Quince Cottage: Olympic Paint

Welcome to Quince Cottage!

Half baths are often tiny spaces, and ours is no exception. The upside is that a few changes can create a whole lot of style.
So, with our builder basic bathroom, here's what we did:

1. We substituted a mirror with a Victorian painted frame for the plain oval mirror.

2. As you might have noticed we also substituted an awesome light from Ballard Designs for the standard fixture.

Here's the original...

This is a better photo of the fixture we ordered (photo from the Ballard Designs website).

Photo from Ballard Design website (not in our house)

3. We substituted a sweet thrifted hook for the standard towel ring (screwed it to a painted wooden plaque first). Then we added a cute vintage soap holder (which we use for a scented candle).
Here's the original towel ring, pretty ho-hum, yes?

Here are the new towel hook and the soap dish.

Now for the most exciting part!

4. We did a wall treatment on one wall. It's such a small room that doing this on every wall would have made the space seem claustrophobic and overly busy.
Our inspiration was buffalo check fabric, which we love!

Here's the How To:

1. Figure out what colors you're going to use. Because this is a small room (yes, we know we keep harping on that), we went with a 3-color, rather than 4-color check. AND to simplify things and help the feature wall coordinate with the other three walls, we used the existing wall color for the mid-tone. That color is Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray. The other two are Olympic Anew Gray and Olympic Milk Paint. On my monitor these have a cooler cast than they do in real life. For an authentic looking buffalo check, it's easiest to work with a single paint strip and choose three colors from it. Or choose a white or cream and then two colors from a single paint strip.

Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray

Olympic Milk Paint

Olympic Anew Gray

2. Measure your wall. Figure out how big a scale you want the pattern to be and divide the wall vertically and horizontally accordingly. We wanted our squares to be "about" 12 inches. Our wall measured 83 inches wide, so we divided by seven, making seven squares that were about 11 7/8" wide. The wall was 100" high so we divided by eight, making the squares were about 12 1/2" high. Therefore, technically the squares weren't exactly square, but it's a small difference that isn't apparent to the naked eye, and it allowed us to have full squares over the whole wall. We ended up with a grid that was seven squares wide by eight squares high. You can choose to make the pattern fit the wall, as we did, or you can choose the size square you want and let the pattern end wherever it ends.

3. First we measured across, making marks every 11 7/8". Then we measured down and made marks every 12 1/2". Using a level and a ruler, draw faint lines with a pencil to connect the marks and create the squares.

4. To avoid mistakes, label the squares with pencil to indicate dark, medium, light. Starting in the upper left corner, we marked dark and went across that row making every other one dark. Skip a row, then repeat the dark row. Continue to the bottom. Then, the square that is in the middle of a set of four darks should be light. (Starting with the second row, the first square would be medium and the second would be light, continue with this sequence). Tape off the first set of squares to be painted. You can actually see some squares have already been painted in these photos - Ron was too quick, or Rhiann was too slow with the camera...

Tip: use good quality painters' tape and remove it as soon as you're done painting that color.

5. Here you can see that the dark squares have been done. Now it's time to do the lightest color.

6. Ta daaaa! Erase any remaining pencil marks.

Here are some more photos. Apologies for the grainy look-this room is...yes, TINY, and it was hard to light it and take photos in there without special equipment.

So, what do you think? Is this a treatment you'd try somewhere in your home?

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful,

and as though it wasn't born yesterday.

Daisy and Buster hope you'll come back and visit soon!

Daisy & Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Welcome to Quince Cottage! As promised, here's our follow up post to Porch Project #1. Our last porch wasn't big enough for a dining table, but the one we had in Maine was and we've really missed summer meals in the semi-outdoors. That table from Maine was sitting right in our garage, taking up much-needed storage space. The solution was obvious.

We didn't want to spend a lot of time and effort (we've got TONS of projects happening) rehabbing the table; therefore, this redo was quick and pretty easy. Once we removed the oil cloth cover and fixed the not-quite-broken leg (courtesy of Daughter #1), it was time to decide on a "look".

Thanks to the pillow project, our porch has a lovely, nostalgic, shabby chic but not too sweet, vibe. A fresh paint job with a simple stripe seemed just right.

We stuck with two paint colors we've been using on other DIY projects: Milk Paint and Scandinavian Sky, both by Olympic Paint purchased at Lowes. Tip: those little tester jars are great for small projects like this!

Milk Paint

Scandinavian Sky

In addition to the paint, all Ron needed was one 2" paint brush, one artist's paint brush, painters' tape, a ruler or yardstick (metal is ideal), an X-Acto knife and a can of clear coat finish. We used Minwax Polycrylic water-based eurethane.

Since we wanted the table to have a slightly worn, but not heavily distressed, appearance, Ron applied a thin coat of the Milk Paint. You can see the brush strokes clearly.

Next he measured carefully and taped off the placement of the stripes. This is where the X-Acto knife and straight edge came in (cutting the painters' tape to make a thinner stripe).

Once the pattern was laid out...

Ron brushed the Scandinavian Sky on, first going the length of the stripe, then applying a second light coat brushing in the opposite direction. This makes it look "almost" like fabric, like say an old dishcloth or grain sack?

When the paint was THOROUGHLY dry, he removed the tape, and applied clear coat to make the finish last longer and help protect against mold and mildew.
We're pleased with the finished product!

And here's the first dinner we had on our "new" table. Dining al fresco, in the shade, without bugs.

Porch life is wonderful, don't you think? Here's Buster, checking out the paint job (well, that's what he said he was doing, I suppose he could have been checking to see what was for dinner...)

Thanks for stopping by Quince Cottage! We've got plenty more DIY projects, recipes, gardening stories, and design ideas for you. We might even throw in some real estate tips for those looking to buy or sell a home.

Quince Cottage

Design. Create. Decorate.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Buffalo Check Wall Treatment

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Porch Project #2 - Table ReDo!

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