Make It Happen Monday — My Renewed Inspiration
Good morning, all! How did you do on your project goals for last week? Did you make progress? Did you finish what you had hoped to finish?
So I think I know why my cabinet paint did what it did last week. The culprit? The paint conditioner that I used in the paint. Evidently it does funny things to paint that’s just sitting in a can for a long time. I’m pretty sure that’s what it was, because when I told the paint store guy what happened, he said he had never heard of it before. I mean, of course he and I both had heard of paint touch ups being a slightly different sheen and/or color. But we’re talking the difference between an eggshell finish and high gloss paint here.
But now let’s talk about the conversation that’s been going on in my head. 😀
I guess you could say that this past weekend, my inspiration and determination to finish my condo was renewed. You see, I went and looked at a house. It’s a fixer-upper for sure, but it’s so cute…or at least, it has the potential to be adorable, which I can see if I look at it through my this-is-what-it-could-look-like decorator/diy’er eyes. And the best thing? It’s on a 1-acre lot. ONE.WHOLE.ACRE!! I seriously can’t stop dreaming about that lot. After having ZERO land to call my own for six years, and living in a tiny condo, the thought of having a 2000-square-foot house on a 1-acre lot makes me giddy. Absolutely GIDDY. (I can seriously picture myself going all Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music in that huge back yard.)
So that brings me to the argument I’ve been having with myself in my head.
If we’re so determined to get into a house as soon as possible, then exactly how much should I be doing on this condo? I’ve had dreams for six years of how these rooms would look completely decorated, but that seems like such a waste of time and money if my heart has moved on and now desires a house. But on the other hand, I feel like I need to see this through to the end, just in case the house thing never happens.
Perhaps I’m overthinking it. Probably.
So in the meantime, for this next week, I am actually going to work on a fun, decorating-type project. My little breakfast area table needs two dining chairs. I had looked and looked for chairs, and for at least a year, I couldn’t find anything I liked. I finally resolved myself to the fact that I was just going to have to use the chairs I already had. In fact, I even started painting them and preparing them for new upholstered seats.
I’ve wanted ghost chairs for a long time, but not THAT kind of those chairs, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, long story short, I got rid of those “ghost” chairs, and finally found some thrift store chairs that I really liked for $5 each.
So my goal this week is to get those finished…finally. They look a little rough right now, but it’s nothing that a bit of paint and upholstery can’t fix.
If you’ve been around here a while, you might remember my dining chair inspiration, but for those of you who are new, let me share it again. I found this inspiration from House Beautiful.
So how did your projects go this last week? What do you have planned for this next week? And do you also struggle with wanting to put aside the necessary projects to focus on the fun projects?
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Hi Kristi,
You are always an inspiration and I love your beautiful transformations! I have been working on paiting my stepsons bedroom furniture for a while and I am getting frusturated. The surface is laminate so I’ve been sanding, wiping down with TSP, priming with oil based primer (2 coats with plenty of dry-time in between), painting in a gorgeous silver paint, letting that dry for several days. And now I’m still getting scratches, seems like something rubs against something else while we are moving things and I get a scratch right down to the laminate! Last time I did this I didn’t sand first, so this time I’m sanding but still stupid scratches that seem to take off the finish so easily. Frusturating!! Any ideas?
Adrienne, I’m so sorry that happened! How frustrating! I’m really not sure what to suggest now that it’s already painted. What kind of primer did you use? I always use oil-based Zinsser Cover Stain, and it seems to stick to just about anything.
My friend and I have tried to paint several pieces with silver paint. All different brands, sanding, TSP, oil based primer…everything. Nothing has ever worked right for us with the metalic silver type paints. We have decided not to waste our time or money on it anymore. It would be beautiful IF it worked, but who knows how to get it to work?
Umm…I didn’t get the loft finished, I didn’t get ALL the pots outside filled with flowers (ran out of money on that one) BUT I am working on something that absolutely needed to be done on my new little cabin in the woods. Since I rent the place I cannot paint the walls and those walls are icky dark paneling. We are talking REALLY icky here. Just a step up from plywood, the loft space is actually plywood because it was added on later. But anywayyyy, I was reading BG&H magazine yesterday and lusting after white, light walls and came up with the idea for a cheap (not a permanent solution) fix to dreary dark walls!!! PAPER! As an artist I hoard paper and lots of it, I used cardstock and clear pushpins at the corners. It actually looks amazing and boy what a change! It is a work in progress and my goal is to have that part done next week. I was thinking maybe of using some kind of twine or ribbon or leather to do a continuous figure 8 around the pushpins down the wall. It would be kind of cool but not sure if that would just be too much. I might also paint a design on the paper. For now though at least it will be lighter and brighter in there! YAY! Here is one wall almost complete, I know, cute place isn’t it? 🙂 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/itselemental/7ad8df67.jpg the before photo can be seen here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/itselemental/3fd7d6f1.jpg (Please excuse the decorating mess. Nothing is where it will finally land)
haha that should have been BH&G magazine lol….
What a great solution, Wendy! I think the white actually makes it more cabin-y because it accentuates the rustic beams, whereas before, nothing was accentuated, so it just looked dark and dreary. Great way to thindk outside of the box.
Thanks, Kristi! 🙂
Whatever improvements you do finish will undoubtedly add to the value of your condo, especially if the other available units are bland white boxes with beige carpeting and no character. That’s always something to keep in mind while making improvements even though you’ve moved on mentally to settling in a house 🙂
Very true, Brent! And I can assure you, our condo is one-of-a-kind around here. The others really are bland beige boxes with outdated cabinets. 🙂
Kristi,
I have followed your blog for about two or two and a half years. I even asked you a question once about a bathroom that you did and I was using it for the inspiration for our bathroom when we remodeled! I really appreciated your response.
I just want you to know that I truly hope this house works out for you. You are one of the best decorators out there and have been an inspiration to me. Also, I can tell from your blog that you are just a good person. I am praying this works out for you. You deserve it. Good luck!
I cannot wait until you get into that house!!! Just think of all the posts you could cook up! Really, when you think of it, your career depends on the fact you must move so you can do more, bigger, diy-er stuff!!!
At least that’s what I tell my husband….
I finished the lean, green, dressing machine! Yay! Right now I’m cooking up something really cute for my furry baby. I can’t wait to show you guys next week!
Even though you have to repaint your cupboards, at least you know what the problem was & can ensure you don’t do touch-ups with conditioned paint again, eh? I guess that will be one project you will have to finish to sell the condo but those are the only ones that should worry you.
I’ve renovated 3 homes prior to this & always had lots of ideas for lots of areas that didn’t get done before selling. Some of those ideas were pretty unique so any potential buyers would have to like it or be willing to pay to change it — or they would simply go look at another house.
And no matter how I try, I can’t stick to those have-to-do projects unless there’s some fun projects thrown in to keep me inspired & enthusiastic. So, do what you need but also have some fun stuff to work on to keep you sane. Good luck in your home search — a fixer-upper on an acre sounds like heaven — my only kind of home.
Oh yeah, I got my porch cleaned out, my valance photos up, & an invitation for a gallery showing — my next four weeks will be committed to making an abstract panel each week with some fun projects thrown in along the way.
dawnedesign.net
Your inspiration chairs are fantastic! Love the floor the inspiration chairs are sitting on too, lol. I really love the look of those box cushions. If I didn’t have kids that still spill food on their seats, I would add those in a heartbeat to my dining chairs. 🙂
I still haven’t completed my dining room set because I got sidetracked with another project that I couldn’t wait to do. My floral birdcage. http://81deneroad.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/new-look-for-birdcage.html