Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Finishing and Finding More to do

My walls need to be touched up. We have rearranged until some places look like a pin cushion.
Have you ever wondered how to touch up your paint without re painting everything?

First you have to spackel the holes, let it dry, and then sand it with a fine grit sanding block.
Like I said there were a LOT of holes.

The secret is to roll in a W pattern. Any direction accept for straight rows.
Blend the paint out to the edges so that it's thinly applied where you want to stop painting.

If you look closely you can see the lighter areas where I painted.
I don't know what the pros do but I discovered this by trial and error.


These are the walls wet. I think you can see.
When it is dry it will blend right in and just look nice and clean.
I hit up all the worn areas and dirty spots and it will look like a new paint job without being a new paint job. How is that for a redundant sentence?
Like my grammer?
Yeah, I thought so.


 I bought this mirror, from our local "junk" shop for the upstairs bathroom but my hubbins hates it.
I think it is really cool myself and I actually like it better than the big gold one.



 My downstairs digs are coming along. I am amazed at how much work it is to change rooms.
I didn't move very much furniture. Moving just stuff and bathroom stuff is a big chore.
I'm ready to purge more junk. How do we collect so much crap in the first place?

 I think I wear a junk magnet.
 The dresser is coming along. The top isn't finished yet. I had to bring it inside to dry. The humidity would not let it dry out. The top is looking so cool, totally the distressed look. I like it that it was like that under the veneer. I was thinking today how weird it is that the scraps and "junk" of yesteryear is a lot better than what we use today. When is the last time you bought some solid birds eye maple to build with?

 Hung the print and the mirror today. I love this print. It's a watersolor I picked up at an art and wine festival in Santa Cruz CA.  I am not going to put too much else up. I like the walls plain with the nice warm cream paint. It's relaxing to have less visual stimulation.
I usually start with great intentions like this and that clutter it up again over time.
Resist resist.....
 This picture is a truer color of the dresser. I am using 4 OOOO steel wool between coats of finish.
I use an antique oil that dries hard and has a low luster. I love that stuff it makes furniture gorgeous.
It also lets it breathe. I HATE polyurethane. Whoever thought of coating wood in plastic is crazy. Granted they did get rich because it's easy to apply, but it isn't good for the wood.
This oil is easy to apply. You hand rub in the finish. The more coats you add, the deeper the shine. I do a minimum of 3 coats of the finish and 2 coats of stain. I usually use more than one color of stain to get a more multidimensional color. This piece is not quite this yellow.
This dresser is actually the first piece of furniture I ever refinished.
I didn't know what I was doing, and it still turned out.
 OK why am I showing you another shot of this?
Because I forgot how many other shots there are?
Because I wanted too?
Because I said so?
Nope.
So you can see my pile of new wash rags.
New paint touch up, and new wash rags, and rearranging stuff,
shoot fire, it's like a whole new house!
I am so easy to please.
Who gets excited over new wash rags?
I do. Now you know.
 Tomorrow I'll work on the bathroom. I'm a glutton for punishment.
My feet have given out. I still had mental energy but my body is sooooooo pooped.
I decided to write this post with my feet up.
They are on fire.
My hip is screaming at me.
I shouldn't be doing this.
But if I don't who will?
Are you coming over?
Well maybe next year.
But in the meantime, if I blog I can be OCD while sitting down.
See, how your helping me out?
Your saving me from myself.
Someones gotta do it.


Projects remaining in the carport. The two chairs are still in process. They look like different colors because they are. The chair closest to ummmm us, Has been sprayed twice with golden oak.
It's not the color I liked when I washed them and got them really wet. So I picked up a different color and will spray them down AGAIN. Then the boat varnish. Boat varnish is very cool stuff.
Think about it. It is made to be in salt water all the time.
That stuff PROTECTS!
We finished a pair of french doors in natural stain and boat varnish and they never did age.
They stayed looking brand new for years.

The table has MORE projects. That red basket has marked up nearly every door and wall in my house. I keep toys in it for little kids to play with when they come over.
The kids like to haul the basket around by themselves, and everywhere they bump into something a bit of red stays behind.
I am going to prime it and re paint it, so that I can quit with the red skid marks everywhere.
The other project I need to finish is to stain the doors for my desk.
I have had those for over a year.
It's ridiculous how I can procrastinate.
Except for right now.
I am doing pretty good!

I was doing well on the Leanness Lifestyle diet and then I blew it on Sunday. We went to a POTLUCK. My plate had small portions of a lot of different things and I was definitely too full.
It's weird, after getting too full I couldn't quit eating. Seriously I can control myself better if I don't over eat. Once I started I had signed up for a binge.
There is no way I was going to enter all that into the computer either.
I'm tired of this already.
I am not tired of cutting back and eating less.
I'm tired of the program. I suppose it keeps me accountable, making me enter every bite I eat.
What a pain.
Now that I have more of my meals in it though I can enter them with one click.
It's new items that take time, and a potluck? Well, that could have me entering data until next week so ---pass.

Whatcha all up too?

6 comments:

farmlady said...

I love that chest with the white knobs. I have one that is similar. It was my grandmother's. I love it and use it for a coffee table under a window. I refinished it years ago and did a coat of satin polyurethane on the top to protect it. I like the finish on something that is used so much. I only did one thin coat and only on the top. I've been happy with it.
You are working your rear end off. Time for a rest. Those chairs can wait. Relax for a while.
You deserve a rest.
Nice work!

Heather said...

Wow your getting lots done enjoy all that fresh paint and redecorating! Love Heather

Kat said...

Good grief, you really keep yourself busy, don't you? I bet you really aren't supposed to be doing all that. ;)
Looks great! :)

Karen Deborah said...

Ya'll are totally right I am a dead dog. Totally toast. The really humiliating thing is that Jimmy does almost all of the work. My feet don't even want to stand up anymore.
Hey! Just looked outside and it looks like a big storm is blowing up!

Jensamom23 said...

Love the tip of antique oil...I don't care for poly either. You have so many projects...I am impressed!

Chris H said...

I love all your projects on the go!
I AM ALWAYS moving furniture.. just ask my family!
It's an addiction I think. lol