::Whitewashing is Easy::

Ask my hubby. It's about impossible to keep me down. So here I am the day after hand surgery feeling quite well and extraordinarily blessed and probably doing a bit too much. I just don't hold still very well. And I want to show you some stuff. So...here are some pictures of the projects I scrambled to finish just before my surgery in anticipation of being hand-less for a bit.

It all started with this little desk that I painted white for my son to use for school. It was, of course, a thrifted find at a yard sale--$5. I love it, a lot. Especially the hardware. So that got me in the mood to paint. I had the stuff out, and the prep always seems like the hardest part for me anyway. 

So while I was at it, I moved on to the next piece which started out this honey pine color.

I love the piece. Just not the color--at least not for today's mood. However, since I find the wood grain appealing, I didn't want to cover it completely. That's why I decided to try my hand at whitewashing.

So first...

...a little sanding with my NEW sander. What a superb little purchase! I sanded in all of ten minutes!

Then, a little mixture of white paint (although you can use any color of paint you wish) with water--about 50/50. More water, more dilute, more translucent color. Don the rubber gloves. Dip a rag, or old lonely-mate sock, into the whitewash, and go to town. Dip, rub, dip rub. Let it dry a tad. Wipe it with a dry rag if you don't like it. Play with it. It's impossible to go wrong with this process, it seems.

This is after two coats, I believe.






My mixture was pretty dilute, so it took about four coats to get it as white as I wanted. But I figured I would rather do it slowly in layers to get it right. The whole thing literally took me only an hour or so. Because the paint is so dilute, it dries VERY fast. Seriously easy. Wanna see the armoire in all it's glory?

Ta-Dah!!! 

I will soon finish it up with colorful knobs--are you surprised? And I'm contemplating distressing it up a bit--make it look more naturally weathered. We'll see.

Reporting on my hand surgery this week...that plate and eleven little screws are what were taken out. About the same number was left in. Just praying that those little stinkers stay in place and I won't need to do this again. 

And finally, this sad and ugly little office chair that I thrifted. A new very old, easier-on-the-bum, chair for the computer in my studio. There must have been 50 years of dirt and grunge on this thing. And it still looks pretty terrible. But just you wait until I'm done with it!! Can you say crochet cover?!! Yippee! 

{On the Board} -- (from this video)

Don't you give up. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.              --Jeffrey R. Holland