Through my camera phone lens.

The little/big man’s bedroom is coming along. It’s now become a race against the clock as I’m trying to get it done between the Mr’s business trips, a photo shoot and then debuting it on Studio 5. I’ve always worked best with a little “feet to the fire” business.

I’m in love with this navy-ish blue wall called Blue Fedora by Valspar from ACE.  I’ve never really used Valspar before but it went on beautifully and there was very little odor.  It my just be one of my favorite new paints.

It won’t be staying one hue for very long.  The plan is to graffiti it up (in a very tame way).  I’m hoping it’s not one of those projects that looks great in my head and a hot mess in reality.

I found an amazing tape for taping the carpet down when painting baseboards.  Normally I fool around with painters tape but it just doesn’t have the sticking power and a line of paint inevitably ends up on the carpet.  The Gorilla peeps sent me supplies to try a while back.  I’m pretty sure this Gorilla tape isn’t meant for carpet protection but it was laying around and I grabbed it.  Holy cow, it’s awesome!

One of the other projects we tackled this weekend was replacing these 35+ year old bi-fold doors.  Unfortunately, I got over eager and didn’t snap a proper picture of them before we donated them so this is as good as it gets for a “before” shot.

I set up shop in the garage and painted some new doors Silent White by Clark + Kensington in a semi-gloss.

(Those paint pants are going on 5+ years now…might be time for some new ones).

They old doors were white-ish to begin with but had yellowed a bit over their 35 year old age.  Amazing how much more light and airy a new coat of paint makes a room feel.  With the exception of the blue wall everything is painted the same hue (Silent White by Clark + Kensington).  The finish is the only thing that is different.  Doors are semi-gloss, ceiling: flat and the plank walls: satin.

I found these knobs at Anthropologie.  Perfect mix of metal and leather for a boys room.

For the window wall we’re trying our hand at a new application we’ve never worked with before…brick.  I have seriously had a major crush on brick walls FOR-EVA!   We found a company (Brick It) that takes reclaimed bricks and cuts them down thin so you are just putting up a portion of the brick on the wall.  Less cost, less weight, easier application.

Unfortunately the order was short so we have to wait for a couple of supplies then we can get to work.  The bricks are pretty beaten up with a lot of character…exactly what I wanted.  Once installed I’m planning on white-washing them (insert gasp).  I’m so excited about this project I can hardly stand it.

Last on the update front in this “bane of my existence” metal dresser from the 1920’s-30’s.  Ugh, this d#@% dresser is driving me crazy.  I’m having a major love/hate relationship with it.  When I acquired it, it was painted white.

I envisioned stripping it down to the bare metal.  I applied a chemical paint remover which took off the majority of the white paint but it had some kind of brown coating (maybe powder coating) that was next to impossible to remove.

I sanded it with my little mouse sander and it proved to just not be efficient.  So then I moved on to a belt sander…better but still taking way too long.  It took me about an hour with just the belt sander to get it to look like this.  This stuff is practically bullet proof.

Then I tried a grinder but that really gouged the metal…not such a great look. I have an appt. to take it in to a professional sandblaster to see what he can do.  And to top it off I found another metal dresser that I’m actually considering buying (it’s on hold while I’m hem and haw).  I’m certifiably insane.

This is the goal…