What painting is to me..

People keep asking me how I have time to paint, because it seems like I'm ALWAYS painting.
This is true, but also not true.
1-I MAKE time to paint. But I don't paint ALL the time. I try to paint one project a week, and no more, so my family doesn't feel too neglected.
2-Yes, I'm a mom. But why does that mean that I shouldn't be able to take time to do something I love?? We need time to do projects, just like kids do! It's so easy to get lost in being the caregiver, but never taking care of yourself.
3-You don't have to invest a lot of money into projects! Start SMALL! Paint a nightstand, paint some picture frames, paint things you already have around the house! It's fun to update your house and make it 'fresh'. If you're spending the majority of your time in your house, don't you want to enjoy the scenery??
4-Painting takes PRACTICE!! I can tell you every little step, but you'll never learn until you practice, practice, practice. One of my first projects took me WEEKS, now I could easily have it done in a few hours, but I needed the practice to really learn what I was doing.
5-There is no right or wrong way to paint. If you like it and are happy with it, it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Right?
Good luck painting friends!!! I want to see your projects too, so e-mail me anytime!!

Another Entertainment Console

Before pic. The old man I bought this from was so stinkin' cute! Him and his wife used this set for 28 years!!!! I felt like it had been so loved, so I wanted to love it too. I instantly fell in love and decided this was taking the place of our other dresser/console. The old dresser went up to the bonus room, that's going to be decorated shabby chic-ish so it was perfect!

This pic should be 3rd but it won't let me switch. Here it is all sanded (60 grit), primed and re-sanded (with 120 grit). Ready to be painted!

I am halfway through sanding. I get everything with the electric sander, then I barely scruff up the details by hand. ;) Almost ready to be primed!
I thought I'd taken a pic of it before I glazed it, but it had 3 coats of paint. (3 bc I used heirloom white, if you use a lighter color sometimes it takes more coats)

Antiqued and glazed! When I'm done painting and it's dry, I take a piece of sand paper and rough up all the corners, edges, lines, details...Sometimes I do random scratches too. Sometimes I do chipping, on this piece I was too lazy and didn't.

This is how the side looks all glazed. When you glaze, use a water based stain, rub it all over the side you're working on, let it dry for not even one minute and lightly wipe it off with a damp cloth. You can do this as many times as you want to get the desired look. Then I topped it off with 3 coats polyurethane.

I love to paint the hardware a rubbed bronze. I love this hardware soooo much!

I should have taken the pics during the day, but I was too impatient to wait until tomorrow. ;)

One project down, 1,999,999 to go~ ha ha

What do you think?? Do you like this one or the previous dresser/console more???

Small and HUGE project

Last night I finished a dresser and mirror, I'll post the dresser later tonight... I also found out today that I have ovarian cysts, which is not fun and super painful at times. But it could be worse, right??

Ok, PLEASE don't judge my house by this ONE room. I didn't even stage this mess! LOL When we moved in 3 months ago, any boxes that didn't need unpacked immediately (sewing, office stuff..) automatically went in this room. This is our bonus room. YIKES!!! I'm just starting to turn it into a guest room/play/workout room. I don't know, we'll see how it ends up!

Before pic of a mirror I found at Goodwill for $6. It's all taped up and ready to be painted.

I painted it white and it's officially the FIRST decoration in our crazy messy bonus room. Yay!!

Spotlight products

I'll try to spotlight how to use specific products every once in a while to help you. Here's how I use wood filler..

There was a random chunk taken out of the side of the dresser I just did. I got a blob of wood filler, filled the hole, let it dry and lightly sanded it smooth.. Super easy.

Products I use..

I bought this latex wood filler at KMart and it's worked really well for me too. I use filler way more than glue, so I go through a LOT! It's super easy to apply and sands smooth once dried. Oh, check out that funky thing on top of the filler. The kids found it in the yard and were playing with it. I was afraid it was poisonous so I took it away. Come to find out it grows on our tree! Isn't that weird? Luke put it in a bag of water and calls it his shark. Cute, huh???

I like the Gorilla wood glue. I'm always filling or gluing something.. This works really well..

Kilz spray primer is the BEST primer in the world. Trust me, I've tried a bajillion different kinds. I've tried Krylon, Kilz in a gallon size (awful experience), I've tried painting without primer, you name it, I've tried it. This is the b-e-s-t! $5 at Wal-Mart and worth EVERY penny!

Robin Egg Blue Dresser/Armoire

Before pic, not too bad

My kids are the BEST (no sarcasm at all) helpers! They really are awesome! All sanded and ready to be primed.

Primed, painted (2 coats) and sanded AGAIN. Ready to be glazed

Some up close detail of the glazing. Awwww, I love this piece!!!

The hardware MAKES this piece. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

Ok, honestly, refinishing (is that a word??) this dresser was INTENSE!!! We're not just talking one coat of paint and voila! It was a step-by-step-by-step process. But it's DONE! and I LOVE it! (yes, I use the word love a LOT). I bought this paint in Utah. I had been searching for this color and I am SMITTEN with it! I was just waiting for the right piece to be worthy of this beautiful color. Doesn't it remind you of the beach???

I'll go through the different steps I used when painting this beauty...

Oh, and it's SO NOT perfect. Nothing I do is perfect. If you're looking for perfection, you've come to the wrong blog sista! (and yes, on ocassion I pretend to be someone else and use words like sista)

oh and another ps, my husband totally made fun of the name of my blog! "Painting in Portland? That's not creative at all." I wasn't exactly going for a grammy with the name, just going for something easy to remember. OK?? I love you honey, you know I do..

Wether you like this piece, love it or hate it, leave a comment PLEASE!! I want the feedback. Just be nice. ;)

A PINK dresser

I bought this dresser with the sole intent of selling it. I knew I wanted to try a bold color and since I L-O-V-E pink, I figured why not? Again my husband thought I was CRAZY!! I painted one drawer pink and literally looked at it every day for 2 weeks trying to decide wether or not I liked it. I finally decided to finish it and put it in my entryway to take pics to sell it. I set it up and staged it and fell in love with it. So it sits in my entryway! It's the perfect introduction piece to my house. We also hung a gorgeous white vintage looking mirror above it. I love love love it!!!

Dresser & Buffet

This dresser is my favorite piece I've re-done. However, it was the BIGGEST pain in the BUTT!!! I LOVED this dresser from the second I laid eyes on it. I knew I had to have it! I planned on re-doing it for our house. The night I re-did it, EVERYTHING went wrong! My spray gun was spraying out in a spackle pattern, I couldn't find my mineral spirits and oil based paint spilled EVERYWHERE! It was in my kitchen sink, bathroom sink, all over the grass, the driveway, everywhere. It was awful. I cried as I ran to Home Depot to buy more mineral spirits and swore I'd NEVER paint again. That only lasted a few days and lucky I recovered. I ended up selling this dresser because it caused me so much heartache! I'm so glad I did too, because the cutest girl bought it and loves it!! Makes me feel so good! PS, sorry I didn't stage either of these pieces, again it was a BAD night and I re-did both of these at the same time.

A simple, pretty white buffet. Sometimes I love a good solid color. I can't wait to experiment more with glazing! LOTS to come!!!

End Tables

Thomasville End Tables. I SO wish they made furniture now the way they used to. SOLID WOOD! It makes such a HUGE difference!

A few of my favorite pieces..

These are the first two pieces I refinished in Portland. A pair of 1960's Thomasville dresser and nightstand set. I LOVE them! They now sit in our family room. Isn't my baby the cutest helper you've EVER seen???

I've madeover a LOT of furniture and a ton of decorations! Here are a few of my favorites! From here on out, I'll just post projects as I complete them. :)

First piece

This is the first official piece I madeover. I found these end tables online and fell in love. I brought them home and I was SO excited! My husband took one look at them and couldn't believe I paid money for them. Once I had them painted, he loved them (he'll deny it) but he really does love them. They still sit in our formal living room. I love ALL the character! PS as you read this blog, it's very obvious I'm NOT a professional photographer (obviously), so if the pics aren't up to par, sorry!! ;)