It's Mobil Home Makeover Time!

It's time for an Update

With the "Tiny Home" craze going on these days, I just realized that I live in a home that is "trendy", lol!  We were able to realize our dream of buying some acreage about 4 years ago.  The home was beautifully maintained, but to be completely honest, well, it's a single wide mobile home, so, there you go.  It was originally built in 1975 - again, that should explain a lot.  Anyway, last year, I painted the office paneling white to brighten up the teeny tiny room.  It was the only room in the house that still had the original paneling - you know, 1970's super dark paneling.  It turned out really cute, very farm house, if you know what I mean.  Mike liked it so much, that he agreed the rest of the house would look really nice painted white.  Well, it's been a year now.  I've been buying paint a couple gallons at a time when it was on sale, so I'm just getting around to this HUGE job.  First, I have to pull down the fake, shiney, super thin, knotty pine paneling covering the original dark stuff.  Here's a pic of what I'm talking about:

I have to admit, in this pic, it doesn't look too bad, but the truth of the matter is, in real life, it looks REALLY FAKE!

I've gotten one wall that leads from the kitchen to the hallway done (except the trim).  

 

I don't know about anyone else, but I think this is MUCH prettier!!!  This angled wall leads to the hallway, and is going to be my "Command Center"  I'll have a large wall calendar, a pin board, 3 altered clip boards and maybe a chalk board.  At least that's the plan so far, lol!

The next step was to work on the hallway.  The previous owners had added a wonderful mudroom extension off the back side of the mobile home.  I'm SOOOO happy for that space.  In fact, I use the mud room for my painting area when I'm working on signs.  The reason I mention this extension is because when I went to pull the paneling off in the hallway, I noticed there wasnt any of the original stuff behind it.  I'm assuming it was removed when the pass through to the mud rooom was cut out.  Anyway, I was stuck with the fake knotty pine, BOO!  I proposed an idea to Mike (that I was sure he would HATE), and he gave me the green light to try.  I took a small section and papered it with old book pages.

I'm sorry the pic isn't very good, but the hallway is REALLY narrow.  I had to stand in the mud room entryway to get this pic.  I still need to put trim around the door to the office, (it never had any)  but otherwise this is what Mike came home to that evening.  I was shocked that he liked it enough to give me the go ahead to finish out the entire hallway!   On the other side of the office door is the opening for the furnace.  When we moved in, there was a piece of paneling screwed to cover the opening.  It was REALLY UGLY!!!!  When we replaced the flooring last year, I took the ugly panel out and just left it open.  Honestly, this was by far, better looking!!!

I wasn't totally sure what I was going to do to enclose the furnace, but I had a few ideas rolling around in my mind.  I finally decided to bring in a vintage window screen I picked up a few months ago.  I was thrilled to see that it fit the opening PERFECTLY!!!   The screen was tearing out, but that was ok because I needed to put a solid piece in the opening to hide the furnace anyway.

 I pulled the framing off the back that was holding the screen in.

The back side is red, the front is kind of grey green.  I decided to leave the original paint, because the grey green blends nicely with the old book pages.  Here's the finished door:

The wrinkles in the paper in the door will flatten out when the paper finishes drying.  I'm very happy with this solution.  It is SOOOOO much better then what was here when we moved in, and also better then just leaving it open.  

The only thing left for me to do is to trim out the door ways.  Since there wasn't any trim to begin with, I'll have to get creative.  I'm doing this renovation on a "nearly zero" budget, I'm really hoping to not have to spend money on trim pieces.  Once I figure out the trim, I'll post updated photos.

I've got to go now, cuz if I don't start pulling paneling down in the rest of the house, I'll never get the painting done.  I don't have much time to finish this update, so off I go!!!  

CeCe Caldwell Paint Review and a Happy Announcement!

New Signs for a New Shop!

I'm super excited to share with everyone that my artwork will have a permanent home at Petticoat Junction, in Newport Washington.  I will be setting up my display starting next week.  I will be sure to take pics and post them as soon as it's all set.  In addition to this fun news, I've been testing some new (to me) paint and finishes.  It's CeCe Caldwell Chalk Paint. 

First, let me show you a sign I made using this FABULOUS paint:

The background color is Thomasville Teal.  It is so pretty!  I painted this over a cabinet door that had a previous (ugly) stain and varnish finish on it.  I really wanted to test the claims that you don't need to prime before painting with CeCe Caldwell.  When the base coat dried, I painted my saying with regular old white house paint.  Once the lettering was completely dry, I used a wet rag to distress the background.  This is one of my FAVORITE  parts of chalk paint.  You don't need to use sand paper to get a soft, worn look.  Here's a little close up:

I painted a base coat of Vintage White (also CeCe Caldwell paint) just on the inset portion of the door.  I wanted it to show through in some areas when I distressed it.

The final touch was a light coating of Clear Waxing Cream.  I have to say, I am in LOVE with this paint!!!  It is thick and creamy.  It goes on in one coat, and dries quickly.  The wax goes on smooth and buffs out nicely.  One really HUGE benefit of this wax - NO NASTY SMELL!!!!  I can't stress the importance of this enough.  Some waxes have such a strong odor, it makes for a miserable experience.  The CeCe Caldwell wax is completely odorless.

To test it further, I did a couple other projects:

I made a HUGE message board:

This door had a beautiful finish on it to begin with, and I really didn't want to paint over it completely.  In order for the lettering to stick to the cabinet door,  I used Vintage White chalk paint.  Once the lettering was dry, I used 2 coats of  Endurance to seal it.  The bottom panel was sanded to bare wood, and then painted with 3 coats of chalkboard paint that I purchased at the hardware store.  Like I said before, this door is huge.  It's about 3 feet tall!!!   There is a lot of space for writing notes, grocery lists, or whatever.

I was fortunate enough to find a similar door a few weeks after finding the first one.  It's much smaller, but still, it makes a great message center:

I had already sanded both panels on this door, so when I had gotten around to painting it, I chose to base both spots in Chalkboard Paint. 

This is another door I didn't want to paint over.  The finish was just so pretty!  This is what makes Chalk Paint so wonderful:

 I'm getting ready to do some major work in my house, and I want to make one wall near my kitchen a complete message center.  I think one of these chalkboards will end up there!  BTW, that was a little hint as to some of the posts you will be seeing in the near future.  

Here's the last sign I made to test one of the products sent to me to try:

The arrows show the spots I used Savannah Praline stain to even out the outer edges of this cabinet door.  Here are some pictures of the areas I'm talking about:

The arrows show the spots where the finish had worn away.  I was planning to just paint the entire door, but I really liked the finish that was on it.  When I opened the jar with the stain to see the color, I thought, what the heck, this looks pretty close.   The picture below shows what it looked like when I put the first coat of stain on the board.  I want to stress that I did not do any sort of prep work on this door.  I literally wiped the dust off and slapped some stain on it.  Again, NO SMELL!  

This close up picture shows that I need to add another coat of stain,  but other then that, I think the color will match up nicely.  

Here's another look at the finished piece:

So here are my thoughts so far on CeCe Caldwell products.  As I stated before, the paint is thick and creamy.  There is NO grit, often associated with chalk paints.  It is a truly luscious paint.  It goes on smoothly, and covers beautifully in one coat.  It can be easily distressed with a wet cloth, no sandpaper needed.   It is eco-friendly, and HAND MADE IN AMERICA!!!  

For someone like me, that loves to upcycle items that would otherwise head to a landfill, a paint like this is, at the very least, ethically, perfect.  

Now, on to the waxes, stains, and finishes.  They have no smell, which is wonderful.  They are all a pleasure to work with, and clean up couldn't be easier.  

I have worked with Annie Sloane Chalk Paint and waxes in the past.  I have always enjoyed the special qualities Chalk Paint provide.  The only real draw back (other then cost) is that the  Annie Sloane waxes are quite smelly.  I have worked with them quite a bit over the past 2 years, and was quite happy with them.  I'm just not a fan of the smell, or the fact that unless you use gloves, (which you should, but I never do) the smell stays with you for quite a while.

 Honestly, CeCe Caldwell paint is hands down my favorite (so far).  I am looking into testing Country Chic Paint in the future as well. 

I am seriously considering becoming a retailer for one of these lines of paint.  Therefore, I plan to put them through the paces and really test them out before making a decision.  I will be doing some projects shortly that will involve using the CeCe Caldwell paint on an old milk can I have sitting outside.  I've also started making some metal flowers for a fun wreath, so be sure to check back often!!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, or post them in the comments section.  I will do my best to answer any inquiries as quickly as I can.