On Tuesday, I had one last thing to do to finish my new treasure. I simply needed to brush on a coat of polyurethane and let it dry. I have gone down this road many, many times, so it should have been a breeze.
I set to work on the poly as soon as Emma went down for her nap. Unfortunately, the fast-dry poly dried so quickly on the top of the piece that I had trouble keeping a wet edge. When my brush drug across a spot that had just been painted 15 seconds earlier, it was already a gummy mess.
I thought that perhaps I was applying the coats too thinly. So, I let it dry and added another coat with a loaded high density foam roller. This time, I had a different problem in that the poly was super bubbly (and I’m not talking about it’s personality, y’all).
Instead of freaking out, which is quite often my reaction to something like this, I grabbed a sheet of 220-grit sandpaper and lightly sanded off the poly coats on the top. I then went back to my paint can and repainted the top of the piece. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly good enough that only I will notice the flaws. Today, I’ll reapply the poly in a thicker coat and hope that it will solve my problem. Keep your fingers crossed!
I mention all of this because there is something I want you (and I) to remember: It’s Just Paint. Instead of worrying about messing up a finish or not liking a color, just remember that it can always be undone. You may have to sand it. You may have to strip it. But there is nothing that you have painted that can’t be repainted. And then repainted again and again.
The holds true for walls as well. A few weeks ago, my Question of the Day on Facebook asked if any of you have patterns on your walls. One sweet and loyal reader replied that she didn’t because she doesn’t want anything permanent. I totally understand that line of thinking. I change my mind with the seasons, too.
But the thing is, paint is one of the least permanent things you can do to your walls (or your furniture). If you paint a stripe or try out a new stencil on a wall and you absolutely hate it, just paint over it! You’ll only be out the time it took you to put it together and the cost of the paint. That’s a pretty low risk for a giant payoff in my book.
Paint has amazing transformative qualities. So much of what I do in my own home is driven by color, and that would be hard to do if I was paralyzed by paint. The number of projects I’ve sanded down and repainted are too numerous to even remember. I just keep washing my brushes, waiting on the coats to dry, and stocking up on fine grit sandpaper.
Do you feel nervous to tackle a painting project? What is it that worries you?
Paint projects are my favorite! Because I agree that you can change them at any time!
Your positivity is refeshing. Thank you for sharing!
Amanda Rose
http://sewmuchtosay.blogspot.com
Thanks…that was just the reminder I needed! I’m picking out new colors for my dining room and kitchen and it was starting to feel like a huge decision. I’ll just keep telling myself “it’s just paint!”
I’m sure you’re right and I’ve heard this same thing said on every home improvement show I watch, but perhaps I’m the only one who thinks painting is a huge pain in the butt. You have to take everything off the walls, patch the walls, tape, move the furniture out of the way, cover it, cover the floors… And there’s a skill involved in painting as well. If I do it myself, it definitely looks like an amateur job! So while I agree painting is an inexpensive way to change things up, the fact is, it’s not something I’m willing to undertake so readily. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Robin, you are absolutely NOT the only one who feels this way. Painting is a big huge pain in the hind quarters for me. I am currently painting my bathroom and the room is relatively tiny and it is still taking me days working on it. I had to stop for 3 days because my tendonitis kicked in and doing all the cutting in was killing my wrist. That’s just part of it. The hassle of moving everything and prepping the walls and all… it is just too much. I’d rather live in a house full of white walls than change color more than once a decade. LOL My house doesn’t have a single white wall as it is but I have painted pretty much every room twice in the almost 4 years we’ve been here and I’m happy to finally have found colors I can live with for a long duration because I’m not painting again any time soon.
You know, people say it’s only paint but to me painting represents a LOT of work, a lot of sweat and tears and stress too. I also find painting to be pretty expensive. I just bought paint for both my bathrooms and spent over $70 on it. I’d better love it because for my budget $70 is a big investment!
I love paint. I think the transformations it brings can be amazing. BUT when it comes to patterns on the walls, I don’t agree that they are so easy to get rid ofo. I started painting pinstripes on my walls and ended up hating them. I sanded them (maybe even twice) and painted over them, and you could still see that they were raised. I won’t do something like that again unless I know its going to be awesome.
Do you live around Austin? I just moved to round rock.
We’re moving into a rental house in a week that hasn’t been painted in eons, and the owner has given me carte blanche on picking paint colors. Because it’s a rental, I’m trying to keep the colors somewhat neutral, but I wanted something with a little pizazz. Unfortunately, I’m getting a little tired of the paint color-picking-process. I painted patches of 3 different yellows, 5 taupes, and finally 2 creams on the walls all over the house before finally narrowing it down to two I can live with. I’m going back tomorrow to make the final decision, but I have to say that picking colors has been MUCH harder than I’d expected. The colors I thought would be great weren’t, and I’ll probably end up going with colors that I never originally envisioned using. I’m sure it will be beautiful in the end, though. I love the transformation that a few coats of paint can make. The house was dark and dingy before, but it will be light, clean, and airy feeling when I’m finished.
I love that light, airy feeling! It is especially important when first moving. The last rental we were in had been freshly painted throughout with antique white. I was really impressed with how much I loved it. Unfortunately the landlords used flat paint and it didn’t hold up well with my kids but it was sure nice to move in and have a blank slate like that!
When we bought this house every room was DARK. Not only were there dark bamboo shades on the windows and 40 watt bulbs in every light fixture but the walls were dark in every room too. The living room had a huge accent wall of hunter green and a little bit lighter shade of green adorned the walls, for example. The first thing we did was paint. Unfortunately we started moving in the day we took possession of the house and we were in a hurry to get settled in so I didn’t go the paint sample route. Instead we chose colors based on swatches and slapped it up on the wall. We had some poor color choices, to say the least. When I couldn’t take it any more I decided to repaint (despite my extreme dislike of painting) and I slapped all sorts of sample colors up on the walls. My husband just shook his head and said he couldn’t see the difference between half the colors but I found what I was looking for and I am happy with what we have now. 🙂
I have an update on my previous comment about painting our new house. It has been a long process, and I’m not quite finished, but the transformation has been AMAZING!!!! We’ve repainted every room in the house. It has gone from dark and dingy to fresh, clean, and updated. I ended up using totally different colors from the ones I had originally intended, but I absolutely love it now. A friend told me about a website called http://www.favoritepaintcolorsblog.com, and I found a great idea on there of doing a chair rail with the dark color above and the light one underneath. We did that in the dining room with a gorgeous chocolate-grey brown on top and a creamy cream on the bottom with white trim (we call it the hot chocolate room). The living room went from grey-beige to a beautiful green. One of the bedrooms was COVERED in dark wood paneling. I loved the detailing of the wood, but felt like I was entering a cave when I went into it. Now it is white from top to bottom. The detailing is more pronounced, and the room has turned into one of my favorites in my house. I still dislike painting, but WOW! What a transformation you can make with a little (or a lot) of paint!!!
Welcome to the dark side, Kelley!