Saturday, November 15, 2014

White paint fail...

My plan with this sitting room was to go from bright coral to light, airy, white.  I was also interested in trying to create a "whole house palette" where I repeat colors from the palate in different rooms to create a more open and cohesive feeling throughout my home.  This is trending in interior decorating as well as using white so that accent colors "pop".


So, I picked a warm bright white called Dover White from Sherwin Williams, and after one coat I immediately knew it wasn't going to work.  It was too stark white for me and it was the same as the ceiling color so the room just looked cold.  As soon as it was dry I painted over it with the next white I thought would look good called Kestrel White from Sherwin Williams.  I have it in another room and love it.  However because of the lighting in this room it looked peach! ugh!  See below:




Okay, so "now what" I thought?!  Back to square one.  I looked on pinterest to find images of rooms I liked and really tried to determine why.  Here are some that spoke to me:

via

via

via

via

via

via

I realized I am drawn to rooms with muted tones mixed with pops of color that feel cozy and curated.  So we are back to picking colors (and actually testing them this time).  Here are some of the contenders:

Top left: Antique Moss (Valspar), Top right : Pier 14 (Valspar), Bottom left: Sparrow (Benjamin Moore),  Bottom right: Blind date (Valspar).


The other thing I realized is that just because all white rooms and white walls are everywhere in magazines and on blogs, it doesn't mean I need to do it.  It just looks out of place in my house.  There really isn't a bit of true white anywhere in my home!  I'm okay with that.  I think other colors can bring a neutral quality/clean slate even if they are not white.  We still need to choose a color but we are closer than we were!

Monday, November 10, 2014

How to clean a porcelain sink...

First of all, let me just start by saying... I HATE my white porcelain sink.  It's a nightmare to *keep* clean. If I could renovate my kitchen today I would absolutely pick something different. White is so crisp and classic, but only when it's clean!

So, anyway....being the neat freak that I am I want my sink to be clean! After lots of trial and error here's how I do it (and actually it's really easy).

This is what it looked like before:
(with scratches from stainless steel pots and all...)

YUCK!



Scratches from pots and pans.


The secret weapon: Bar Keeper's Friend.


Sprinkle a generous amount and wet slightly with warm water.


Scrub gently with wet sponge.

I use a tooth brush around the drain.
 and give it all a good rinse and then..... ta da!

*UPDATE :  If the sink is REALLY dirty, let the paste sit for a few minutes before rinsing.*

It will look like this:

Bright and shiny!!!



 Happy Cleaning!


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...