Updating the Entryway - Pukey Peach BE GONE!

It's often hard to appreciate how far your house has come when the first impression you get when you walk in is "ugh...what OOPs shelf did they pick THIS color up from?" Or maybe they just mixed the leftovers of other paint to get what I affectionately refer to as "Pukey Peach." It has a nice ring to it right?


If the 15+ stairs walking up to our house were not enough, about about 7 more?
There was also this nice peel and stick vinyl flooring at the bottom of the entryway. I had diluted myself into thinking that it was actual cool mid century hex tiles, but sadly no.


Also some nice painted (multiple drippy layers) metal louvered doors.
This entry way was not even really on our radar for renovation as are working on several other areas of the house. However, as the kitchen pass-throughs started to take shape...


...and Micheal did this one day



But check out those hardwood floors underneath! Some water damage we'll need to address, but yippee!!
It just morphed into a full entryway project. And I'm truly very excited about it. The difference even from Pukey Peach to primer is amazing.


You can see a little sneak preview of the paint scheme on the corner. We're planning to do the entry in a medium gray and the living room/hallway in a light gray.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We're trying to capitalize on the long weekend, so I'd better get back to doing some work rather than sitting on my butt on the sofa talking to you all!

OH! Also, if you haven't followed us on instagram yet, we started a F2F account to try and motivate us to document our progress more. Follow us at foreclosure2fabulous - enjoy!

What We Learned Last Weekend 8.23

Hey hey hey! We're movin' and shakin' over here :) so I thought I'd share a few things...

What we learned:

Our entire entryway (below) used to be a very bright shade of pink.

Whoa, that was a lot of pink.

These cookies are TASTY!!

I love my garden, but my tomato to...pretty much everything else ratio has been a bit unbalanced. Anyone need a few cherry tomatoes?

Remember that entryway from before? So, someplace you might forget to regularly clean (or ever clean...) could be the top of the trim in a vaulted area. Ack.

You really do have to "count" when crocheting. And I hate that. 

Now I'm counting so everything from the yellow up should be pretty even, but the purple and the yellow...are a little wonky on the edges. 

The Best Silver/Chrome Spray Paint

A ways back I typed into my BFF google "what is the best gold spray paint" and came across a great article on the blog Chris Loves Julia titled "Which Gold Spray Paint is Best?". They do a great job with side-by-side comparison of different brands of spray paint and we ultimately went with their recommendation of Design Master and were AMAZED at how far metallic spray paint has come over the past 5-10 years. We've used it on a starburst clock my grandmother gave me and a globe Micheal picked up at a sale.

Micheal had tried to paint a free lamp we picked up with "chrome" spray paint that he picked up from Home Depot and was horribly disappointed with the results. It didn't look remotely metallic. A second attempt with a different brand looked a little more like satin nickel and we stuck with that because, well, it was a free lamp from craigslist that we used for lighting construction areas. :) No need to go overboard.

But now we're making decisions about what color to paint our Sputnik Light so we can replace the awful lamp in the entryway. To refresh your memory...


The finish is pretty corroded in some areas so it would be difficult to restore it back to it's original luster (which we would of course prefer) so spray paint is the next option.

We are deciding between doing a silver/chrome finish or stay with the original look of gold. So we did our own experiment using some of the different silver options on the market to see which one looked best/most metallic.

Here are the four contenders:

Design Master Premium Metals, Super Silver - Purchased at Michaels for 7.49
Krylon Metallic, Chrome - Purchased at Michael's for 6.49
Rustoleum Universal Metallic Titanium Silver - Probably purchased at Home Depot... (it was in our stock of spray paints)
Design Master Brilliant Silver - Purchased at Michael's for 6.49

We chose to use some Christmas Ornaments that came in a box at an estate sale that I didn't love. Micheal set me up a nice little painting station.


Then I began painting.

Design Master Premium Metals, Super Silver

• Good coverage, boasts "one coat" and you could probably get away with it
  
• Dries quickly
  
• Best "reflective" quality
  
• Painted metal looked like metal - Good definition
  
• No running/streaking

Krylon Metallic, Chrome

• Good coverage
  
• Dries quickly
  
• More of a satin finish than a reflective/chrome finish
  
• No running

Rustoleum

• Poor coverage
  
• Lots of overspray
  
• Lots of running/dripping
  
  
• Very sparkly, not metallic looking
  
• Comfortable handle

Design Master, Brilliant Silver

• Good coverage
  
• Not much overspray
  
• Good "brushed nickel/satin" look
  
• Dries quickly
  
• No running

Some side-by-side comparisons:


The Design Master Super Silver was the CLEAR winner in terms of reflectiveness and silver/chrome look. Brilliant Silver and Krylon Metallic were pretty close, but in my opinion the Brilliant Silver just barely edges it out. The Rustoleum was a dud, hard to work with, and looked very fake.

Metro Steals - Mid Century Craigslist Finds for under $151

Yeah, we don't post often enough. We want to, we talk about it, and then we don't. So think about our blog posts like the cherries in a fruit cup. There aren't very many of them, but you value the one or two in your cup! :) (Or at least I hope you do.)

I swore off craigslist for a while because we had (and still have) way too much stuff. But something got me started again recently and that old itch is back. So this is how I cope with it. Post things for someone ELSE to buy so I don't buy them myself.

Pair of Mersman Side Tables $150

Sexy Legs!

Lane Coffee Table (Broken Glass) - $20

Micheal and I actually considered buying this as it would not be too expensive to replace the glass and it would be a very pretty table!

Starburst Clock - $65

Very atomic and you can replace the plugin clock movement with a battery operated one pretty easily so no ugly cords running down the wall.

Bentwood Nesting Tables - $60

These would look FAB-O stained a darker color (not a fan of blonde)

Pair of Mid Century Lamps - $20

This is a GREAT deal for this pair of lamps. I actually emailed about them but they're all the way down in Mt. Vernon. Blah too far. But someone on the southern part of the beltway could get a nice deal!

Retro Mid Century Lamps - $50

Holy wow are those bold. I don't actually like the lamps, but the shades appear to be in good condition and those tiered shades can be hard to come by!

Vintage Light-Up Globe - $20

I'm actually nervous to post this...Micheal might try to buy it. Someone else buy it quick!

White Mid Century Lamp - $30

I'm surprised this is still available (going by the "updated" date craigslist now has at the bottom of it's listings.) I think it's really pretty!

Capiz Shelling Hanging Light - $30

This is a STEAL and I really like it. Must...not...buy...more...lights...

What's up buttercup?

So I FINALLY started back to work. It's been a long dramatic process but I've now officially been employed for a two weeks! So now we're trying to balance getting stuff done with two full time working individuals and not pass out on the couch after work. Cuz right now, that's all I want to do!

I thought I'd share a few of our new additions we've picked up!

Micheal was like a kid in a candy store when he visited River Market Antiques in Kansas City. Limited by luggage requirements he was only able to pick up a few small items, but the "want" list was long!


I love these salt and pepper shakers, seriously, love. We'll buff them up a bit to take care of the few scuffs.


Also found at River Market Antiques, this marquee S is a lovely addition to our bedroom!
We hit up a family run estate sale a few Sundays back. A very spry and funny gentleman who was moving closer to his family out of state. He was a hoot. :)


This is what we're going to use for the built-in in the guest bedroom. It's perfect because behind the door...

A hanging rack! Paid: $27



Micheal's obsession with old mirrors struck again...


We also added this lovely Ponytail Palm to our household!

What's that around it you ask? The only way we can have a plant and this punk...


He has already managed to "trim" the edges for us, thankfully it's non-toxic to cats.

Free Trees? Yes Please!

Okay, so I totally didn't mean for that to rhyme. But I'll take it! So generally we despise Pepco, our electric provider - for several reasons. For one, when we first moved here our power went out if someone sneezed too hard in a 5 mile radius. This is better now though, so thanks Pepco. Second and more importantly - they BUTCHER our trees. Like seriously they massacre them to keep them from touching the power lines.

However, at least for today Pepco gets some kudos from F2F because they're providing 2,000 free trees to people in their coverage area!


Go to this link: Free Pepco Trees and reserve yours today! There were 1,661 left when I reserved our two redbud trees! Thanks Pepco!

What We (have) Learned this Weekend Recently(ish)

I always enjoyed doing WWL so I thought I'd try to get that going again. And since I haven't done it in foreva I get to include things beyond this weekend. So...WWL sometime over the past 6 months or so :)

1. We could both totally win the lottery and be happy not working. Being a stay at home wife is pretty awesome. (Official start date is 3/3/14, the fun comes to an end.)
   
2. The Germans are 2 for 2 so far in my book - My husband and OSMO
   
3. Home Depot buckets are not the best step stools
   
4. Some of the most popular posts on our blog are the Mid-Century background descriptions of the different items we have purchased and DIY floating shelves!
   
5. ADULT SNOW DAYS ROCK!
   
6. Even after taking two years off, I am still the craigslist Queen
   
7. If you say the word drywall around me my right eye starts to twitch.
   
8. My father-in-law has excellent taste in ladies KU apparel! I pretty much live in the KU shirt he picked out for Christmas and the KU fleece he picked out for my birthday. For a man who is an MU fan this is high praise. :) Thanks Joe!

Alrighty, back to work. Much to do before Monday!!