Block Print Handtowels - Easy Peasy DIY

Hope you guys are doing great! I don't know about y'all, but I am loving all the fun block prints out there right now. So summery! I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to try out the wood block stamps my friend Anjali brought me back from India. Plus, this is totally a quick and easy fun project for anyone else wanting in on the trend. So when Pantone asked me about doing a post for you to go along with their MyColor inspired by Pantone Painting Party campaign they are hosting, I knew exactly what to do.

Pantone sent me several colors of paint and for some reason I have been digging on some fuchsia lately. So with just an hour and a few flour sack towels to spare, I made myself some lovely new dish towels. So summery, don't you think! Good hostess gift idea? I think so.

In need of a few more colorful ideas? Be sure to check out these other talented ladies and hit up the Pantone Facebook Page - 

Nicole from Sketch 42

Angela from The Painted House

Courtney From Courtney Out Loud

Joi from Nuestra Vida Dulce

You could win a sample of MyColor Inspired by Pantone by commenting here about how you’d use MyColor paint in your next project. For a second chance to win, tweet your project ideas to @MYCOLORPAINTS using hashtag #PassItOn.  And, if you “like” the MYCOLOR INSPIRED BY PANTONE FACEBOOK page, you can share your project ideas there for one more chance to win.  MyColor is also on Instagram @mycolorpaints.

Happy Weekend!

Before and After - A Colorful Front Door In Inman Park

So this morning, I was out running some errands in my old stomping ground of Atlanta's Inman Park neighborhood when I drove past this house I selected the exterior colors for way back in September. Check out the before picture from real estate listing below - can you even believe the difference?

What can I say - that bright yellow front door makes me happy every single time I see it!

By the way,  anyone know what movie they're filming over there right now? The trailers on Euclid are lined up!

Have wonderful Friday and enjoy this sunshine!

Refinishing Antique Doors - A How To : Part 2 of 2 : Sanding, Priming and Painting

Hey there! I hope you guys are having a great week. Isn't it funny how right as the time changes, Fall seems to really set in! I am so happy to say that I am finally finished restoring the last original door on our house here in Atlanta, as I am ready to move onto other indoor projects. 

Before I get to those other projects (hello, master bath and closet!!), please join me as I share the second part of my door project with you. If you watched last week's video, you already know about the nasty process of stripping your door and the importance of protecting yourself when using nasty chemicals like stripper. Remember what happened to my shoes! Luckily Sanding, Painting and Priming isn't nearly as gnarly, but you'll still want to protect yourself and 3MDIY offers a wonderful and affordable line of products.

As I mention in the video, you'll need some supplies and tools, both for completing the project and protecting yourself while you do. Here's a rundown of what you'll need at your ready :

3M Sandpaper (sheets and orbital sander refills)
3M Safety Glasses
3M Mask
3M Gloves 
Orbital Sander
Scraper
Paint Pan
Paint Roller 
Paint Brush
Paint (I like a Semi-Gloss or Satin for interior doors)
Primer
Stripper & Mineral Spirits - for hardware
A Rag
A Glass Jar 
Sawhorses

Ok, you're all set. And I promise the results are oh so worth it. Here's my rundown - 

Refinishing Antique Doors - A How To : Part 2 of 2 : Sanding, Priming and Painting from Claire Watkins on Vimeo.




This post is a sponsored collaboration with 3M DIY. To enter to win free samples for your next DIY project, visit 3MDIY.com

Refinishing Antique Doors - A How To : Part 1 of 2 : Supplies, Safety and Stripping

First of all, let me say it is hard to believe all the destruction the past 18 hours have brought the northeastern region of our country. All the way from Georgia, we are certainly sending our thoughts and keeping our ears open for ways that we can help. To those of you afflicted, I hope you are safe and dry and that your power will be returned shortly.

We're moving along with the renovation of our 1940's house and a big part of that process has been restoring all of the original doors and their hardware. Let me tell you - the restoration process is time consuming and full of nasty chemicals, but when you see the doors in all their original splendor - all of the hard work is oh - so - worth it. Whether you want to restore a piece of painted furniture or are reviving antique doors like I am, you can follow along with my 2 part video series as I take you through the whole process.

Truthfully, none of it takes much skill, just dedication and some serious safety precautions. After all, refinishing an antique painted wood piece means you may be dealing with paint containing *lead* and you will definitely be dealing with the stripper itself. Nasty stuff.

Oh and saw horses, you'll need those, too!

True story - the soles of the shoes I wore to refinish my first 3 doors disintegrated as a result of contact with the paint stripper. Now, imagine what that stuff could do to your skin or lungs! Not pleasant.

Luckily, 3M makes some great safety products and I have used them to protect myself as I refinished each of my doors. When you go to your local hardware store to pick up the items you'll need to refinish your piece, 3M's products will be right there. Who doesn't love convenience.

If you're like me - you may even find some enjoyment in scraping away all those layers of paint.

Get your project started by watching today's video -

Refinishing Antique Doors - A How To : Part 1 : Supplies, Safety and Stripping

• Necessary Supplies and Tools
• Safety Precautions
• Applying Paint Stripper
• Prepping Your Surface For Sanding and Painting

Refinishing Antique Doors - A How To : Part 1 of 2 : Supplies, Safety and Stripping from Claire Watkins on Vimeo.
Check back next week and we'll finish up the process with Refinishing Antique Doors - A How To : Part 2 of 2 :Sanding and Painting!

This post is a sponsored collaboration with 3M DIY. To enter to win free samples for your next DIY project, visit 3MDIY.com

Fall Recap In Pictures

Saturday night's last minute Halloween costume (can you tell it is a paper doll?),

a little bit of the Fall flavor around here,

a little more of the Fall flavor (Ina's Coq Au Vin recipe here, so yummy and so purple in person),

the status of my master-bathroom-gut-job-and-wall-bump-out (oh hello, exterior wall from previous reno)

finally at the beginning of the put back together stage (wahoo!),

a tease for tomorrow's blog post detailing how I refinished all my house's antique doors and their original hardware and kept my sanity (could also be applied to furniture) and

further proof that not only can Kristen paint walls, she can also make fabulous Save The Dates.

So that's it, I think we're all caught up on my end. Your turn. ;-)

And thought to all the people up on the East Coast, especially one of my very best friends - Anjali. May you stay dry, safe and warm and may your electricity return soon!

Bedroom Makeover As Birthday Surprise - Project Shots!

So, one of my now favorite clients approached me with the exciting idea of creating a room as a surprise for her 5 year old daughter's birthday way back in April. After a few busy summer months, I am just now getting a chance to show it to you. In her first phone call to me, Maggie was wickedly funny right off the bat. Combine her wit with the idea of creating a bedroom makeover birthday present, I welcomed the opportunity to get started. We got right to work discussing the "must have" list - you know the one. Maggie's requests for my room (AFTER shot featured below) were pretty simple. 

 The room must -

• grow with her daughter (not too sweet, have some hangout space away from younger siblings) 
• accommodate the burgeoning social butterfly's already plentiful sleepovers 
• have some play space / toy storage
• And could I please do something about all the weird ceiling angles!? (of course!)

I got right to work suggesting a double size daybed with a pullout trundle. The bed could function as seating as her daughter grew older, while opening up ample play space in the meantime. To solve both the functional storage issue and Maggie's more visual issue with the ceiling angles, I sketched up a two tower built - in for toy storage and niches for storing books within reach of the bed.

Because we wired those built ins for sconces with the switches completely of sight - gone is the need for bedside tables and lamps. Yay for more floor space and projects with any kind of construction!

Maggie wanted her Little Bit to have a bulletin board without sharp pins safe for little fingers, so I made a custom board with ribbons for tucking pictures and keepsakes.

For a completely cohesive look, I repeated the fabric and trim from the picture board on a simple relaxed roman shade.

To punch up our pastels, I pulled in some existing artwork (hello Frida!) and a bright striped rug. I cannot think of many stains that will show up on that rug, but it can be flipped over or cleaned when they do. Because the rug is a soft flat-weave, it is comfortable for playing on the floors.

On the day of Little Bit's birthday, I arrived to put the final touches on her surprise. Somehow Maggie was able to keep the birthday girl out of the room for an entire month before the big reveal. At one point when I was working in the room I heard a soft little voice from outside the door - if you open the door, I'll give you a sandwich - was what the little voice said.

It almost worked, but in the end Maggie pulled off a great surprise that I was really honored to be a part of. I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did!

What's the best birthday surprise you ever pulled off?

My 30th was last week and I got a really, really good one. A story for another day.

Living Room Before and After - I Painted My Sisal Rug

So remember last week when I told you I was considering painting stripes on my sisal rug? Well, I did it. I have to tell you, the stripes make this room! To be honest, I was a little concerned about the paint bleeding through the edges of the tape I used to mark off the stripes. So when Scotchblue Painter's Tape approached me about creating unconventional uses for their tape, I knew painting my oh so absorbent sisal rug with stripes would be an excellent opportunity to really test the seal of the Scotchblue product. Remember how impressed I was with the ability of Scotchblue Painter's Tape to protect my picture rail when I painted my ceiling blue here? Still - it is certainly easier to prevent paint bleed on walls than a rug. Here's the rundown of how my project went-

AFTER: The stripes really open the room up and it wasn't very hard to do. Sick of your sisal, too?

Step 1: I took my rug out to the deck and gave it a good vacuuming.

For my 9' x 12' rug, I used an entire gallon of paint and 1.5 rolls of tape. Now this is a ScotchBlue Painter's Tape sponsored post, but I really do like how the seal of their tape prevents bleed. Bleed prevention is especially important on an absorbent material like sisal. Anyhoo, I started off with that little 2" roller, but I switched to a larger foam roller that worked better. To help me keep my lines straight, I used a drywall square and a measuring tape on both sides of the rug (2 measuring tapes). You'll also need a paint pan and a drop cloth, if you want one.

STEP 2: Find the center point of your rug. Much like laying tile, you'll want to start your stripes in the middle.

Step 3: Decide on the width you want your stripes. Offset half of your stripe below your center point and half of your stripe above your center point. For example, I used a 4" stripe. The middle point of my rug was 60", so my first stripe started at 58" and ended at 62".

STEP 4: Run your tape from one end of your rug to the other, doing your best to keep a straight line. Repeat.   TIP: As you lay your tape, marked each stripe you intend to paint with a horizontal piece of tape. This is an easy way to remember those are the stripes you don't want your tape to overlap.

TIP: Do yourself a favor and tape off the border of your rug with tape, too, if you have one. I was glad I did.

Step 5: Get ready to roll. Pour a small amount of paint into your painting tray. That red roller is the roller I didn't end up really liking, I switched to the foam one below. You want the foam roller.

Rolling the rug took me quite some time and I had a little help. Plan for 2 - 3 hours. Good news is the work is super easy. Do grab an audio book or a spirited conversationalist to get you through, its tedious. 

Step 6: Allow your rug to dry for 18 hours - 24 hours.

Step 7: Peel Back Your Tape! Up close in this shot, you can see there aren't any globs of paint the bleeding through the tape. Pretty good!

LIVING ROOM BEFORE - the rug combo is a little choppy and a little formal.

This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue Painter's Tape.  Visit ScotchBlue Ribbons on Facebook to learn how to win. https://www.facebook.com/ScotchBlue/app_278449185585189

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