Down to Business

I don't know about you, but this heat wave is really having an effect on me.  We aren't lucky enough to have central air (at least not yet), so we only have AC in the bedroom.  It's tough to stay productive when you're melting, let me tell you. Now that the new site's been up for a few months, I've been itching to get new blog business cards made, and with a groupon to Vistaprint burning a hole in my pocket, it was time!  My old blog business cards were printed on my computer, had nothing to do with the new site style, and had out-of-date social media info.  It was time.

I created the design in photoshop, then sent it off to get printed just over a week ago.  I was so excited when they came in yesterday's mail!  Aren't they pretty?

It's on the front and back of recycled matte cardstock and I love the simplicity!

With my pretty new cards, I naturally felt the need to zazz up the simple leather business card case that I already had.

With some frogtape, paint, and sandpaper, this:

became this is no time:

I taped off the area to paint, painted, then roughed the whole thing up a bit once it was dry for a more worn look.  Much sassier than when it started, don't you think?

Now I just need to go to a blog conference and put these to good use!!  I'm thinking I might go out on a limb and go to Alt Summit this winter- who's in??

A Warm Welcome

After a few weeks of waiting out Mother Nature, I was finally able to get painting and staining the front porch checked off my list. When we last visited the porch as a whole, it looked like this:

What a snoozer, huh??

The floor needed re-staining to prevent it from getting any worse (it's already pretty bad), and all the white parts needed to be scrubbed, primed, and repainted also in order to preserve against chipping paint and future wood rot.

The previous light was no gem either.  It was actually worse than I expected- completely rusted out when I went to take it down.

I have to say, the new view UP is my favorite part.  A new light blue ceiling with the existing trim pieces painted out in white make it feel like a much more special space than the gray box it was before.  (Not to mention the new light that I can't stop making googly eyes at)

For the floor, I chose a reddish brown to match some remnants of stain that I think the porch use to be a few decades ago (probably the last time anyone stained it).

In addition to the painted chairs and table, the mailbox also got a shot of spraypaint.

You may notice that the floor is now rather close in color to the front door, and you know me well enough by now to realize this won't stay for long.  Sea Glass Green (the middle one) is totally happening in the next few days.

So what do you think of my cute little porch revamp?  So much more warm and welcoming now!

ReColor

It's rather hard to paint a porch in about 1000% humidity and scattered thunderstorms.  I have succeeded in painting the ceiling, but mother nature is getting in my way from finishing the project. I keep forgetting to tell you, though, about an awesome product that I used out at Clark the flip house!  This isn't a sponsored post- in fact the company doesn't even know I exist, but I was so excited to use the product (and pleased with the result!) that I had to share!

Did you know that places exist that recycle paint?  I'm not talking about using every last drop of a dated color, I'm talking about breaking down your old latex paint and giving it a new life as a new paint in a fresh, modern color.  The Paint Exchange in North Scituate is the only place of the kind in Massachusetts.  I discovered them through my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and I'm hooked!

I used their ReColor 100% recycled latex paint in as many areas as I could in Clark- the living room and bedrooms.  (When it was time to get the paint for the kitchen and bath, the ReStore was all out of the ReColor paint, sadly)

The paint comes in some awesome fresh colors including- canvas (the deliciously creamy color that I used in the living room), cloud (soft gray of 2 of the bedrooms), summer (sunny, but not too bright color that I used in the master bedroom), glass (inspired the color for the kitchen even though it was unavailable when I needed it), and pebble (a delightful mushroom gray which I would LOVE to use in the future but was too dark for Clark); there's also an off-white and a red that the names escape me.  There's probably a few more colors that I'm forgetting too.  Point being: they have quite a selection of versatile colors.

I really wanted to try this paint out, but I was skeptical at first, so I just started with 1 gallon.  I was very pleasantly surprised!  The paint is very thick and offers better coverage than most of the paints I've used from the big box stores (and I've tried a lot).

In the living room, I was able to stretch one can into 1.5 coats and the walls look flawless- even though I should have primed the burnt yuk color first.

In the bedrooms, I did 2 coats in each.

I've never found a paint that truly covers in just 1 coat (despite any ads that boast paint and primer in one), so I was happy with the total and complete coverage given by 2 coats of the reColor paint.

The sales guy at the reStore told me that he's heard this paint compared to Benjamin Moore and honestly, I wouldn't argue. At a fraction of the price at $18 a gallon this paint was worth every penny!

I know not all of you live in MA, but if you don't I would highly encourage you to check out if any places/products like this exist by you!