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Friday, June 21, 2013

Front Door Reveal

I'm in love! I'm in love! And I don't care who knows it! {as said in Buddy the Elf voice, while jumping up and twirling around on my tippy-toes ballerina style}

A quart of paint (In the Twilight by Benjamin Moore), Venti Caramel Machiatto, Blades of Glory on DVD, and 2 hours later I had a beautifully painted front door! I probably could have gotten away with purchasing a pint since I had about half the can left over, however it leaves me with peace of mind to know I have some backup hiding in the garage incase a touchup is needed or another door is crying out for some TLC {tender loving COLOR--sorry, I couldn't resist!}



Painting a door can be more challenging than it looks. I found this great post on Pinterest labeled with the order of steps to use when painting a door.  I have used this method on both my exterior and interior doors and it has really been a breeze from start to finish.

Before:
iPhone 4 quality pictures- I need to upgrade...

Step 1: Paint the inner crevices of the door using a trim brush {mine was 1 inch} Make sure there are NO drip marks in the corners--it's easy to over use paint here.  A little goes a long way.


Step 2: Paint the flat part of the crevices with a foam roller.



Step 3: Using your roller brush, roll horizontally on the top, bottom, and middle areas of the door.


Step 4: Roll vertically in the areas left over.  Be careful not to go over the areas already painted in the opposite direction.  Depending on the year of your door, you can see the natural flow of the paint.


Before:

After

I did use three-four coats of paint on both my exterior and interior doors, however I did not use a primer on the interior.  I did for the outside simply because it was an exterior door and I wanted the paint to really have something to stick to in order to hold up against the weather, pressure washing, etc.  Zinsser makes a great primer that will stick to just about anything!


Exterior Door Before and After:




As I said before, I love paint because it's a quick an inexpensive project where you can see results within a day {depending on your project}.  The paint color turned out just as I had hoped for and I'm exited to spruce up our entry with some inviting decor!  Time to go shopping!!

Yes, there is a recliner in my dining room at the moment--don't judge me...

Yes, it's true--Paint and I are in LOVE again! At least until I complete my next paint project...



Monday, June 17, 2013

When a door closes, a paint can opens!

Let me just tell you about my love hate relationship with the round, chubby guy we call the paint can.  I always tell people, if you want a quick INEXPENSIVE do-it-yourself update, grab yourself a brush or two {or six if you're like me...} and your favorite paint color.  Now, this is where my hate part of the relationship comes into play.



Choosing a paint color is a lot like choosing an item off the Dollar Menu at McDonalds.  It's cheap, it looks good, but once you start devouring it, you begin to question your decision making.  

If I had to estimate, I would say I purchased approximately 362 paint cans since moving out of my parent's house in 2004.  Ok, maybe not that many, but at least HALF that number. Paint to me is harder to pick out than furniture.  With furniture, it's cut and dry.  Paint on the other hand is a little trickier.    Have you ever painted a 3 inch swatch on your wall and thought, "WHAT? Did they even mix the color I asked for?!" Or "Oh my gosh-- I LOVE this color!"  and then upon painting an entire room you realized it's just about the most hideous color you've ever seen? {Which, by the way, has NEVER happened in my house...(cue Pinocchio nose)}


It wasn't until I ran into a local painter at Sherwin Williams who shared this very important fact with me: "A paint color will look drastically different after you have painted the ENTIRE room AND placed your furniture, textiles, and wall decor into it ALONG WITH letting it settle for 7+ days.  Now why don't they put THAT on the chubby little guy?!

Leave it to my brilliant mother to find one possible solution to this problem....POSTER BOARD! When my mom was choosing paint colors for her house, it resembled what I imagine Picassio's studio to look like. Color, upon color ,upon color all over the walls.  She would purchase inexpensive paint samples, paint large pieces of poster board, and display them on the walls all around the room.  She was able to see what the paint color would look like at all hours of the day, as well as what it would look like behind furniture, art, etc. Mothers- what CAN'T they do?!

Image courtesy of Budget Friendly Decorating :)
Which leads into today's topic--painting interior doors.  While on a field trip to Lowes last weekend, I picked up the newest issue of Southern Living. Oh.my.word. I am so in love with this special edition! It focuses on southern charm and gives fantastic decorating tips, examples, and resources!  Not being a natural born southern belle, I need some help turning on the "Southern Charm."  Enter this magazine.

The only thing I'll be reading for the next few weeks
While flipping through the issue, my heart literally skipped a beat when I reached page 89. The most beautiful sight I have ever seen.  Something so magnificent, I felt a bit cheated having lived without it the past 27 years.  After drooling over the picture for about 18 minutes, I revealed the photo to my husband, who didn't have as quite a drastic reaction as I did, but that's typically the case on most things {the Perchinsky's tend to be a little over the top when it comes to the reaction of day to day events-there's a lot of facial expressions, hand gestures, and "OH MY GOSH"es which last for several minutes}. Anyway... it was a  BLUE interior door! BLUE! BLUE! Why have I never thought of this?! BLUUUUUUUUUE?! 

My iPhone image does not do this beauty queen justice-you MUST get the issue to see it for yourself!
There has been something missing from my entryway for quite some time now.  I saw some beautiful pictures online of black interior painted doors and thought maybe that's why my entry was yearning for {this entry sparked my interests months ago!} 

My front interior door.  Also known as, "Plain Jane."
While, I LOVE the black interior doors, something was keeping me from taking the plunge. I couldn't put my finger on it until I saw The Blue Beauty on page 89. This was exactly what I was looking for! A pop of color in a subtle southern way-I'm starting to love this whole painting thing.

Enter hate.

After examining the page a little more, I noticed the paint color was not listed as they typically are in home decor magazines. Where is the name of this paint color?! Why isn't it printed in the caption or editor's note? What is the name of this PAINT COLOR! Southern Living, don't do this to me! Don't you dare deprived me from my lust after this color! Why wouldn't you want to share this beautiful color with the world?!

After internally panicking for several milliseconds, I knew there had to be an answer.  There HAD to be. End.of.story.

Leave it to google image to alleviate my stress level.  After dissecting what seemed like 200 images, I came upon this and BINGO-problem solved (seriously, what did we do before the internet?  Had white interior doors I suppose...). Thank you, Valorie for keeping me from writing a very nasty letter to the editor.

                                           

However, I am wondering if she has some secret unpublished issue I don't know about--did I get  the discounted version or what? Note the paint color label in Valorie's issue {right} as compared to mine {left}. What's up with that?!

Printed or not printed, I NOW have the paint color {name} in my possession-Reinstate LOVE!

"In the Twilight" by Benjamin Moore (1434).   

I plan on running driving insanely fast to my nearest Ben Moore retailer first thing tomorrow morning after my husband leaves for work {I like to be alone in my house while completing projects. I think it goes along with my love for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and wanting to experience the BIG reveal to anyone who walks through the front door upon completion.  My Nissan Rogue doesn't have quite the same effect as the giant charter bus, but it pleases me to say the least}.



I'm not sure if you can tell, but I have extremely high hopes for this paint color and the dramatic difference it will inflict upon my entryway.  I'm hoping to nip the "H" word from my relationship with paint once and for all.   If this doesn't turn out, you can find me at McDonalds drive thru making some more substandard choices. "Yes, I'd like to super size that please..."








Sunday, June 16, 2013

My Father the Hero!

As it being Father's Day today, I thought I'd take a minute and talk about one of the most entertaining people I know...my DAD! 

                                          


My sisters and I are so lucky to have the dad we had growing up--he was always there for the 3 hour assembly of the Barbie Dream House on Christmas morning, he made sure our quads had enough gas so we could ride  until we were red in the face from windburn, and, like most dads, our full time chaffer. He was the dad who wore the hot pink, puffy painted T-shirt on vacation {not to mention getting his hair braided in the Bahamas} just so he could match his daughters!  He definitely went above and beyond the typical "dad" stereotype.

Mom and Dad's Old Time Photo obsession begins...
...and continues post children {circa 1990}

However, as we got older he became much more than that.  He was someone you could gain advice from and really talk to about things. He was our "go to" source for anything house or car related {he is the guy I thank for the, "Measure twice, cut ONCE" expression}.  He was always, and still is, the center of attention and life of the party--which is where I like to think I got my fun genes from. :)  Everyone knows Steve Perchinsky and always has a smile on their face when they say they do.  Within 5 minutes of meeting him you'll want to plan your next get together (my UPS guy still asks about him after meeting him once two months ago)....

Laughter tends to follow him...
 My dad seems to have Benjamin Button syndrome, as it seems he is getting younger every year.  He just celebrated his 60th birthday, but doesn't act a day over 35. Even if he is over 500 miles away, he is always there whenever I need him.  Thank you Dad for teaching me more about life than you could possibly know.  I love you with all my heart and can't thank you enough for all you've done for me in the past 27 years.  Walt Disney said, "Adults are just kids grown up!" I'm pretty sure he had you in mind when he said it. 

No caption needed...

Sometimes it takes a day like today to really think about how lucky we are to have certain people in our lives.  I don't need Father's Day to know I have an awesome dad.  I simply need to wake up, look around at all my life decisions, and be thankful I had someone in my life who cared enough to teach me.

                              

Happy Father's Day, Dad for the past 9,855 days. I couldn't imagine having a better dude in my life. I love you! xoxo








Thursday, June 13, 2013

Who is the Blonde Blogger??

Greetings y'all! 



I'm Jamie {the blonde} and new to the blogging world! My friend Tracy over at Project Second Grade, convinced me to start my very own blog, which I have been wanting to do for some time now--you know how it usually takes someone to call you out on something to make you actually do the thing you've been saying you are going to do to actually get you up to do it? Yeah, well if you understood THAT you're probably the pusher--I need people like you in my life....welcome.

 I consider myself as some sort of "gypsy" if you will. I, as most of us do, wear MANY different hats in my day to day life: teacher, decorator, sister, fashionista, wife, cleaning lady, DIYer, make-up enthusiast, and mommy to 2 PRECIOUS cairn terriers {to say I adore them would be an understatement}--I can foresee them appearing A LOT in this blog...my apologies {ahead of time}.

 I plan on writing about all of the above, or anything else that may pop into my head at any given moment-which may be a challenge considering I get easily distracted--SQUIRREL! Oh boy, this could be scary...

Today kicks off my first day of Summer Vacation (WOOT-WOOT) so what better timing than to write my first post!? I plan on making the next few weeks off meaningful and purposeful by completing some house renovations and some much needed decorating, as well as planning/ posting some new second grade units for our newly adopted Journeys Reading Series, and who knows what else!

 So kick off your shoes (or slippers to all my teacher friends out there) and let's get this party started! 

~Jamie