Going Bold

When we moved into our first house 18 months ago we painted every.single.wall over the course of about 3 months. We knew this was not a forever house for us and after painting one room we made the decision to go with a warm tan color that would be good for resale. We are not eager to paint the 58 walls again, not to mention all the wonderful closets; those were the worst. But now, after sitting in different shades of tan for 18 months I've grown a bit weary and decided it isn't all that fantastic tantastic, so lately I've decided to start finding ways to add color without turning the house into a lite brite toy; speaking of which, my kids have absolutely no idea what a lite brite is. Do the elves still make those?

So anyway, I opened the boldest paint lid yet- really teal and painted three broad stripes in our main-floor half bath. I already had the metal artwork and had been contemplating the stripes for a few months and finally made the jump. I'm not sure where I'll move to next but I do know that it will be small projects because the thought of painting 4 regular walls still hasn't won back any appeal.

The Rustic Look

If we were looking for the rustic look on our cabinets we hit the jackpot three days into our cabinet repaint. If you would like to achieve this look for your cabinets follow these steps.
1. Get a crazy idea to repaint all of your cabinets.
2. Read all you can on the internet on how to go about your crazy idea. I'll save you this step- Clean with TSP, lightly sand, prime then paint.
3. Wait for the paint store to have a great sale and buy the paint. We used ProClassic paint on our cabinets (which ended up great after the rustic fiasco) and will use it on our trim work as well.
4. Since the paint store is having a great sale, it will be swamped with people like us with many crazy ideas. Don't wait for the associates that usually help you because it will take forever. Go straight to the guy that looks new, or maybe just hired for the day. Take his advice that the ProClassic doesn't need a primer, even though this sounds 100 degrees of wrong.
5. Clean your cabinets, sand ALL of them lightly and start painting. After two coats of paint you will realize that the stain is dissolving your paint in the exact places you've sanded just the day before. This won't work.
6. Head back to your local paint store with one of your cabinet doors for some advice. The associates that usually help you will be available and apologize profusely for the new guy's bad advice and point you to a primer that you must use.
7. Go back home with renewed motivation and prime all the cabinets and boards with 2 coats. Realize again around 8pm that the yellow stain is coming through all layers of paint and primer.
8. Local paint store is closed so take your cabinet door to the blue hardware store. Buy the correct primer (Zinnser B-I-N) and start again in the morning.
9. After all the layers of incorrect paint and primer your doors will be very sticky. You must spend the entire day sanding in order to start painting on the correct primer. This will take quite some time because even with 60 grit sandpaper and a rotary sander only the edges will sand smooth. You will now have the perfect rustic cabinet doors...if that is what you were looking for.

We eventually got everything sanded and re-primed after a couple of days. We finished painting last night and J stayed up to hang all the doors and install the mircrowave. We are installing the hardware today and then starting on the countertops. Here are a couple of pictures.

On Fire

A quick shopping tip for you.

When switching brands on diced tomatoes, be sure to thoroughly check the label for anything that might indicate it would be mouth-numbing hot. I usually buy Del-Monte diced tomatoes with green chilies for our quesadillas and salsa. One day at the grocery store I decided to try Red Gold diced tomatoes with green chilies. We moved and I used the new can to make chicken quesadillas a few nights ago. I had already made all the kids' quesadillas when J ate a spoonful of tomatoes. I then watched as he tried to suck air in as fast as possible to extinguish his burning tongue. I was shocked, the other tomatoes weren't spicy at all. He then turns the can around and we read "HOT" on the bottom of the label. Hmm..I really should have checked for that prior to making the quesadillas. Another good laugh in the kitchen.

Update:

We have moved once again making this house #8 in 10 years. This is the first home we have actually got to call our own and we are very busy updating it. We have now purchased 16 gallons of paint. Nine of those gallons are on the walls already so we are over half way! We have painted every day for the last ten days and started our newest project today: painting the kitchen cabinets. We will put in our own countertops this week and then start the tile and wood floors. I can't wait to finally unpack and relax in our new home. I will start posting pictures of this chaotic adventure soon.