Tag Archives: paint

A Caffeine Induced Project

As each day passes we are getting closer and closer to bringing Esther home from Hong Kong. We are expecting a phone call any day now letting us know that we are approved to book our trip later this month. In the meantime, I’ve been doing a little nesting around the house to prepare for her and make things easier once we get home. This also includes wrapping up some odd and end projects around the house.

Before I get to the project we worked on this past weekend I need to back up and fill you in on another project I sporadically did last Fall.

One morning last Fall I woke up tired… pretty much like every morning because let’s face it how many mornings do moms really wake up good and rested. That particular morning though I decided to make some coffee. Not for ML and me but for ME! Yep! I pretty much drank half a pot of coffee by myself that morning… and I hardly ever drink coffee. Which means I was wired!

So there I was looking through Pinterest that morning while waiting on Noah to fall alseep and an idea hits me…. I should repaint the foyer! At the time it was a warm green.

Not only should I repaint but I should repaint it while Noah is napping and surprise ML when he gets home. Easy enough. We had some extra paint on hand and I was just itching to get something accomplished that morning with all the energy I had and housework would be to easy of a challenge to tackle.

So, after she fell asleep I pulled all our paints out to see what would work. I decided to go with Sherwin Williams Lemon Chiffon. The same color we used in our kitchen.

In pictures it clashes with the golden colors in the living room but don’t stress about that because I have plans to repaint that room as well. One thing leads to another you know. Anyway… back to the caffeine induced project at hand.

So during the course of two nap times that day I repainted the wall and trim in the foyer that day. It was amazing! I wish I could be that focused everyday. Seriously… I would be a chore tackling, blog posting, DIYing machine people!

updated foyer

I love the new brighter, bolder, and livelier color. It really extends our kitchen… even though I don’t have a picture to prove to you. Using the same color in consecutive rooms unifies them and visually makes the space look bigger. Its a great design trick to keep up your sleeve.

And what about Michael Luke? What did he think? I’m happy to report that he loves it and is onboard for the vision for the rest of the room. It’s not like me to make design choices without consulting him first. I mean… its OUR house. We had sort of talked about changing the room up and since I didn’t have to spend any money for this little painting adventure I knew that worse case scenario I could just repaint the room. Ahh! The beauty of paint.

All of this brings us to our project ML and I worked on this past weekend. What is it? I’ll give you a hint… I didn’t show all the walls in the foyer. We just might have a little something special planned for them. 🙂 Hopefully, I’ll be back later this week to share it with you.

Ever had a bunch of coffee and ended up with a super productive day? Do you act on your design ideas as soon as they hit you? Or wait and mull them around in your brain for a while?

For more Color Transformed Family follow me on:

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Hometalk,
or RSS.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Curing vs. Drying

4 Replies

Here’s the deal… originally I planned to share today how I painted my kitchen cabinets. Before I share the steps I used I want to make sure I am completely satisfied with the end result of my cabinets. I mean what’s the point in me sharing my method if there is a better way of getting the job done?

In the meantime I ran across some pretty cool information about latex paint that I just have to share with you guys!

So what is this nifty little piece of paining info you ask?

That there is a difference between a latex paint’s drying time and curing time. I knew this was true for oil paints but I had no clue that latex paint was the same way until I read some really great articles on it here and here.

So what is the difference? Well, one of the advantages of latex paint over oil paint is that it dries super fast. Sometimes in minutes but for the most part it is dry to the touch in an hour. That’s pretty quick. Even after latex paint is dry to the touch it still needs a few hours to really dry before applying new coats. In the case of painting my kitchen cabinets where I used Sherwin Williams SuperPaint it was four hours between coats.

But here’s what I didn’t know. Even four hours after the last coat of paint is applied the paint maybe dry but it is still curing. Curing is the time it takes for latex to become durable and harden. Curing is the process my cabinets are still in because curing can take two to four weeks and can sometimes be even longer. During this time it is easier for paint to nick or chip because the latex hasn’t completely adhered to the cabinets. So I have been trying to be extra careful when putting away pots and pans but have still managed to chip the paint in a few minor places. Thankfully, my paint supplies are still handy so I have been able to touch up the occasional accident.

My cabinets still need another two weeks before they will be completely cured. After that I hope to be able to confidently share the steps I used to paint our cabinets.

Before today did you know the curing time was different than the drying time for latex paint? Do you know any other cool info about latex paint? Or maybe just any other random bits of information in general.

For more Color Transformed Family follow me on:

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Hometalk,
or RSS.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

An Alpaca in the Kitchen

9 Replies

Ok. We don’t really have an alpaca in the kitchen. Although that would make for some interesting photos. We do have alpaca colored cabinets in the kitchen though.

Ok. So that’s not completely true either. We have cabinets that are partially painted in Sherwin Williams Alpaca. Partially is the key word here since so far I have only worked on the top cabinets and the doors are still covering my dining room table.

I just finished the third coat of paint on the front of all the doors and hope to start on the back side of them later today or tonight. For the most part painting has been fairly easy and quick. “Well what is taking you so long?”, you ask. Finding the time to paint. The best time for me to paint is during Noah’s naps or after she has gone to bed. It works well but it kind of draws the whole process out.

Thankfully I (and Michael Luke) am loving the color choice. I’m not sure Noah has noticed. Kids these days!

Thank you so much for weighing in with your color choices in our little poll. A majority of you chose Alpaca. Even with all your Alpaca encouragement I still almost when with Requisite Grey. Not because I don’t value your opinion but because I was just afraid it wouldn’t be dark enough.

After seeing Alpaca on the cabinets though I can’t imagine it being any darker. The tonal value is really close to the existing cream color which you can still see on the bottom cabinets.

The difference is in the underlying tones. The original cream color had a lot of yellow in it. Too much for our taste after painting the walls yellow. The new color has a subtle pink tint. It doesn’t come across as pink at all but it picks up some of the warmer tones found in our floor tile. And because red and yellow are next to each other on the color wheel they yellow walls work well with the cabinets.

The light grey of the cabinets really allows the counters to shine in all their glory.

Which is totally what I wanted! And kind of a cool picture as we, the body of Christ (the cabinets) want God (the counter) to shine in all His glory. Like I read in my quiet time this morning… “He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30

Hopefully, painting the bottom cabinets will move a little quicker than the top. I’ll be sure to share pictures along the way as well as let you know the process I used to paint and prep our cabinets.

Have you ever painted cabinets before? If so, how long did it take you? What do you feel like has been your most labor intensive DIY project?

P.S. Don’t forget that your purchase from Color Created Family helps to cover our adoption expenses as we journey towards bringing our little girl home from Hong Kong. This month a portion of each sale will also go towards The Sparrow Fund who helps families through the adoption process.

For more Color Transformed Family follow me on:

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Hometalk,
or RSS.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.