Don't Do This At Home

She needed a desk so that she could keep up with her summer homework. Yes. Summer homework. In our family we like to do  things together during the summer, casting off homework and assignments but apparently schools don't have the same ideas.  That's a topic for another post.

We got here and nestled into lovely surroundings in the middle of a beautiful wood only 200 yards from the Lake.  THEE LAKE we call her.  She murmurs to us with each crashing wave:  "come back to me.  Dip your tired feet into my cool water..."  but again, I digress.

Like I said, she needed a desk so that she could keep up with her summer assignments.  The day after our arrival we hauled ourselves off to the nearest Lowe's.  A family friend had been using Valspar's spray paint:  the 2 in 1 primer and paint and recommended we try it.  We took her advice and figured we'd give it a whirl.

After a few minutes in Lowe's she settled on a bright yellow gloss.  Once we got back to the house, I set about sanding the desk and against all I've known to do to paint almost any surface, I did not use a primer.  Remember Valspar's 2 in 1 primer and paint in a can should do the trick.  Right?

Hark!  Do not ever try this at home.  Trust me on this one.  A primer would have been far better than the 2 in 1 fancy-schmancy product I tried.  This small desk took four cans and it could still take 2 more cans easily.  I do not think the coverage is sufficient and I do not like seeing the shades of what was once the brown of the original desk, peeking through the 2 in 1 paint and primer, glossy yellow.  Since the weather here is humid it usually takes four to five days drying time between coats which was simply too long to spend on this project and diminished the convenience of a 2 in 1 product.  So you understand my experience.

Here is the before: 
and after: 


I'm only speculating but I'm sure this sunny, cheery piece will brighten her days and make for enLIGHTened learning.  Sunny side up!

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

Through the years she's been painted but always at the hand of a "professional".  This year however mi casa needed some repairs and an overall facelift. She was built in 1954 so the wood siding needed attention. Those pesky termites, on occasion, had brunch and those places needed repair, too. No painter fella with a handy-dandy sprayer is going to do the detailed job we would do on our own home so after rustling around the garage and gathering the caulk and wood putty and sander and paint brushes...and...finally we got busy.

After the repairs, we decided to keep the siding painted white and  cover the green trim with grey.





Grey I tell you!  Does this look like grey to you?  The paint was supposed to be Harbor Seal Grey.  But nooooo it doesn't look grey at all.  When a couple neighbors commented on liking the purple trim I knew a trip back to the paint store was my next stop. 



Finally!  Grey trim. Portsmouth Grey to be exact. 



And a red door.

I don't have to speculate because I was here every day the house was being polished and painted and repaired and brought back to the lovely lady she is.  Mi casa es su casa so come on over and see us soon.