Just a quick update and a photo dump from my camera, as I do great when it comes to taking pictures of our progress but not so great at actually doing anything with them.
Since I haven’t updated in weeks, I’m long overdue. I’ll explain what’s been going on in my life the last few weeks in another post… but I’m too tired to even go there. More on that later.
I did get the storage cabinet painted and the door to match. I decided to leave a stained wood trim around the edge so the sliders could move more easily. Paint would have probably made them stick and would have eventually started to come off. I love the look of mixed finishes anyway. A little tape helped me “pull it off”.
I’m loving the color decision. After failing the first time with a color I ended up using Benjamin Moore – Water’s Edge
My first choice (below) was really pretty in the can and super fab in real life… but it clashed with the gray trim color and was just too much… too much… of something. It was was too harsh on the eyes and really stuck out like a sore thumb. I hated it. That’s the great thing about paint. There’s always another color waiting to go over it.
When it came to putting knobs on the sliders I turned to one of our many racks of “cool stuff”. We’ve been gathering up junk for years that we knew we would someday use, and its always amazing what I can find in our stash.
Richie has been picking up old knobs from mid-century furniture for years so I had several to choose from.
So once I was happy with the color, the old door also got painted to match. I really love wood doors in a house but the laminate was all chipped and the door was in pretty rough shape. I patched and repaired, sanding and cleaned, and painted that sucker. It was worth it because it’s a solid door (not hollow core) so I really couldn’t bring myself to throw it out or replace it. Seemed silly to me.
The hardware on this door was GORGEOUS! I carefully removed it before I painted.
The hinges on the other hand were hideous. For the life of me I cannot understand why people paint over hinges and hardware. I’m a stickler for details and that just seems lazy to me.
Check out how nasty the were. When “someone” stained the doors they just stained right over the
hinges. TERRIBLE!
So I put them in a pot and boiled them until the gook just melted right off. It’s a great way to clean old hardware without having to use harsh chemicals or buy new ones.
Richie asked me what was for dinner and I became unhinged! :-)
The door gets painted, and the hardware goes back on…..
I love the hardware. It makes me all warm and fuzzy! Honestly, I only bought this house for this door knob. (lol) When I look at this picture I’m totally happy with the color choice. It definitely works with the gray trim.
I’m trying to ignore the floor but it’s SO HARD TO DO! It’s just yucky! I know we’ll get to it eventually but it does drive me crazy. And that’s pretty much where I have stopped on my work in this room. After I painted the door and cabinet all hell broke lose at my real job and I haven’t been back in there since. But I guess progress of any kind.. big or small… is always a good thing.
That’s not to say that we’ve stopped doing work around the house. That never happens!
And we’ve managed to have some good fun in between. Since Morrissey ended up canceling his tour the only concert left was Sigur Ros and it was just what I needed after 4 weeks of crazy stress at work. Sometimes cold beer and loud music is just what a girl needs.
(see concert post here)
It is looking so good. Nice choice of paint color. The first color was beautiful, but you were correct that it was not right for the room? I also agree with you about the hardware. I boiled about ten layers of paint off of mine when we first painted. People are so lazy.
Thanks Jessica! Yes, that boiling thing really does work wonders. It’s also amazing at how much better it makes the door look when the hardware is covered in gunk! HAHA!
Thankfully neither one of us is lazy!
i just took a virtual shopping trip through your post and i decided i’ll take one of everything! ;) i especially love the left side of your cabinet display and i love seeing richie’s creepy doll hints here and there! the colors an hardware are smashing. i love that gray-blue against the silver knob. great color combo. glad to see your workout room is coming along, even amidst a busy season at work! hang in there and thanks for sharing your stunning progress, friend!
ps jealous about sigur ros!
Hi sweet friend! So good to hear from you. HA HA!… a shopping trip, huh. I’m telling you there’s all kinds of treasures and surprises in all that junk. I use to get mad when Richie would bring that stuff home and now I’m like … hummm that was pretty smart… I LOVE IT ALL! :-) I can’t wait to share some of our latest finds!!! If I can ever find the time to do another post, that is. Work is kicking my booty right now but hopefully I can get back to some sort of normal after the 26th. The concert was great and we had so much fun. Thanks Tamara!
Glad you found a paint color YOU could be happy with! I’ve been through four accent colors in our living room so far and I’m sure there will be more. Like you said, with paint you can always keep on changing. What I wouldn’t give to rummage through your “stash” – looks like some fun stuff! Enjoyed the little update. Cheers – CT
Hey CT! Paint is usually pretty easy for me but I’m just not use to having to deal with gray trim. Our last house had white trim on everything so it was so much easier to just go with the flow and be happy with whatever ended up on the wall. I hate fretting over that kind of stuff…. but you have to get it right! I know you totally get that. But you always choose well. I love the colors you choose!
Thanks for visiting.
Your final paint choice is beautiful! I know what you mean about getting stalled with a progress report. Right now, we have a completely torn-up back yard. We’re in the demolition phase of new landscaping, so it’s impossible for me to take pictures of my new apartment till we get finished. Progress is being made, but right now it doesn’t really look that way. :)
We’ll both get our projects completed eventually, and they’ll be fabulous…but it’s so hard to be patient when outside forces slow us down.
Hey Dana! I’ve been wondering how your place was shaping up. I’m so out of the loop… but only for another couple of weeks. I need to catch up with all the blogs I love…especially yours! It’s hard to take pictures of things that just aren’t they way you want them. I want to share the completed project but I laugh at that because it sometimes feels like nothing will ever be “finished”. May the force be with both of us! I’m sure yours is looking fabulous. Thank you for taking the time to say hello. Loved hearing from you.
So what grey did you go with? I know we’ve both been in grey and aqua paint insanity. I love it! I especially love the tips about boiling the hinges. A good baking soda and vinegar run sometimes does way better than all the chemical cleaners.
Love the cabinet. I actually think I would love something like that in our bedroom.
Hi Alex! The grey trim is actually the color of all the structural beams in the house so I had to choose something that made sense with that shade. Aqua is so freakin’ hard. I really loved the first color but it clashed with that gray. Benjamin Moore’s Water’s Edge was the color I finally chose for the door and cabinet. It kind of has a spa feel to me. (or maybe that’s just wishful thinking) HA!
I use baking soda and vinegar all the time. My house smells like Easter eggs on top of a cup cake. (laughing) Hope you’re well, friend. Miss you.
Good puns. Buying that house for the door knob was very wise. It is lovely. I like this hardware post and your cleaning tip. I like your in progress pictures as well. Some bloggers wait until everything is done and final to show the good stuff. Other bloggers get a little frustrated. Harrumph.
Thanks Rebecca. I just can’t bring myself to throwing out perfectly good things just because they look bad. The boiling tip really does work and it takes very little effort. I just wish people cared more about the final outcome of a project enough to NOT ruin the hardware. More work for me! Ugh! It’s cool. And as far as showing progress pictures…. I have to laugh because it seems like that’s all I really have is progress and never an actual “completed” project of any kind. I need to change that!!! HA HA! thanks for looking. Love your visits.
Love the wood trim! And your stack of fluffy white towels… just like your very own spa! Now you just need an in-house masseuse.
Love the paint you ended up with, and you KNOW I love a fancy door knob!
I know you love fancy things!! That doorknob really is awesome. It weighs a ton and you can tell it’s old because I have yet to buy anything new that is that nice. A masseuse really would make this project the best EVER! I’ll work on that one. :-)
Your workout room is coming along beautifully. The grey does work well with the trim. And that hardware is gorgeous. Great tip for cleaning up hardware- I didn’t know that would work.
… came unhinged… hilarious!
and I love that rack of cool stuff. I want a rack of cool stuff. I kinda like the idea of leaving a rack of curiosities and useful industrial-ish stuff, like knobs, out for display. Some in metal boxes or small wooden crates or cheese boxes and larger bits sitting out- it could work. If only I could make 1/2 full cans of paint look interesting, I wouldn’t need a storage closet.
You are so great! Yes, yes… if only I could do something with all those paint cans. It drives my husband CRAZY! I feel your pain.
I do love all the junk he drags home and sometimes I sigh heavily when he drags that crap in but then I end up raiding his stash. You should see
him when he catches me. He comes unglued! (or unhinged) “don’t touch my things… it took me years to find all this cool stuff”. I just smile,
toss my hair and wait until he leaves the room. (he’ll never know!) HA HA! Thanks Cindy. Hope you and your family are well. In the middle of a project
I hope?!
So funny that he doesn’t like you touching his stuff…. and using your womanly wiles when you get caught…. well played.
Just finishing a small project- we finally have some spray painting weather here in the Great White North (well, not those that are too further north) and tomorrow may bring us more unseasonal cold.
But I just painted a vintage metal shelf a bright yellow and just 2 minutes ago (yes, I’m a bit excited) I put 4 swivel casters on it to serve as a baking cart.
Truth is my ‘vintage’ cart may have just been an old AV cart from an elementary school BUT it was free. And now I have a lovely bright yellow cart to hold my kitchenaid mixer and a couple of canisters of flour and such on the lower shelves. I am goofy/giddy about the whole thing. I wanted my mixer off the counter and this way I can park it next to my fridge but wheel it in closer to my workspace when I need it. And presuming the locking casters do their job, I just run the mixer on the cart without hefting it up onto the counter each time I need it.
Can’t wait to see more of the workout room- and perhaps some of Richie’s treasures as adornments.
Your color choices are so beautiful, Stacey, that wood trim on the cabinet, the elegant grey sliding door that matches the door and the darker trim around the glass and door. Everything is so beautiful!
I’m so glad you decided to keep that great solid wood door, they don’t make them like they used to! And the hardware- oooh la la, it’s gorgeous! What a great job you’re both doing!
Hello Tove. Thank you for that. You always make me feel like I’m doing something right! I question every decision (painfully so) and I’m never really sure if it is right. So thank you, dear.
Coming from you that means so much. Yes, that door is so HEAVY. It took both of us to carry it out for sanding and we struggled with it. I’ve never dealt with an interior door with that much weight.
No way was I going to trash it. Painting was too easy and now it’s at least fresh and clean. Glad you stopped by. I’ve got to catch up with you. My job is keeping me from all the blogs/bloggers I love.