Getting started

I have some pretty pieces in my home, I've always had an attraction to old furniture. But they were all dark colored wood, and I wanted more of a shabby chic look. I was really scared to paint them though because, well, I had always heard how "taboo" it is to paint a solid wood furniture piece. Not to mention, dark colors just make sense when you have 4 youngins.

I don't know if I could achieve the coastal chic look with dark wood. Maybe if it were in just bits and pieces, but ALL of my furniture is dark, my flooring is dark, my couches are dark, my rugs are dark... You get the picture. The look I wanted to go for required some "bucking up" about painting the furniture. Besides, if it's a pretty piece of furniture, it's not going to be ruined because I paint it... It might even look better!

So I've started the project of painting. I was worried about white furniture because of the kiddos, but truth is that we need to just have rules: No drinks or food except for at the table, wash hands after meals or crafts, etc. Then white furniture and light fabrics can work. Geesh, I should know this of anyone. I grew up with my German Grandmother who had white carpet (that's still white after 25 years) and pristine furniture, because she implemented a few rules. No biggie, if I lived through living in a white house as a kid, my kids will be alright in my light, bright home.

So, I started painting on Sunday... I painted the nasty old table black and the chairs white. I also painted the china cabinet white. I have a little French style table that I also painted white. It's a semi-gloss paint so that it will be easier to wipe when it gets dirty. I had planned to distress everything after I painted it, but am scared to now! Why mess with a good thing?

On the dining room chairs I plan to make some linen slip covers with seashells, starfish, crabs on the back of the chairs, using iron-on transfers on linen fabric. I am a little concerned because kids are messy when they eat. I can yank the slipcovers off once a week and wash them, but will the iron on transfers stand up to weekly washing? I'm thinking of making a second set of slipcovers with painted numbers on the back-- maybe the paint will last longer than the imaged slipcovers. Then I can just save the imaged slipcovers for when company is coming over...

Here are some pictures of our busy Sunday...

Here is the ugly old dark table... You can see that we've been doing art projects at the table... Another rule that needs to change, Momma needs to throw down a paint cloth before kids start painting pictures...



Here is the chair. I'm trying not to be really embarrassed by how badly I let things get. I mean, LOOK at this chair! Yuckadoo! Believe it or not, I just recovered the fabic on the chairs 2 years ago. Kids are hard on furniture, to say the least. That's why I wonder how crazy I am to think khaki linen slipcovers will work in this home... We shall see.



Here I am trying to remove the chair cushions so that I could paint the chairs. Do you see that wee little person trying to help me? Well, he's not really "helping" but he's real cute, so I try to work around him. You can see why this transformation from hodge podge to coastal chic is going to take awhile, we have so many youngins! You're planning on sticking around for awhile, right?



Here's the table and chairs getting primed with some KILZ with my new sprayer. The sprayer did not like the KILZ at.all. My husband suggested I water the KILZ down a little so that it isn't so thick, and that worked. It was a hot day and the tip of the sprayer just kept getting clogged if I just paused for a second. I'd have to take the stupid thing apart, take the tip inside, wash it off, reconnect everything, spray again for awhile until it would clog again. It was really frustrating. Not to mention it would spray and dry almost instantly on the furniture, which was creating bumps-- not a smooth finish. Anyhow, the good news is that the watered down KILZ worked better and the final coats with a semi gloss went very smoothly. The sprayer is obviously a fussy little thing, but it's better than the brush method! :-)



My sweet husband, who totally humors me with this whole beachy makeover, deserves a big kiss for all of his hard work and a great attitude. WhattaGuy! Not only is he sweet, he's hunky too. See my fluffy pretty little chicken girls in the background too? Love those girls!



Last but not least, my pretty little Frenchy table. She's going to be a dollbaby now, all white and shiny...



Ok, so I've got the table & chairs done, the china cabinet (which I don't have a picture of yet, and my little Frenchy table. Ohhhh, just a drop in the bucket on my journey to a little decor makeover. But we'll get there... Thanks for watching my progress!