I paint. She paints. I am painting.
The grammar girl in me can’t help but express herself when she has spent the last few weeks painting away.
If you’re following along on my Instagram (jenschmidt_beautyandbedlam) or facebook, you know I’ve been painting up a storm. From spray paint, eggshell, high gloss and even chalk board paint, I’ve been hitting them all.
When spring hits, most people start cleaning and organizing. While that really needs to be my first choice, I turn elsewhere. As soon as I feel those first moments of warm air, I start painting. There’s something about throwing open the windows, hearing the birds chirping away, and whipping out a myriad of color palettes to get me in the creative mood, and I’d love for you to join me.
I thought I’d spend the next month, doing a series of posts on everything you could possibly want to know about painting. From painting furniture, home accessories and walls, I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been creating. The best part is nearly all the projects just take a few hours of your time, and some, like my turquoise wire table above, just minutes.) There’s nothing better to freshen up ones home decor than a new coat of paint, yet I know many of you are tentative when it comes to doing something so “permanent.”
But we are going to loosen up, have fun and try something new and unexpected.
That’s what I love about paint. I’m always amazed at what a dramatic, yet frugal, change occurs just with a new color or finish, yet if you decide you don’t like it, you’re only a few coats away from changing it up and creating a whole new look again.
One of the projects I am about to tackle is my daughters’ room.
Our 9 year old has been asking me forever to change it up, and sometimes you just need a little motivation to have that happen. I’ve partnered with Glidden (I LOVE their paints) to try their new Disney paint line found exclusively at Walmart. I’ve never seen these kind of choices and finishes. Wow, I just love them.
Does it get any better for my nine year old princess than to envelop herself in the whole world of Disney inspiration? I mean 112 exclusive colors and five innovative specialty finishes that follow Disney themes gave her more fun dreaming than one girl could ever do.
It’s hard for most parents to let their kids fly when it comes to room decor, but maybe because she is our fifth child, and I love seeing her imagination come to life, I’ve decided to give her wings, and design what ever she wants.
(Remember her amazing dresser redo that she did by herself? I really do trust her. 😉 )
We are only tackling one wall, and since she shares a room with our 13 year old daughter, I know they’ll put their heads together for something great.
This bedroom process took two trips to Walmart before we could narrow our choices, and she loved every minute of it. Between chalk board paint, glitter and metallic finishes, she spent a long time trying to decide how she wanted her room. Since I handed her the reigns of responsibility, it was so cute to see how seriously she took it. She gave me a verbal vision “board” with many options. We spent at least thirty minutes just looking at all the great inspiration cards that they gave for each finish and she loved too many choices.
“One wall, honey,”I kept reminding her.
Although I am not one to talk since I’ve personally had three small swatches of paint up on a corner of our great room for SIX MONTHS. I am horrible at making those final decisions, so I was glad to give her the final choice.
As I roll out some of my upcoming paint projects, I’d love to hear some of the questions that you have? Any specific things you are pondering in the world of paint?
If you have children, I highly recommend looking into the new Disney paint line for both boys and girls from infant to tween. It’s comparably priced and the diverse palettes make decorating with your child – no matter the age – easy and fun. Next week, we’ll be hitting her walls. Wish me luck. 🙂
Disclaimer: Compensation and products for review were provided by Glidden via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Glidden.
I just repainted my daughter’s room – 3 walls are tan and 1 wall is dark brown. She has pink w/ brown accents/bedding…was thinking about using that Disney glitter paint over the dark brown wall…thoughts?? 🙂
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I’m trying to change things up with paint in my house too. Right not it’s too windy & rainy, but we are getting more good days as time goes by. I don’t have any specific question’s, but I’m most nervous about painting my light fixtures. They really need to be changed up, but replacing them is costly. I’m thinking paint may work to my advantage.
On the lights, I have decided on something bold rather then traditional. I figure if it doesn’t work the color won’t be the reason, so I might as well take the risk 😉
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Jen Reply:
April 18th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
OH Tonia – Yes, paint those light fixtures. I have painted a bunch of mine, even my outside brass ones that are next to my door and two years later, they still look new. I always spray paint light fixtures, and if you don’t like the color, again, you just grab another can of spray paint and go at it again.
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That is what I bought,, along with the Chalk board paint. I haven’t put the glitter up yet, but honestly, it looks SO fun, and I think it would look great over your dark wall. The metallic is really neat too but my daughter wanted some “sparkly.”
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I just painted an old mahogany (supposedly?) sideboard in bright yellow, with white drawers and blue handles and hinges for my husband’s study (we like bright colors) and I ended up with a number of questions. For example, what is it with edges? This is the second time I’ve painted something like this and the edges don’t seem to want to take the paint, no matter what kind of sanding and priming I have done. I am thinking that the shabby chic, worn paint look I have seen all over the internet is because folks have that problem and decide to make it a feature! So any help on that would be welcome.
Some of the rusted, worn looking, paint chipped things I see on line, or at the junk store, look great but how the heck can you fix them so they look the same but don’t get rust or chipping paint all over anyone who sits on or leans against it?
How do you keep little bugs and such from landing in your fresh paint, especially if you do not have a garage to work in?
Do you really have to wash walls before you paint them?
Do primer/paint combos really work?
What kind of paint/finish is best for wood furniture that will be outside?
Yes, I guess I do have questions. I’m very much looking forward to your series on painting.
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So funny that I see this post on a day when I’ve been hunkered down in the garage all day painting furniture.
I can paint furniture all day long, but I’m a bit scared when it comes to painting walls. I’m not convinced I can get a consistent professional look. So, I’ll be looking forward to any tips you have there because as soon I can decide which color, I’m going to be painting my office. I just need to ruminate over some fabric swatches and samples for a while.
Can’t wait to see your daughter’s room and her vision come to life.
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Girl, I JUST saw this at Wal-Mart and got excited. I finished my daughter’s girl room into teen room transformation with lots of spray paint and ideas. I’m going to send you my ideas via a guest post. I had so much fun Goodwilling and buying at our local foam and fabric, which is totally worth your drive to Asheville if you don’t have one. I found $1 bed skirts, Vera Wang and I bought a fab black/white paisley comforter for $20. They have awesome Egyptian cotton sheets for aroudn $30 for king. I found so much fun stuff at Goodwill I want to share with your readers if you’re interested. Here’s my pics with my Goodwill prices. I just got so excited about my savings and how many things I painted on the dime. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.461906553878931.1073741827.100001787724834&type=3; I’d love to turn this into a guest post if you’re interested. Can’t wait to see your painting ideas because now I’m working on my son’s room. Have a great blessed day!
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Tammie Reply:
April 18th, 2013 at 5:47 pm
@jackie Brown,
I would like to know the name of the place and info you are referring to.
Thanks.
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My favorite part of this post is seeing the fine shirt that your daughter is wearing. Go, Packers! Woot! 😉
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I love to paint! I am constantly painting the walls in every room of the house. Fresh paint just makes everything so “fresh”. Hope to tackle the outside this summer. I have also done my share of decks, porches, fences, indoor furniture, outdoor furniture, picture frames. Before I could afford to re-tile, I painted the ugly PLASTIC tile back splash in my kitchen. I have even painted old, ugly wood floors. My adult son likes to joke with me and tells me that paint fumes are my “drug of choice.” So, enjoy yourself. I am green with envy that it is not nice enough here for me to get started on the house.
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Love the Disney paint colors; so pretty. I want to repaint my daughter’s room, but I struggle with allergies and asthma — especially from chemical smells. Do you know if the low VOC paint is low on fumes? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. 🙂
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Jen Reply:
April 20th, 2013 at 3:13 pm
Cindy – yes, one of the great benefits that was important to me as well was the fact it’s low VOC. I LOVE that benefit.
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I am ready to paint an older oak table and chairs that have seen better days. Not sure if I need to sand everything. I was thinking about something two tone….different color top, pedestal & chairs. Our kitchen is has neutral walls & tan big tile floor, brown/beige counters. Any ideas??
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