Cheap Buy

Last night while I was at Michaels getting a a custom matte cut for my sons artwork for his bedroom re-do I spotted a super cheap buy. Which is always a good thing, and so good I wanted to share with all of you. They were selling 14 sponge bushes for a buck! That's right one dollar. I bought two bundles which should last me quite a while. 

Instead of having a bunch of roses in my window sill, I have a bouquet for sponge brushes. Oh the joy of home  improvements! I think I have plenty of brushes for upcoming projects. 

I love using sponge brushes for painting projects. I love that they are cheap and can be tossed, which means less clean up. My son also likes uses sponge brushes for his artwork. Most recently I used sponge brushes to apply primer on my yellow tray in our living room, and bench and dresser for our master bedroom. 

Do you love using sponge brushes like I do? What's the last item you painted with a sponge brush?

Paint Tip

The paint cans in our garage are getting out of hand and it's getting harder for me to remember what color has been used on what. A few weeks back I had to do touch up paint in our bedroom and could not remember what color grey we paint our bedroom! I actually started doing the touch up paint with the wrong color! So I had to rummage though our ever growing paints and finally found our bedroom paint color. I decided one of the things I need to tackle of the summer is our paint paint cans.

I found a really good tip from Martha Stewart of course. Martha suggests using paint stirrings. After stirring paints, let stirrers dry, then write the color and room on each. To keep them well organized she also suggests making a whole at the end of each and using twine to secue them together. Most likely I'll use a large metal ring and keep them safely in my yet to get started on office. Wal-Mart sells paint stirrers for around thirty cents each, so I'll pick up a bunch there to get me started.

I also plan on making simple labels to place on the paint can after its been used. The labels will include the same information as the paint stirrer swatch with the addition of the paint formula. I have seen other blogs buy new paint cans to store their paints, however I want to do this as thrifty as possible. 

Do you already have a system to keep your paint cans organized and know what color you used and where? Please share you tips.

Paint Affects: Modern Wow Factor

Need to bump up the wow factor in one of your room walls? Well, I came across some modern paint affects in one of my favorite decor magazines Style at Home. One of the paint affects gave me a boost of inspiration for my master bedroom makeover. I can't wait to get started on the paint effect project. I can't say which one - need to keep the element of surprise, lol.

Modern Paint Affect: Color Blocking
A painting technique that involves adding a graphic element, such as circles or squares, to dress up an empty wall or highlight a particular fixture in the room. Think about using this paint technique to enhance a medallion or light fixture on the ceiling. Or to ad an element of whimsy in a bedroom or it can simply replace art { like in the bedroom below } How pretty do those butterflies look, flying across the room.

In this room the color blocking highlights the wall and molding.

Modern Paint Affect: Strie

Strie is the French word for stripe, this modern paint affect creates the look of a soft stripping on the walls. Making walls appear like they are silk or linen. In the picture the walls appear to be a delicate soft green with a slight striping pattern. Don't the walls look touchable and soft?

Modern Paint Affect: Stenciling

Stencils work anywhere and add a graphic modern affect to the room. Its an affordable alternative to using wallpaper. I love the look of the stencil below, talk about drama

I love the idea of using stenciling as an decorative alternative to using ceiling medallions.

Modern Paint Affect: Colour Wash

To take the look from a 'dated cloud look' you have to apply the Colour wash technique very suitable. The Colour Wash in the picture below creates a dream like feeling in this entry way

{ images via Styleathome.com }

As I mentioned before I'll be adding one of the Modern Paint Affects to my bedroom. Did any of the paint affects give you a boost of inspiration? Have you already used a modern paint affect in your home?

Prime Time

I’m finally starting on our Dining Room Redo. The first thing was to pick a paint color. We decided to go Woodrow Wilson Putty by Valspar; it’s the same we used in our bathroom and we love how it looks even though there’s only a tiny bit of light in there. I think the color will look even better in our dining room since we get so much sun in there.



Last night I cleaned and primed the walls and baseboards. I strange thing happened while I was priming; it looked like I pushed the walls of the dining room OUT. My dining room literally grew in size from the white primer. I was floored! Our dining room was painted a buttery off white, who knew that color would make our dining room appear so small.

I finished painting the walls this afternoon after I got home from watching The Twilight Saga: New Moon (loved the movie) with my mom. Our dining room now looks fresh and open. Up Next painting the baseboards and bringing in furniture and much more.