Saturday, October 29, 2011

Lighting at Pearl St

Little bits of progress have taken place at Pearl St.  You know, it is the little things that matter, especially to us womenfolk.  The BF installed the new vintage kitchen light fixture.  I got it at my favorite flea market.  Large basic oval globe, but gives the kitchen more of a contemporary flare. (I will take a picture, I think I was just so focused on taking pictures and measurements of CL things I forgot about the important pics.)

I had him move the original kitchen light fixture to the pantry since we removed the wall between the pantry and laundry they needed to match. (I will post pics of utility transformation on another post)  Nice not to have the original bare porcelain fixture dangling.

Last and most beautiful, is the Dining Room light Chandelier.  I shopped forever to find something that was perfect for the DR at Pearl.  Everything was too expensive or just to fancy.  Finally, when I was visiting my parents a few weeks ago the universe smiled down on me and dropped this in my lap.  The perfect light fixture for pearl, it wasn't complete, but in my stash of treasures I had the perfect glass shade and chain.



 Parts ready for a light fixture "marriage" and rewire job


Finished!  Don't you love her?  And I did it all my self and saved it from the landfill.


Creating my own corner of paradise in the hood.
Toodles,
Hal
PS check out the cute Mini Chandy I have listed on CL.  I bought it for my bath, but the wiring just didn't work stay tuned for an awesome DIY Chandelier project





Sunday, October 23, 2011

Shabby Chippy Vanity For Sale

I am downsizing, wouldn't you love to have this treasure?  Awesome addition to girl's room or bathroom.  Listed on CraigsList for $95
Check out the Anthropologie version mine is so close

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?navAction=jump&id=963188&parentid=SEARCH_RESULTS&color=012

Toodles,
Hal

Saturday, October 22, 2011

To prime or not to prime, that is the question....

I think paint is a very personal choice.  I prefer semi-gloss, I like the sheen and the reflective quality it gives a room.  I knew I wanted semi-gloss at Pearl Street, because the rooms are small and I wanted to feature the texture on the living areas.
Originally, the "L" shaped Living Room and Dining room were painted this dark teal turquoise color.  It wasn't terrible, but just didn't go with all my earthy colors.  I choose "Hubbard Squash" by Sherwin Williams.  I bought paint with primer included because I knew it was going to be a job to cover that color.  It covered beautifully in one coat.
In the Master Bedroom I choose a sagey green.  I did not use primer except where I had to repair the walls.  How could I forget to mention the walls at Pearl are plaster.  It has been a challenge to say the least to repair the holes and cracks.  The former owner decided to just pound in the nails instead of removing them and filling in the hole they make.
In the hall, secondary bedrooms and bathroom I choose a neutral beige putty color.  I want the attention to be on the furniture and accessories not the paint color in those areas.
The bathroom was pink, I couldn't wait to get the new paint on those walls.  I jokingly say that "I am allergic" to pink.  Well, the bad, verrry bad news is that the paint is peeling of the bathroom walls.  I talked to a very knowledgeable man in the paint department.  I learned that I should have primed the walls first, because after years of paint buildup especially semi-gloss, it just gets so shiny that the new paint doesn't stick.  He said that the new paint primer combinations have a very fine pigment, so they cover, but they don't have the sticking component of primer.  So, my solution to the bathroom is to sand and scrape, to remove the loose paint, prime and repaint.  Please, learn from my painful mistake.
Here is a peek at how cute the bath will be...this is the cabinet over the toilet.  I bought it for $5 at a yard sale, used some stylish toile contact paper to cover up stains on shelf.  I installed it on a bracket made from metal threshold, because the crawl space to the attic is over the toilet, go figure.  So, when ever I need to access the attic I can lift the cabinet of the wall and put it back when finished.

 I wanted a bit color and a modern touch in the bath, so I painted a turquoise stripe around the room at eye level.  After I repaint the bath I will post more pics, until then, learn from my painting mishap.
Toodles,
Hal

Friday, October 21, 2011

Pearl Before

This is a picture of my rough gem of a postwar ranch house in Central Phoenix.  She needs work.  This blog will follow the revitalization of my little cottage and some DIY projects along the way.