very easily) go on a giant rant about it, but I will not. Remember my living room? Geez Louise! Here's the Before and After in case you're curious.

Good bye phone jack and messy lines.

Why, why why? Why do people paint hinges and hardware?

I see you paint blob, and I will sand you! Up next, paint samples and choosing the colors!

Chicken coop

The coop is finished and outside! I've got to give it to Scribs, he did a great job! He made the whole thing, painted, roofed, made the feeder and water-er, and will be putting up a gutter and rain barrel. Good job, Scribs!

Nice sturdy base 

All framed out. 

The roosts and poop-deck fold down for easy cleaning. We did our first cleaning and I did bump my head a few times and bumped the water-er but after a few times I think I'll get it. Way WAY easier to clean than the brooder box. 

The coop was a bit of a challenge to get outside. Thankfully the brut-strength team will work for ice cream!

The coop is nice and high off the ground, no predators will be tunneling into this fort. The chickens will be nice and high if (more like when) we get flooded again. If the water reaches the floor of the coop we've got bigger problems!

Nesting boxes with a happy yellow door when the girls are ready. 

We put the feeder on the people-door for easy access, holds nearly 25 lbs of feed. 

The nipple water-er is great, those girls empty it in just over 2 days. Sure beats going out 5 times a day to re-fill. 

There she is, I think Scribs did a great job! We are adding a gutter and rain barrel soon. 

DIY Mirror update

This mirror came with a second hand dresser we bought. The mirror alone was worth the price of the dresser!

It finally warmed up enough to spray paint it out in the barn. This project was super simple. The most time consuming part was taping and sliding the cardboard between the frame and glass.


Before

Please ignore all the mess on the dresser!

Here's what I did. 

I scuffed up the wood with sandpaper, wiped off the dust. This took a total of 5 minutes. 

Next is getting the cardboard between the frame and glass. I used diet coke boxes. They're thin enough to slide in and sturdy enough to be pushed in without bending. I carefully slide some tape between the glass and frame where I couldn't fit the cardboard, covered the rest, taped it up and was ready to go!

Next was painting. I did 3 coats I think, I wanted to make sure all sides were covered and there was one high spot that just didn't want to be black! I let it dry for at least 30 minutes between coats.

There was a little bleed through onto that glass. My dear friend Google informed me that acetone would fix that. It sure did! Who knew?

Here's what I used
Krylon Fusion Black gloss
a tiny strip of sandpaper
a few diet coke boxes
frog tape