I thought I would give you a little insight to my decorating process - I am sure you were thinking, "Why in the world did she paint that thing PINK?"
First, let me tell you how I even got this thing. I love garage sales. I was driving down a main street in our town on my way to drop off my daughter to my parents house because we were literally going to Florida that day. It was sitting in someone's front yard and I saw it and made my husband U-turn so I could just see what they wanted for it. When I asked and they said $40, I was floored. This piece is heavy and very unique. $40 was an excellent price. The problem is that we were on our way out of town and didn't have time to take it home that day. I got lucky because I said, "If I pay you, can you keep it for me until Tuesday?" And they agreed. Normally people don't do this, so it was cool that it happened that way. After we got it home, I knew I wanted to do something special with it, but just not sure what.
As I looked around this room for the last two years, I just couldn't figure out what I really wanted to do with the space. It's a ranch style house so I thought about going "western chic" with it, you know, antlers, Texas décor, stuff like that. But, that style just isn't me. I also knew this room is used a lot for gatherings so I wanted a place that encouraged mingling and conversations. I also couldn't put expensive pieces that could break because let's face it, I still have kids and they run around and do Nerf wars, and something expensive and breakable is just a disaster waiting to happen.
When I was ready to do some redecorating, the first thing I knew we needed was new seating. We knew we wanted something that would hide stains from kids, so we weren't going to anything white or cream colored (although that probably would have been something I would have done if I thought it would never get dirty). When we went shopping, we were looking for a couch and loveseat but I just couldn't find any I liked. Then the salesperson says, "Why don't you just get two couches?" And I thought, yes! The price was the same either way, so that's what we did. I saw a chair in the store and I really liked the idea of pink as a pop of color and that's when my vision started coming together.
We then started going shopping for accent chairs. We went to At Home, Ross, Marshalls, Target, and could find nothing. Well, nothing that was the price we wanted to pay. At Marshalls, I saw these ottomans for $30 each. They were really sturdy and I loved them, so that's when they came into the picture. As I was looking for pictures, I just couldn't find any I liked either. I hate floral pictures (pretty, just not my style). I wanted something that wasn't super cheesy, that was large and that had a pop of the coral I wanted to use. I came upon this print at Ross and I thought, that's the one! I took a picture of the print and went up to Home Depot to find some paint.
Normally I am a spray paint girl. You all know this about me. But I am also the type of person that once I decide to do something, I want it done now. Well, the weather last week was terrible and spray paint has to be done outside. This thing is heavy and I wasn't excited about waiting to move it outside until the weather got better, and I also wasn't excited about moving something so heavy, so I opted for the old fashioned paint and brush. I picked Fresh Salmon in Glidden and got my tools. I hate paint brushes, I usually opt for rollers or foam if I can help it. But there is so much detail on this piece I was going to have to use a brush for some of the painting.
The thing you have to be aware of when painting furniture is the finish. That's why a lot of people use chalk paint and wax, it gives a gorgeous finish. You also don't want brush strokes. So, this little roller and tray set is perfect for pieces like this. I hate cleaning brushes, so at $2.50, I can use this, then toss it. It also is the perfect size for painting things like dressers and small shelves. It won't go the distance on something large, but for something like this, it's great. I probably put about 4 coats on this piece to get the finish looking good.
Here are my other key items...
These brushes are cheap, like usually under 90 cents. They are great for detail painting. They have a small point that is perfect for painting inside corners and up against painters tape. They come in several sizes and can be bought anywhere paint is sold.
I also bought a cheap paint brush for the detail parts, but the bristles were too long and not very strong. I actually went and reached for my daughter's Crayola paint brush for the small details. It worked great.
The whole thing took me about 5 hours to paint. It was a labor of love, for sure. But I loved the results. It was pinker than I would have liked, but I think once I get some accent pieces, I will love the dark parts of the room with the light pops of color.
Let's do one more before and after...
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