Sunroom Progress

Painting the sunroom has been the LONGEST painting project of my life. I'm glad I didn't know just how long it was going to take, or I might have been reluctant to tackle it. I think I started painting in the first couple days of June, and then had to take a break for vacation, then back at it this week.

The reason painting took so long was that I had to paint every inch of wall and trim by hand. No rolling. I suppose I could have done a little rolling, but still would have had to paint each joint where the boards meet by hand, and it really wouldn't have saved much time. The paneling is real wood, not crappy 1970's junk, so a roller just doesn't cut it.

At any rate, MANY days of painting later, I'm DONE. Whew! Last coat went on the floor last night, and now I'm just twiddling my thumbs while I wait for it to cure so I can move furniture in. Not feeling very patient. Not that I have much furniture to put back in it.

Remember the before?

Nothing like moving day chaos! The previous homeowners had chosen a neutral palatte that relied heavily on beige with other accent colors . . . perfectly acceptable, but not my particular cup of tea! The sunroom also had carpeting, which they pulled up for us so we could move right in without worrying about the kids and their asthma.

While we figured out how we were going to use the sunroom, we arranged it into three zones . . . a seating area, craft table, and mudroom. Here you can see the first two, and the other side is the mudroom.

And THIS is the fabulous flooring that was under the carpet. No wonder they covered it, eh?! Lots of adhesive remained from the various carpets that had been laid down over the years. We debated back and forth about what to do . . . tile, laminate (my personal nemesis), hardwood, paint, etc.

For now we decided that paint was the sensible choice. In the future tile or hardwood would be nice, but time is ticking before the baby comes, and I could NOT have that old nasty linoleum in there one minute longer. So for the cost of a gallon of primer and gallon of paint, we covered it right up!

My goal with the sunroom is to make a bright and inviting space that the whole family can enjoy. The kids want to be able to read and play games, so we have moved crafts to the dining room permanently. The sunroom will have an area for books, a small play kitchen and a couple other toys (mainly Legos and Playmobile). I'm going to make a mood board very soon and will be sure to share it here!

And finally, the after:

This is the view I see when I walk in from the kitchen, and it makes me VERY happy. It's so cheerful, and the white allows your eyes to just look right past the walls and out the windows. Nature just comes pouring right in!

The floor color is Stokes Forest Green by Benjamin Moore (wall color is Simply White by Benjamin Moore), and I wish I could claim complete credit, but need to give credit where credit is due.  Last summer I tore out an article about a summer house Sarah Richardson made over, and she used this color on one of the floors. I've LOVED it since, and am so happy to have been able to use it. The cabin (the word seems inadequate in this case) is available to rent, and is pretty fabulous.

Coming up . . . a mood board for furnishings, lighting, and curtains, and then REAL after pictures following a trip to IKEA!

Try, Try Again!

Whew.

It's done.

And has been done for close to a month, but we have been vacationing, and preparing to vacation, and before that working on the never-ending job that is painting the sunroom.

So without further ado, here is the armoire, no longer crazy kelly green, but soft mint green . . .

Ah. I love it. And of course, I am far from a  photography pro, so the color is unfortunately less than perfect in this photo. It's a little bit stronger mint in person, and less washed out. But I'll take what I can get, considering the youngest child that was playing monkey on me while I tried to take pictures.

Benjamin Moore's Reflection is what I ended up using on the armoire . . . no test samples, nothing but a look at a kitchen I adore, and I went for it! Fortunately, I love it, so the $12 was well spent this time.

Remember the before? Before for both the armoire and dining room wall color, if you look closely.

And then the in-between . . . three coats that took FOREVER to paint and only a moment to decide I absolutely hated it.

I purchased new brass hinges to use, but then thought I would attempt to get the original armoire hinges cleaned up first. Which really was the lazy option, as I didn't feel like filling holes and making new ones. As luck would have it, an 8 hour simmer with a little dish detergent mixed with water did the trick. The paint peeled right off and left me with nice brass hinges that worked perfectly with the owl knobs.

The owl knobs are from World Market, and I had previously used them in our old kitchen on our pantry bifold doors. Love the owls! Sophia insisted we bring them to the new house, and now they have a perfect new home.

What to use with the owls? Little dangly pulls from Hobby Lobby, about $2 each with their 50% off knobs sale.

Now for the not-so-pretty but very functional bit.  The armoire functions exactly as I intended, as craft / homeschooling / library book / kids game storage. Plus I also put their cd player on the top shelf (to be lowered as soon as I rev up the energy to drill new holes for the shelf supports), so everything that was previously stored in 2 1/2 other pieces of furniture has merged into this one.

I LOVE having less furniture cluttering up the room, and especially being able to shut the door and not see any of the mess.

One more time, the after that I get to see every time I walk into the dining room or living room . . .