Pails of Paint: Home Tour

This is a work in progress.

I plan to add more pictures as finish rooms and take the pictures

Thank you for stopping by!

Welcome to my home!

I would like to invite you to my rooms where pails of paint have been used in abundance!

The Living Room:

Over the years, my living room seems to change the most,
with the seasons and through the different stages of life as motherhood has demanded.

I think the thing that keeps our living rooms what they are is the things we love.

I love old things, but I also love color,
and the animals we keep at our small farm that have found a place in our hearts
seem to find a way into the decorating as well.

Some things have been inherited, and the people who they remind us bring memories that are welcomed in our home.

In some cases, like the wall flowers and flowered plate, a touch of paint adds the bold colors that I wanted in our home.

This painted cabinet door was one I painted,
but then put it up for sale at a local Christmas craft open house,
thinking the money would be put to better use
and if it didn't sell, it would be a nice gift for my husband.
An aunt bought it and gave it to us for Christmas,
so it stays in our home now.

The bright Ambusson Blue around the living room is Annie Sloan Chalk paint,
which seems to stick to nearly any surface.

I used it on this basket on the wall.

The green on this piece of furniture is also Annie Sloan's paint.
It sits in a small space at the top of the stairs.

(The chandelier was fitted with beads >HERE<).

We painted this floor when we first bought this house. The loose tile was ripped up,
the floor painted white, and I stenciled this berry swag around the edge of the floor.

When it was dried, I watered down the golden wheat color I was, at that time, using on the trim
of the living room, and brushed it all over the floor, and then immediately wiped it off to give it a stained look. It was then polyerthaned three times, and has held up very well.

The wall looking into the kitchen is stenciled with some bird stencils I created from an image from The Grapics Fairy.

My mother-in-law taught me my first lesson in chair upholstery on this old wooden chair nearly ten years ago. It looks like the springs need to be replaced in it, but I have never done anything like that.

Someday, I need to look into it.

This auction advertisement was from a relative of my husband's;
it hangs on the wall leading into the kitchen.

The bedroom :

This room was white painted paneling when we bought it with very old shaggy olive green rug on the floor.

I painted it a light minty greenish blue on half the walls and white on the others.

These resin birds from a yard sale were black,

but they needed color, so I painted them peach and yellow.

The frames for the old stitcheries were painted white and then stained.

The lamp on the window sill was off white glass and had painted flowers that looked dated,

so I painted the glass with some Martha Stewart glass paint in a teal color.

I love how the sun comes flooding in in the morning.

The white flowers on the right on the wall were from a yard sale and were gold until they were painted white and then stained.

The lampshade on the tall brass lamp had some flowers painted on the underside of the glass shade.
I love color, so I made them a little bolder by painting more flowers with glass paint on the outside as well.

There is a box on the dresser painted with farm scenes.

My husband's grandfather had a similar-sized box in which he kept some of his treasures:

his pocket watch, pipe, letters and pictures of his wife.

This farm one was part of my gift to my husband on our wedding.

The armoire was very scratched when we bought it at an auction.

I added some stenciled plaster texture of flowers on the front

and painted it.

My jewelry box met up with some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antibes Green.

A verse I like to remember from a song I love was calligraphied on the front.

I picked up this cupboard from Craig's List;

it was an ugly wood that had too many scratches.

A wall-paper pattern of birds was found that I liked,
so I rubbed charcoal pencil on the back,

traced the design,

and then painted the images that had been left by the charcoal markings.

(The designs on the bottom drawers and around the top knob are from the Graphics Fairy).

I put texture on the mirror frame with glue gun and then painted it blue.

When it was dried, I painted it white and lightly rubbed some of the white paint off.

I found the lamp base at a yard sale and painted the dirty cardboard where the bulb fit in

with some silver paint.

I picked up the shade at an antique store for a reasonable price.

I calligraphied and illustrated another verse I love

and used a repurposed frame (painted the mat) for an empty spot on one of the walls.

The small hallway has an old house on the window that my husband's grandfather built.
The tiny details are incredible!

I thought about painting the lamp I picked up at a second hand store for a few dollars,

but then I grew to like the way it looked and decided to just leave it...

for now.

This is what this hallway looked like when we bought the house:
unfinished wall with a folding screen door for the bathroom.
The sink in the bathroom was too large and blocked half of the window sill.
(That is also the same rug that was in the bedroom and halfway down the stairs).

This is how it looks now.

(I painted the floor,

but hope to redo it soon as it has been 10 years and is in need of fresh color).

This cupboard for linens was one my husband rebuilt the doors for, and I repainted.

Parts of the ideas for the scene are borrowed from another Graphics Fairy image.

I used to paint rocks with silhouettes to sell,

and this one did not sell.

I was secretly glad because I liked this one a little more than the others.

(It is kind of nice when that happens.)

My husband made the letter holder from old barn wood,

and then I painted the weather vane on it
(also a Graphics Fairy image).

(The pictures above the desk are of our first farmette we bought when we married

and our farm now).

This is how the bathroom has been fixed up:

the corner sink fits much better to this space

and a door is a significant improvment to a sliding screen.

The medicine cabinet was picked up at a second-hand building supplies store

and painted in a color similar to the sink cupboard.

Next we will visit the half-bath on the first floor:

This bathroom recently underwent being wall papered.

I found the wall paper at a charity store and there were enough unopened rolls that I thought could do this small bathroom. I felt that wall paper would help give this tiny bathroom some life.

This is how it looked before.

And this is how it looks now.

I purchased picture made into canvas of my daughter in one of the flower beds.

Textured border that looks similar to old tin tiles was added along the top molding of the walls.
This was pretty easy to do and I did this part myself.
When I had given the wallpaper time to dry and be sure it had adherred,
I painted it light brown, let it dry, painted it white, and lightly rubbed off a little of the white with a damp rag.

Of course, with little children using this bathroom the most,

a stool was needed, so I painted the frog theme on it.

This curved wooden craft piece was another painting I did that didn't sell.

The painting is on the other side;

I put chalkboard paint on this side and write a new verse on it every so often

(when I find a moment as well as a verse that I hope I will remember if I see it enough...

or maybe the kids will).

I love stained glass, so when I saw this piece that was connected to another broken piece at the second hand store, I picked it up for such a little.

The center piece was clear glass, so I used the glass paint to paint the frog

(copied from a vintage image from the Graphics Fairy).

Not only did I like the frog image, but my daughter plays the violin, so I thought it was fun.

I inserted an old piece of sheet music behind the painted glass and covered it with a protective piece of scrap-booking paper that I painted a sealer on.

The Kitchen:

We spend a huge amount of time in our kitchens, don't we?

Because of this, I wanted a bright kitchen with lots of colors.

I keep my spices for cooking up on these shelves

and have painted what they are onto the jars.

Hanging from the stove, I love to use vintage towels.

Because the price of them can be a bit hefty, I cut up an old tablecloth I had

whose holes were making it useless and created a good amount of hand towels from it.

I have a thing for chickens, but don't like to go overboard.

Sometimes when I am standing over this stove countless times in a day, preparing for my three children, my husband, and canning foods to be put away from winter, it is good to be reminded to be thankful. I painted this old picket fence piece as a reminder.