I Painted Some Walls Black/Office Progress

Remember how we cleaned out Rand's messy office, painted the floor and organized it? It may have looked like I was just doing a nice thing for my man, but I was actually doing it for selfish reasons. His CPR/AED/LGI/CPO/OMG training materials had taken over the room that was supposed to be my home office, and I wanted that room back. And now I have it!

It's got a ways to go, but I've made some progress here and there. The biggest accomplishment for me was finally fulfilling my dream of painting some walls black. Verdict: I LOVE them.

Here's how it went down: First, I thought I would just be resourceful and use what I had, which was semi-gloss paint in Benjamin Moore's Onyx. Bad idea. My advice: don't try to be resourceful. Just because you have a gallon of black semi-gloss paint on your hands does not mean it belongs on your walls. Semi-gloss paint doesn't belong on walls. At least not in my house.

So I painted one wall with the paint I had, hated it, then went and bought the same color in flat paint and repainted it. Then I loved it.

So I started painting the wall next to it. It felt pretty good. I kept going, on to the next wall and around the trim. You get the idea. In the end, all but one wall in this room ended up black. And oh, it is all so gorgeous.

It's not all glamour shots around here. There still a massive mess on the floor. I need some shelves or maybe a wall unit of some kind. There was an incredible one at Urban the other day for $200. Reasons I should maybe buy it: I'll probably spend that much putting shelves on the wall anyway. I won't have to worry about the shelves falling off the wall. I could actually resell the wall unit if I wanted to. See how good I am at talking myself into these purchases?!

Still so much arranging to do, and the floor needs painted so badly. But this is progress for now. And I finally have a desk to sit at. :)

Thrifty Finds // 10

The thrifts have been good to me lately! Here are a few of my recent finds.

This huge colorful afghan was an amazing score. My friends and I went to YOTO (Youth of the Ozarks Thrift Store) and I picked up two pretty afghans that were priced at $3 each. When I got to the register, the clerk said the other one was a family heirloom (?!) and he couldn't sell it. He said it wasn't supposed to be out on the sales floor. He said he's give me this one for free for the confusion. Okay!

I'm so grateful to have this desk. This little guy came from Urban Market and he is perfect. It's in great shape and has four big sturdy drawers for me to hide my mess in. I kind of think it needs some loud 50's drawer pulls, don't you?

Finally, FINALLY I have a peacock chair in my home. I've wanted one of these things for a LONG time, but every one I have found was either a miniature dollhouse version, painted, or in rough shape. Danavee and I spotted this one at Urban on our desk-hunting trip and I couldn't pass it up. Amazingly, Diane was able to fit all this and more into her mini-van for me!

The peacock chair is in unbelievable shape. Its only problem is that black stuff that wraps around the edges is crumbling off, but as you can see in the photo, I've started pulling that stuff off and I think it looks just fine without it. Rand thinks I'm crazy, but this chair makes me happy!!

The little pillow in the peacock chair was also a recent thrifty find. Isn't it cute? Also in great shape. Danavee and Diane are my thrifty good luck charms. :)

More Vintage in the Shop

Good morning, friends. Time for some shameless self promotion! I've added some new vintage items to the shop lately, including a little alarm clock, a record rack, and some sets of vintage books.

I've also been working on my product photography. My office (or craft room, work room, I haven't decided on a name yet) has amazing natural light, so my photography has improved slightly because of that. It kinds of bugs me that in some photos you can see the wall texture in the photo, but it's getting better.

Be a good friend and give my little Etsy shop a share, won't you?

Watched Lately

I've been watching a lot of movies lately to pass the time while I weave or paint. Lately I've watched these and here's what I think:

Mermaids was pretty good. I really love Winona Ryder. The Suburbans was not great, but Will Farrell was, as he always is. Django Unchained was absolutely incredible. Shocking, gory, repulsive, and intense. I recommend watching it, but only once, and only through your fingers so you can look away quickly.

The Great Gatsby was also fabulous. Leo is still beautiful. Cinderella Man was sort of whatever, since its about boxing and I get bored watching suspenseful sportsing scenes. But Russell Crowe sportsed the best so it was a pretty good film. Finally, The Lego Movie was awesome. Will Farrell was great, as always.

Gray Floors

Oh hey! We have gray floors.

Just to review, we started with these lovely floors you see above. They weren't pretty, but they were in good shape. I removed the carpet, carpet padding, tack strips and loose nails, sanded, and then primed.

After priming I filled holes with wood filler and caulked up any big gaps, then primed again. After that, the floors were flawless and ready for paint.

And I went with gray. So glad I did.

Here are some lovely, grainy nighttime shots of the floor.

I took these photos the night I finished, then the next day Rand immediately moved his desk and mess back into the room. I doubt I'll be sharing any photos that craziness.

This has made me realize that all my upstairs floors should be gray.