A pile of things to paint

We're trying to get things organized around here, and one of the big culprits is the garage. It's so easy to let things pile up "for when we have time to get to them". Problem is, it can be months before we have time to get to them, and during that time, the garage looks pretty scary. You think I'm exaggerating, but alas... I'm not -- even a bit.

So, when I looked at my "To-Do" list for the week, I added my painting projects to it, once and for all. I bought this darling little chair at an antique store in Logan several months ago when I was on a day trip with my mom and sisters. I've moved it around from the laundry room (when I thought I'd get to it in a day or two) to the garage (when it became apparent that I wasn't going to get to it any time soon). I also got a cradle back that we had given my nephew years and years ago. Each of my kids slept in it when they were infants, and my nephew's kids did, too. He didn't have any use for it any more, and since I've got grand babies now, I actually do have a use for it, so that cradle became part of my items that needed painting. I also acquired a mirror from that same nephew. The mirror was destined for the dumpster, but I thought it definitely could be put to good use with a coat of paint. So, there were three of my painting projects -- all just gathering dust and waiting to be painted.

I first had to clean them all off. They had layers of dust, and the little chair had bits of paint that would fall off of it whenever anyone even looked at it. So, I had to sand the chair up a bit to make sure all of the loose bits of paint were off the chair.

I also took the cradle apart, so that I wouldn't have to worry about painting around the hardware.

The mirror just had to be taped off, and I also removed the back braces that were on it for attaching it to a dresser.

After I had everything in place on drop cloths, I gave each item a good coat of Kilz primer. It just takes one coat, so it was pretty easy, but it's an important step not to miss.

After the Kilz was completely dry, I painted on the coats of paint. I painted the little chair and the mirror a perfect blue, and the cradle was going back to its original white.

It took several layers to get them all coated the way I wanted them, and let me just say... the cradle spindles were a bear to paint. Ugh. I don't ever want to do that again.

But look how cute that little chair is, pulled up to the coffee table. It has the most darling barrel shape! Now that we're grandparents, the look in our home has taken on a distinct " focus on grand babies" kind of a look, and I love it!

P.S. - I'll be posting another Amazing Race segment on Sunday...