Painting Tips, Among Other Things

Ever heard of that song that never ends? The one that goes on and on, my friend? "Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they continued singing it forever just because..."

Well, that's kind of how my week felt. Between my bag getting stolen, preparing for my trips (at least for the NY 2010 Part Deux one...one thing, er, place at a time!), setting up another baby shower, and shoots practically every day this week (til Saturday!), things were pretty chaotic. On a related note, how I wish I could tell you about yesterday's shoot! I got to meet someone pretty special. But will blog about that when our December ish comes out so stay tuned!

So yeah, it took a while for me to finally get to this post: Tips for painting! Just a few things I picked up when I painted stripes on our wall a couple of weeks ago:

1. Have newspapers on hand. Lots of them. Thing is, my husband and I don't subscribe to newspapers, so we had zero paper scraps at home. All I had were copies of my former magazine (my personal collection--and I wasn't about to tear those up!), other magazines I've written for/appeared in, and a few back issues that my friends had asked for. So I ended up using a beach mat to cover the floor.

2. Get ready to sweat! If you live in a tropical country like I do, it's going to get pretty uncomfortable. I perspired as much as I usually do when I do Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred--and I had two fans pointed in my direction!

3. Don't look down. If you're afraid of heights, it might be pretty daunting being high up on a ladder--especially if it's positioned right beside a flight of stairs like mine was! Thankfully, I don't have major issues when it comes to heights. Cockroaches, on the other hand...

4. Clean the entire surface--including nooks and crannies--before painting. I neglected to dust the top part of our door frame. The roller ended up collecting dust and leaving grayish streaks on some stripes. Barely noticeable but annoying nonetheless.

5. BE CAREFUL. Put your open can of paint in an out-of-the-way place, even if this means that you'll be hassled walking back and forth to refill your tray. This way, you don't accidentally knock it over as you're moving the ladder. Sigh. That ruined a perfectly good beach mat. And our wooden floor was covered with a thick glob of paint.:(

6. Be prepared for emergencies. (See #5 for an example.) I was frozen for about five minutes, helplessly watching the paint spread. My husband suggested that I scoop as much of it as I could back into the paint can. All I had were two pieces of cardboard. And then, I had to go back to the hardware store to buy thinner, since I didn't have any on hand. A waste of time. Unless you do your painting job perfectly, you're probably going to need thinner anyway, so buy a small bottle when you shop for your paint and paint materials.

It took me all of one hour to scrub and scrape the biggest concentration of paint off the floor. When I was done, Hamil got home and brought out a mop that I didn't know we had, poured paint thinner on the remaining paint-covered spots, and mopped it up in ten minutes! Plus he didn't have the swollen and cracked-dry fingertips I had from the prolonged exposure to thinner. Sigh.

7. Hire someone to do it. Seriously. If you could afford to, just get a pro to do the painting for you. I'm glad I did it, but I will probably never do it again!

If you have questions about the kind of paint to use, etc., just leave a comment, or email me at heretishietishie@gmail.com.

In other news, Here Tishie Tishie has just reached 50 followers! I think I'll host a giveaway to mark this mini milestone. Keep checking back for deets.:)

My Masterpiece (Or, How to Paint Stripes on a Wall)

I finally painted stripes on one wall of our second floor! I just wanted an accent wall up there because the area seemed too plain.

Originally, I wanted black and white stripes to match the pillows we have on the first floor. But it seemed a little too formal for the second floor, where the bedrooms are. Former Real Living stylist Coni suggested Tiffany blue. At first I was hesitant, but I figured a very light blue would complement the cappuccino-bordering-on-beige-colored bedrooms. My husband, who normally lets me have my way, mentioned that he didn't like the idea of a multi-colored house. So I settled for Ivory, very similar to our existing bedroom color.

To paint your own stripes, you'll need:

• Masking tape (not shown), for making stripes
• A small can of paint (I used Boysen's enamel paint in Ivory)
  
• A roller and paint tray
• A paint brush for little corners and edges
• Something to mix the paint with (e.g., that stick up there)
• Old newspapers--but we didn't have newspapers so I used a beach mat to protect the floor
• A ladder (not shown)
  

The step-by-step for a prepped wall (meaning no paint removal, sanding, and putty-ing needed):

1. Clean wall! You don't want dust and random cobwebs getting stuck under the paint.

2. Protect the floor and surrounding furniture. Cover with newspapers, drop cloths, or (in my case) a beach mat. Cover outlets and light switches with masking tape.

3. Make stripes by taping even sections with masking tape. I used two-inch wide masking tape.

4. Mix paint then pour into paint tray.
5. Dip roller into tray and start painting, using up-and-down strokes.
6. Using paint brush, paint corners and edges not covered by roller.
7. Let dry. Slowly peel off masking tape.
8. Retouch areas as needed.

Ta-dah!

With our dreamy MDF chandelier (must buy energy-saving bulb!)

Sounds simple enough, and it would have been had I not knocked over a can of paint (more on that in a future post)!

It's far from perfect--the original white paint peeled off some parts and I had to retouch, some edges aren't fully Ivory, the last stripe on the right is a tad darker (I had to use a brush since it was too small for a roller)--but I'm still quite proud of my handiwork!