Archive for March, 2009
How To Paint A Garage Door
A super speedy garage makeover is easy as pie, especially if you have wooden or metal doors that do particularly well with a few coats of exterior paint. Our double garage has one big metal door (but it’s painted to look like there are two) so applying two coats of black semi-gloss exterior latex paint took no time at all- and only set us back about $20 for the paint.
We’ve always thought the maroon doors were a bit dated and a coat of glossy black would instantly update our almost 20-year-old garage. Sure enough, the crisp & classic black paint (Glidden’s Dark Secret) was just what the doctor ordered. Here’s the ho-hum before (we used large pieces of cardboard to keep from dripping on the concrete below the doors):
And now for the obligatory in-progress shot. John painted that odd diagonal stripe right before I snapped the picture… he’s such a rebel.
And here’s the crisp and clean after picture, thanks to little more than an hour or so of painting. We actually started this project at around 5:30 in the evening so we were racing the sun. And we’re happy to say that we finished well before it set (it would have been quite a messy task to be out there applying black paint in the dark).
We used a regular wool roller to apply the bulk of the paint (a foam roller is known to create more bubbles and inconsistencies so we stick to the wool/poly ones whenever we can) and a simple angled brush to get into all those cracks and trim out the edges. By the time we finished our first coat it was ready for a second, and the second coat did the trick (and of course went on much faster than the first). It’s really nice coming home to a “new” garage, and when we recently got the house appraised (stay tuned for those details) the guy actually asked if we got a new garage! Gotta love that $20 upgrade.
What about you guys? Do you have any painting projects on the horizon for spring? From adding color to your front door to gussying up some terra cotta pots, we wanna hear all about your hue to-do list.
Chantel’s Design Dilemma: Solved
When we whipped up a custom mood board for Chantel (all the way up in Canada) a few months ago, we couldn’t wait to see how her living room turned out. Well she’s baaaack! And she sent us a few fabulous after pictures along with this lovely letter:
Thank you again for all your help with our living room in January. We followed all of your advice to the letter (except for the pillows because they wanted to charge me $200 to ship to Canada). I hope our replacements are up to your standards! We love the transformation, and everyone who’s visited has loved it, too. I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to make it feel like a beachy summer day in our living room, even though there’s two feet of snow outside! And we hope you’re up for another transformation. We’ll be sending you before shots and a plea for help for our master bedroom later this week. Thanks again! – Chantel
Aw shucks Chantel, we’re so pleased that you’re so pleased! First lets remember what the room looked like back in January before the big makeover:
Chantel asked for “a beachy casual space” with pops of green and blue to work with a large work of art that she already had on hand for over the sofa. So here’s the mood board that we whipped up for her (see more details about it here):
And here’s her room after the big mood board makeover:
Sometimes a few simple changes can really make all the difference. Switching out Chatel’s old leather sofa for a slipcovered one from Ikea and painting the walls a serene blue hue took the entire space from white on white to beachy and light. Painting the TV component shelf white and introducing another white piece of furniture under it really made it appear more integrated and less invasive. And bringing in some texture in the rug, the sweet printed curtains, and even the woven table lamps that flank the sofa really added to the casual-chic vibe that Chantel so desired.
She even took our advice and painted the nook above her fireplace a slightly deeper tone of blue to accent the lovely little mobile we found for her which serves as a charming focal point in the space. Gotta love a 3D piece of art in an empty enclave just begging for an airy and ethereal accessory.
And of course we adore the pillows that Chantel picked up to finish everything off! They’re full of the same soothing tones that can be found around the rest of the space, and we love that the stitched look mimics the printed curtains that we picked out. Deeelicious.
Thanks so much for the fabulous after pictures, Chantel! You’d never know there was snow outside with an airy and inviting living room like that! What do you guys think of her transformation? Did she not do an utterly amazing job?! What’s your favorite part? I’m trying to decide between the mobile and those leafy curtains…
Update: We sadly can no longer find the time to take on client commissioned mood boards (we now whip up general inspiration boards instead) but if we ever reinstate them we’ll make a big announcement!
Fab Freebie: Behr With Me
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries***
This week’s freebie’s gonna be a colorful one. 3,700 colors to be exact, because it comes from the fine people at Behr paint. And we’ll have not one, not two, but three winners who will each get a free gallon of Behr paint along with a complimentary Behr paint fan deck. How’s that for kick starting a few of your spring makeover projects?
We all know that the hardest part of transforming a room with paint is painstakingly picking the perfect color. But Behr has gone and made it easier thanks to their new Paint Your Place tool. This free, online resource lets you virtually paint your very own rooms with a few clicks of the mouse (it’s a great way to waste an entire afternoon). For instance, we uploaded a picture of our third bedroom to see if a bright color might work when it eventually (key word) becomes a nursery (in a looong time, no baby rumors please). What do you think of Thermal Spring? Sherry thinks it makes the small room look like a little jewel box.
We were really impressed by how the program smoothly integrated the existing shadows and sun spots in the photo that we uploaded, giving the room a pretty realistic look (all without having to pick up a paint brush). Plus, with the color selector tool it was really easy to adjust the color, no matter if we decided it needed to be lighter, darker or even more green.
So if you wanna win one of these free gallons of paint, just leave a comment on this post with the words “BEHR WITH ME” by Wednesday, April 1st at 8pm EST. While you’re at it, we’d love to know if there’s a room in your home that you’ve been planning to repaint (and what color you might be considering). This contest is open to residents of the US and Canada and as usual only one entry per e-mail address is permitted. Good luck…
Full details about our freebies are available at our Giveaway FAQs. Screenshots courtesy of Behr.
Back To Stool
Another white ceramic thing came to live at Casa Petersik. I know, I know. We’re nothing if not consistent. But this time it’s not shaped like an animal. Don’t dismay, it’s still quite fun. Why look, it’s a little ceramic garden stool:
Some people might declare that these little stools are too trendy, or even (gasp) over. But we don’t really subscribe to the notion that the world at large can decide when it’s uncool to like something (perhaps it’s why I wore bodysuits and stirrup pants far beyond the bounds of 5th grade, but I make no apologies and only blush profusely at the memory). Anyway, the truth is that we would have purchased this white ceramic guy ten years ago and we’re sure we’d still enthusiastically snatch him up in ten years to come, so to us that spells classic with a capital C. Really, it can live in any room of the house and work effortlessly with all of our decor. In other words, it had us at hello.
Of course we’ve seen these babies everywhere from Domino to Pottery Barn, but the normal $100+ price tag is always a bit of a drag (here’s one that’s currently selling at PB for $160). The truth is, we rarely spend over $75 on a small side table (thanks mostly to Victoria Hagan’s collection for Target). So we kept our eyes peeled for something a little less expensive- praying to the ceramic stool gods that a deal would come our way. Enter this lovely little lady, stage right. See the sweet paisley detailing?
And get a load of that price tag:
It says take me home immediately. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Do not stop to browse the exotic chocolate offerings near the checkout. Well, mission accomplished.
HomeGoods is a great place (check it out if you haven’t been!) for thrifty little finds like this. And we pored over fifteen garden stools to find the best deal of the bunch. They actually had a slew of them in different colors and patterns, but this white paisley guy was the only one that was $29 (while most of the others were $39-$59). It was meant to be!
So that concludes our ceramic stool love-fest. What do you guys think? Are there any items out there that you guys love but just can’t bring yourselves to shell out the big bucks for? Tell us what you’re coveting and we’ll send some good sale karma your way!
Reader Redesign: Beam Me Up
When Liz sent us her stunningly spectacular before and after photos we did a major double take. Here’s her letter:
Ever since I discovered your website a few weeks ago, I have been totally hooked!! Truth be told, your website was partially the inspiration for the blog that I started. After seeing all of the amazing transformations on your Reader Redesigns, I couldn’t wait to send you a few pics of my own redesign! My hubby and I bought a sad little ranch in Dallas, TX last September and spent a few months renovating every square inch, from the linoleum to the fuzzy gold wallpaper to the Astroturf on the patio – it all had to go! We are finally all moved in, and I’m extremely proud of the transformations. No longer a blast from the past, our rooms now perfectly fit our lifestyle and style in general. I’d love to hear what you think!! Keep up the great work! ~ Liz
Here’s the living area looking into the kitchen before…
… and after:
Here’s the living area before:
And the same space after the renovation:
Gorgeous! Stunning! Fantastic! Thanks so much for the pictures Liz- and we wish you all the best in your beautiful “new” home.
