One Room Challenge Week 2 & 3- prep and painting
The first coat of paint is still drying in the laundry room, but if you squint it's starting to look better right?!
Last week absolutely got away from me so a week 2 post didn't happen! Which means I started out week 3 of the One Room Challenge severely behind, but that's ok- major progress happened this week and *maybe* we're almost back on track. First thing was first, I needed to pick a paint color to go with the statement wallpaper.
I pulled a bunch of paint samples from Lowe's to choose from and ultimately pared it down to my favorite three (p.s. if you haven't seen the overall plan for this room, go check that out now!)
I put it to a vote on Instagram Stories and option C won out (Valspar's Bubbling Fountain). I know it seems like that color is the closest match, but it was a pretty bold swatch and I knew that anything that felt that intense on a paint card would only be amplified on the wall. So I decided to go with the less popular option A, Sherwin Williams Faded Blue Linen. It's a much more muted color that I hope will wind up looking perfect with the wallpaper.
After picking a paint color and grabbing a gallon at Lowe's I started prepping the cabinets for paint using all of the information in my friend Kayla's cabinet painting course (she is a total pro and her course is amazing). This will be my first time to paint cabinets and I'm hoping I don't screw it up! It's certainly different than painting walls.
The prep was long and arduous, I thought it would take about an hour and I could get to priming, but it ended up taking me most of the day. That was Tuesday so then priming happened Wednesday morning.
Kris and I got half of the first coat of paint up Wednesday afternoon and then finished the first coat this morning (Thursday).
We will absolutely need a second coat and probably several additional touch ups after that. I'll have to write up a more in depth post about painting the cabinets later, but essentially here was the process:
- clean the cabinets using TSP and Spray Nine
- drop cloth/tape off any areas you don't want to splatter paint on (I taped off the washer and dyer, but we'll be replacing the floors so I didn't bother covering those)
- sand the cabinets using 120 grit paper
- prime the cabinets using Zinsser 123
- paint the cabinets using multiple coats (still in progress)
In retrospect I could have saved myself some time by tinting my primer which I have never done, but think would have been a great option for this project. So that's where we are now, a few more coats of paint and the cabinets should be good to go and I'll be ready to wallpaper everything! I also crossed off a few other things for this project this week- I got the hardware ordered. I had originally picked out these from Rejuvenation, but as most renovations go all of the expenses started to add up and I decided to see if I could find a more budget friendly option. I absolutely fell in love with these from CB2 and went ahead and pulled the trigger on them. I think I love them even more than my original selection, which was maybe a bit too nautical anyway. I also pulled out a few things I've been collecting over the last year for the space- I had bought these two brass hooks at a thrift shop last year not knowing exactly where they would go but assuming they would work somewhere in the laundry room.
In the right side cabinetry there are cubbies that had some black hooks where the boys hang up their backpacks and I think these thrifted hooks will be perfectly suited to replace those.
Only problem was that I needed four of them and only had two. I did a bit of online digging and found an exact match from Lee Valley. They cost me $75 for both including shipping which hurt a little knowing I paid probably less than $10 for the thrifted pair. But having four exact matching hooks was a must. And maybe I should look at it like I saved $65 for not having to order all four right?
I also have this adorable brass key hanger that I can't wait to hang on the wall, and this "dirty and clean" sign from Hearth and Hand that I bought over a year ago from Target. I love all of these little details and can't wait until we are to the part of the project where I'm getting to install these!
I'm massively behind on this project, but hoping to play catch up in the coming weeks. Here's my revised schedule!
Week 2 & 3- pick a paint color, prep and paint cabinets (done!)
Week 4- install new hardware, choose a fabric for the window treatments, find a countertop remnant, wallpaper the walls
Week 5- tile backsplash, install new countertop and faucet
Week 6- tile floors
Week 7- build the washer and dryer surround, paint it, install the new light fixture, DIY new window treatment
Week 8- styling, and the reveal!
Stay tuned to see if I can catch up and finish this space in time!!
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