One of the E’s

Quite a few years ago my mom bought me a large letter E with a hook on the end. I don’t know where she got it or for what occasion I was given this E but I have held on to it, never having a place to hang it but knowing that it would be useful one day. Now that I’m living in my condo I need ready access to my dog Nelly’s leash.  Enter the E. My plan was to change the color and then hang this on the wall behind the front door for hanging Nelly’s leash and my keys so both will be easily accessible when she needs to go for a walk. It was a cream color and the paint was purposely aged, not exactly the look I was going for in the condo but nothing that some paint couldn’t improve.

To smooth the surface I used some high grit sandpaper on the paint. I was able to smooth out some of the chips and get rid of some of the excess paint. I took a damp paper towel and wiped off the paint dust so the letter was ready for a new color.

After allowing the letter to dry, I brought out my new paint, pool blue. Using a 1” sponge brush I painted on a smooth thin first layer of paint.

I allowed that to dry for about 20 minutes and then applied a second coat, making sure to paint in nice smooth strokes so I would have a nice finished product.

The final step was be installation on the wall. Two quick screws and it was ready for her leash and my keys! One project done…too many to go!

-Emily

Going grey – in a good way

Before I moved in any furniture I knew I wanted to paint the living room a new color. When I bought my condo I painted the whole place from top to bottom including ceilings. The previous owner had been a smoker and to get rid of that smell I painted and replaced all of the carpet. Thankfully over the last five years my tenants respected my no smoking rule and things were still pretty fresh.

Even though things were still in great shape I didn’t want to keep the tan walls that I had chosen, but I wanted to keep things neutral. What color would I chose? Well the ever popular neutral of choice for many lately…GREY! I bought a gallon and recruited my dad and we got to work.

With dad cutting in and me rolling we got quite a bit done in the first afternoon. I was a little nervous it was looking bluer than I wanted, but I know that paint looks different once it is dried so we kept working.

Well after painting for about four hours we called it a night and went home. I went back the next morning to check on things because the furnace had not been working very well. As soon as I walked in I knew that things were not looking good. Due to the lack of good heat in the condo the paint did not dry evenly and it was definitely looking like two different colors on the wall! I knew before that I would need to do some touch ups, but the way things were looking I was sure that I would have to put on a complete second coat on the entire room. I was not happy, but I couldn’t leave it how it was, so I added painting back onto my to-do list.

I went and bought a second gallon of paint, inadvertently buying a higher quality paint but in the same color. By this time we had the furnace up and running properly. I started using the new paint while dad continued with the remains of the first gallon. After the second coat things were looking good.

Now that the living room painting was done I continued up the stairs and into the hallway upstairs. The staircase is open, so I wanted to use the same color in the living room and in the stairway.

I ordered a new couch, and it was delivered recently. I’m really happy with everything looks. The second coat of grey paint brought down the blue tone I was originally worried about. I’m excited to get some thing on the walls and to continue to bring the room together.

-Emily