painting Archives

Some projects are reserved for spring. Some for summer. Some for when we (I am) are ready.

This project was one that took me months to start.

I debated (mainly with myself) whether or not I should ever start this project.

THE PROJECT: My childhood bed.

It’s beautiful and belonged to my cousin before my parents bought it for me sometime in the 80’s.

I thought it would be a beautiful heirloom for our daughter, Trinity. I would need to convince her. Not that she totally controls what happens with her room decor, but she is a pretty strong personality and I would like her on board if I am going to take the leap and refinish and repaint the bed. I also want her room to be a happy place for her, filled with memories and things she loves.

1st big challenge, besides convincing Trinity, which I thought I could do once I actually have the bed in my possession:
Get the bed from my parents’ home and move it to my house.
Seems simple enough, but we would also need to get rid of the mattresses. My SUV is full of carseats, so I would need to remove those, put the seats down and drive out to get the bed while the kids are occupied with something else.

Okay, so I made the leap yesterday…here is the before:

Four poster bed. Painted in soft yellow/cream with green accents

One of the biggest challenges for me in taking on a project like this, is that it is a multiple day project. I like to start something and finish it right away. It’s one way I am sure I can get it done. But, I love chalk paint. (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint pictured below) In fact, when considering whether or not I would paint this bed for Trinity, I invested in 4 cans of chalk paint and worked on other projects. Our family room countertop. The large mirror above the fireplace. A table top of a living room side table. Two side tables in our bedroom. And, the wooden rocking chair my mom used to rock all of her babies. I’ve only used the colors “Old White” and “Paris Grey” so far. These are pretty small cans and a little paint really does go a long way.

However, now that I’ve done several single day chalk paint projects, I wasn’t sure I could handle the details on this one or the fact that it would take a few days. Patience is a virtue.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White

But, I decided to jump in and get started. I rebuilt the bed, because I don’t really have the space in my garage to paint. And, having it stand up while painting, seemed to be a good solution. It is super easy to build and take down. (thank you to my mom’s neighbor for showing us how to do that!) It just has metals sides that fit in grooves of the headboard and footboard.

So, here it is after applying the first coat.

The second coat will provide additional coverage and then I will add some detail in a pink color (Antoinette) before sanding and waxing.

A closer picture.

Trinity was ecstatic! So, yay for that blessing. Once the second coat dries and I add the little bit of pink parts, it will be time to lightly sand and then wax.

I will post more updates as we finish.

Until then…another July post is coming tomorrow as we continue 31 days of blogging in July! #elmomma31

When I began painting the first of what would eventually be three paintings, I had no idea that I would be painting variations of the same painting more than once. The first painting was for our first son, Bakri, when he turned one. We planned a baseball themed birthday party. I made him a cake shaped like a baseball and decorated like a baseball and I painted a baseball jersey on canvas for his wall in his room. I used the painting as part of the decoration for the party and I made a cake that matched the jersey. That was all for the first birthday of the first child. Little did I know, God would bless us with 2 more little boys with first birthdays! So, this week, I began the fun job of painting Leeland’s first birthday painting to go with the paintings for Bakri and Maddux. Here’s how it went:

And, here they are all together….Leeland’s is nearly complete. My blue paint was old and didn’t offer much coverage. It was the day of his party when I made this discovery. So, we just went with it. I’ll finish it soon. I promise. As for the significance of these paintings, well they are very important to my babies. I realized that this week when working on Leeland’s. It was so cute to watch the other children light up as his painting became more and more finished. In fact, Bakri (our 6 year old) now wants me to find a way to make real jerseys…hmmm…I’ll have to think about that one for a bit. Maybe when they stick with one size for a while.