Paint and Stain Test Lab

Warning! This is not one of those easy projects that make Pinterest look good. This was grueling and not for the faint of heart and as a result- this is a long post.

Now that my living room wall is planked it is ready for some color. This wall was a bit of a splurge for me so I want to make sure I don't mess it up. I want an aged, beach wood or barn wood sort of look but not really sure what I am after. Mister thought we should try a whitewash first.

Not quite what I was looking for. A trip outside to talk to a tree guy about taking down some dying trees sparked inspiration. Looking at the decaying maple tree in our yard has given me some idea of what we are after.

We did not want to use traditional stain due the smell and mess cleaning up. (I am not a neat DIYer.)

I thought I should test this out along with some ideas I have seen on Pinterest. I used all the cut pieces left over from our planked wall to practice on. This wood is pine, nothing extravagant.

I have been dying to try the instant aged technique and had read that you should let the apple cider vinegar sit with a piece of steel wool soaking in it for 24 hours before using it. I read another blogger that said she did not wait but just went right at it and got good results. I am not a patient person so after an hour I proceeded.

It left my pine kinda red-ish; not the look I am going for. Back to Pinterest...I read that if you first brush on a strong black tea that the vinegar mixture will react to the tannins in the tea and age better. , Okay, I gave it a whirl. Well, I still was not happy with that outcome, either.

                                                      Doesn't this look like Sid the Sloth?!

I decided to wait at least 24 hours like some blogs suggested. 24 hours had passed and again,  I tried just the vinegar on 1/2 of one board. Meh.  I tried the tea with the vinegar over it on the other 1/2 of the board. That time I got a darker color but still not what I want so I will press on. 

                The top of this board is just the vinegar, the bottom is tea with vinegar over it.

Mister said it was too much trouble and really wanted to find a one-step product. 

We made it to Home Depot where I found a product called Varathane Weathered Wood Accelerator (VWAA) that claims to age wood instantly without the smell of stain; water clean-up. We'll give it a shot. And, I tried the VWAA and sorta liked how it turned out but... 

thought a bit of white washed in would be the ultimate.

But, while I was at it, I wanted to try some other stuff, too...since I was practicing and all. 

Totally different direction; I grabbed leftover paint from other projects in blues and greens and brushed them onto a piece, blending the colors and mixing in a light touch of the gray. I really liked this look but it's too much for the wall. 

I used 4 tablespoons semi-gloss white paint I had on hand, mixed in 1 tablespoon of plaster of paris and 4 tablespoons room temp water to make a wash.  I brushed it over the stain and I brushed it onto a new, untouched board. Still not satisfied, I will keep going.

I used the same mixture but this time used the dark gray paint we used behind the plank wall. While I liked the outcome of this mixture I think it will be too dark for the room. We want to lighten it up.

So I did it again on another board but then whitewashed the whole thing with my plaster of paris mixture from before and gray-washed some, too. Hmm...

On each board I went back over a small section of it with the vinegar mixture to see how it would look.

I posted a picture on Instagram looking for some direction/affirmation and I got it so I happily sashayed toward my plank wall with paint and stain in hand-quite happy with the decision. (By this time that vinegar mixture I had made was a few days old and was giving me a darker color but still not quite grayish so I decided to ditch that idea and went with the Varathane Weathered Wood Accelerator)  I was all excited to start slapping that stuff up on the wood!

Once it was finished I stood back to survey my handy work and was relishing my good fortune of finding a product that worked right out of the can. Hmm...it seemed to be just a bit off from the wall color on the connecting walls. I wasn't sure if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing and then Mister rounded the corner and asked "Is that lavender?" UGH!!!! Yes!    

           No!  

       Yes, yes, sigh.
(Hanging my head loooow.) It's lavender but maybe it is just the lighting or something. Wait til the sun moves around, turn the overhead light on, do something, tilt your head, squint, anything.... UGH! It's lavender.

I could also see the edges of the wood where we had so carefully made sure to space them. They were still the unfinish pine color. That's NOT going to work. So, now my thinking was that the vinegar stuff will give it all a woodsy color over the lavender gray and it will fix it.

GAH! Nope. My wall was now completely stained in the ironized vinegar concoction and it was blotchy because I worked from the left side of the wall first, then middle, then right side. As it continued to dry it was more obvious and I hated it!

What if I dry brush some white to distract from the blotchy?

Okay, this may work. Wait. What's happening? The vinegar stuff was turning the white a yellow color... it kept bleeding through...and it stinks like... vinegar! The whole point of not using traditional stain was that we didn't want it to smell and while vinegar is not toxic it still stinks. On all my samples why hadn't I noticed this?! Ugh! 

At this point I told Mister, " I am a fraud! I have no business doing this stuff, why would anyone want to read about this?" He listened to me whine then told me that I would figure it out. Okay.

The vinegar stuff does stink. Mister said he didn't smell it but I did and felt like I had been for a few days. It only stopped once I brushed on a sealer. I used a bottle of water based wood sealer I had on hand and let it dry. The next day I hit the wall again with a watered down chalk paint in gray. Too dark.

I grabbed the white chalk paint, watered it down 50/50 and dry brushed it on. My blending skills need some work and the strokes were too much. I lightly sanded the whole wall then watered down more white chalk paint, 3 parts water to 1 part paint. With an old rag I washed the watered down paint on the wall.

Ahh..... there it is. Not exactly what I started out wanting but with the adjacent wall color and the media cabinet I think it will do quite nicely. I lost most of the knots in the wood and the grain. A little of it does show through but not like I had started out wanting, but that's okay. I like the layers of colors.

Mister painted the lattice strips down each side the same color as the adjacent wall color. Leaving them like the wood planks seemed too messy going in different direction than the planks. Because of the spacing and the dark wall color behind the planks it does resemble a painted shiplap effect. I've been staring at it for about a week now and I have decided that I love it.

Next stop for this room is crown molding and then everything gets another coat of paint. Getting close to end in this room and I am so ready! Can't wait to share it with you, too!

Important things to remember (learned from hours of missteps):

#1 It would have been much easier to do the edges before it was put up on the wall.
#2 Work one row at a time-don't stop and don't overlap. If you don't heed this warning it will be blotchy.
#3 Vinegar stinks.
#4 If you plan to paint over the vinegar stain you have to seal it so it doesn't bleed through.
#5 Don't give up! It may not turn out the way you wanted it to originally but you can end up liking  the finished product as much or more than the original plan.

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Wood Planked Walls Tutorial

Our quest to relocate the television in my living room has given me opportunity to try some things I have had in my mind for a while. Mister has been a good sport and has been quite obliging.... I am not going to question it; just push on!

The wall the television is to be mounted on needs shiplap. Now, I have already had my troubles with the whole shiplap thing as far as trying to do it on the cheap. You can read about that here. My solution for that room was completely different from what I wanted for the living room.

I went to Lowes and found shiplap! Mister was surprised that it truly existed and that you could get in in Massachusetts.... it's not just a Texas thing.

We weren't ready to buy it yet and wanted to check Home Depot's prices. When we were ready to do that wall we ran off to Home Depot. They had shiplap but it had edges that were beveled. Can you see it in this picture? 

YUCK! I did not want that. It reminds me of place we go for breakfast that looks like it has not been remodeled since the early 1970's. 

While we were at Home Depot I called Lowes because I was now wondering if their shiplap had beveled edges, too and I just hadn't noticed. I got some young guy on the phone that confirmed their edges were beveled, too. (Warning flags should have gone off with this kid; it wasn't until days later that I realized I had taken pictures at Lowes and the edges were not beveled but I was at Home Depot and wasn't thinking about that when I was making executive decisions.) UGH! Home Depot did have wood that was pre-stained but it was thinner; only 6 inches. 

So, I don't want beveled and I didn't want the pieces that were only 6" wide, even though I loved the idea of mixing the stained pieces... so..... Think! Okay here is plan B: we purchased a gallon of paint to paint, 3 paint stirers and 12 pieces of 1x8x8. (That is 1 inch thick by 8 inch wide by 8 feet long.) We also picked up two pieces of lattice, 2" wide by 8 feet long and happily traipsed home. 

Mister painted the wall with the paint we purchased. We used a dark gray color. This is important if you're not using real shiplap. Once the paint was dry we started applying the lumber. We started with the top because, as I have previously talked about, our house is not level or square-anywhere. Wonkiness is the name of the game in this house and level doesn't look level when all is in place. Board one went into place with ease and Mister cut board two. Using two of the paint stirers as spacers we held up the second board and nailed it into place. The last board was ripped down on the table saw to fit.

Notice the paint stir sticks between the bottom two boards here! 

My youngest working along side of her daddy. Proud mama moment.

Oh, the dark paint-this is where the dark gray paint matters; remember the spacers? Well, if the wall was light colored you would see it between the boards, ruining your shiplap effect and it would be a bear trying to get a paint brush in there! That is why this was an important step. Once the boards were up Mister cut and nailed the two lattice pieces on either side to cover the ends, giving it a clean, finished look.  

This wall is 7.3 feet wide by 7.6 feet high. The cost to do this wall was a little extravagant for us considering it is such a small wall. The wood and lattice was about $125 and the paint (we bought a gallon but a quart would have done it) was $25-$30 (I can't find my receipt). 

That tv bracket swivels all over the place! 

Here the tv is level and you can see the it looks wonky against the wall. Notice the furniture lines against the wall, too. WONKY!

Here we shimmed (stuck a piece of 1-by under one side to show how much it would take to make it look right. WONKY!

Now comes the fun part of painting or staining this wall... but that will be another post but because we spent so much money on this little section of the room I don't want to mess it up. Stop back by soon to see what I did to the wood!

***UPDATE: You can see the finished project here.

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Antique Shops, Collectives, and Repurposed Home Decor In Massachusetts

Shopping! I was raised to shop. Some people train for the Olympics, marathons and the like. I was trained to shop. Couple that with my mom's affinity for Home Interiors parties (remember them) and the like. Growing up in the military forced us to edit our belongings each time we moved. There was not a lot of room to hang onto to things for sentiment sake and we weren't near family that allowed for hand-me-downs and family heirlooms. These factors combined have worked to form my love for beautiful things with a history that can be saved, reworked and made useful in our home and maybe I can pass them down someday. Recently, I was asked to write about local vintage and antique stores in my area. Oh, I can do that! (Clicking on the names of each business will take you to their Facebook pages for times and more information.)

I enjoy walking through old mills filled with booths of stuff someone has saved from the dumpster or landfill. I like trying to find decorative pieces for our home, as gifts of friends, and gather ideas for upcoming projects. There are a couple pop-up monthly markets that I frequent. Vintage Thymes Monthly Market, 500 Providence Highway, Norwood, MA, was the first one I started attending regularly. They used to hold their market in an old mill building but are now located in a strip mall. While they host several regular vendors they also have guest vendors each month. In the fall they host one of their markets on a farm in the town next door to them. I have written about my trips to visit them before here and here. 

                     

Trisha from Vintage Prairie Home, 55 Sterling Street, Clinton, MA,  hosts another of those pop up markets. Her style is the farmhouse style that everybody loves. She finds great pieces, reworks them and showcases them in the sweetest vignettes. I have written about her markets here and here. 

Now, if you're looking for things that you can turn into something of your own these are places I find myself haunting:

Counting Sheep Antiques, 79 Central Street, Berlin, MA is nestled in a pastoral setting along a windy road in central Massachusetts. As you approach the cheerful yellow house and attached barn space you are greeted by an old pick-up truck begging for a photo with you.

You'll love Kim at Laurel Grove, 339 Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA. This is their new address and they will be in there April 1, 2017. If you are reading this post before then- check their Facebook page for the address. Here you will find pieces that have been saved and restored, you will find Fixer Upper style pieces, hand painted wood signs, ect. The new, larger space allows room to hold classes like the recent Make Your Own Farmhouse Clock class taught by Trisha from Vintage Prairie Home.

Crompton Collective, 138 Green Street, Worcester, MA is another must stop place. Clothing, furniture, reclaimed and restored pieces are mingled in with handmade soaps, chalkboard art and jewelry. Various classes are held here, there is an event space for rent; who wouldn't love a wedding reception in an old mill building strung with glow of globe lights bouncing off the bricks!? They also hold a farmer's market on Saturdays! 

Signature Finishes at 204 Worcester Street, North Grafton, MA has a nice selection of Miss Mustard Seed paints, many vendors selling restored, refurbished, or reworked pieces. Tons of inspiration just walking through. Furniture painting classes are offered here. 

In the opposite direction you can find Wrentham Country Store, 15 East Street, Rt.140, Wrentham, MA. It is home for a lot of different vendors. You can find repurposed stuff, stuff waiting to be repurposed outside in the shed, primitives, shabby chic and everything in between. They usually hold a White Sale in the spring. Here is one I attended a couple years ago.
                                   

                                      

Antiques on 1A, 416 South Street, Rt. 1A, Plainville, MA, looks like a small store from the outside but when you get in there you will find little nooks and crannies chockablock full of stuff. 

Sandra at Gracefully Restored, 755 Wasington Street, Holliston, MA has a great eye for farmhouse chic. Her painted pieces are beautiful. The shop is sweet and sparks the imagination like crazy. The town boasts several other antique shops you'll want to budget time for, as well.

Winsmith Mill, 61 Endicott Street, Norwood, MA, houses several different shops all in one massive set of old mill buildings. This is a day trip. I could spend hours in there. The shops are actually spread out over two floors and three buildings.

More immediately local to me are the following places; 

Bernat Antiques,  89 Elmdale Road, Uxbridge, MA, is another lovely old mill building. They occupy the basement and first floor of the mill. There are tons of vendors in this establishment. This is their forth move since I have known them and the space is perfect.You can find just about anything there; primitive items, industrial, toys, ... you name it.

Joyful Things, 432 N.Main St, Uxbridge, MA, is a hop, skip and a jump from there. I always find fun and unusual things to look at when I stop in. It is a small shop but again, chockablock full of stuff.

And, Mary at Whitinsville Art & Antique Center, 202 Church Street, Whitinsville, MA,  has a varied selection of vendors who are constantly changing out their booths and adding more and more goodies. She happens to be neighbor but I don't see her much since she opened the shop so tell her I said hi when you stop in.

And if you're not looking for something that has been reworked, dusted off or cutely displayed Rustored Salvage, 201 Hopedale Street, Hopedale, MA, is a must. You can find old industrial lighting, wood mill carts, metal cabinets, mannequins. This is a new place to me and it did not disappoint. The hours are limited. Please check their Facebook page for information and times, as with all the businesses listed here.

This, of course, is not an exhaustive collection. I live in a great area for all kinds for treasures and new-to-me lovelies. If you're in the area these are some of the places I like to frequent. Not only can you find things to spark your creativity but if you're not a creative person, yet enjoy the work of those who are, you have to make a ride!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that if you like what you've seen here that you will follow the blog or follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

~Happy Shopping! 

Jolena

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Shiplap Wall-An FIY

Who doesn't love Chip and Joanna Gains?! My favorite part of their show is their interaction with one another. The way they work as each other's biggest cheerleaders makes me smile. Knowing there is someone in your corner, rooting for you always.... sigh. And, if that person happens to be the love of your life....bonus! Sometimes, I think Mister and I are very similar although personality wise our roles are reversed. I would be the one trying on tool belts and lederhosen in the antique store...

I think I have seen every episode from past seasons multiple times. When I first saw shiplap I thought "Oh, that's kinda nice". As time has worn on and the nation has embraced the Gaines' a collective love of shiplap has swept the nation. Oh, I know there are some that probably don't like it and to each his own... but come on- it's everywhere! You can't sign on to Pinterest, Houzz, bHome, and Hometalk without seeing it. The more I see it the more I want it....but where should I put it?

As I've previously told you, we've embarked on a remodel project quite by accident. You can read about it here. What started in the living room led us to our bedroom. That led to a wall being dismantled and rebuilt. We took that plaster and laths off but left the original framing and added insulation for a sound barrier between room. Of course, all that meant repainting. And here's a kicker for me... I wanted it white! Yup, white. As a military brat I developed an aversion to white. All our walls were white in the military- no color allowed. Since then I have had rooms red, green, blue, pink, purple, brown, yellow, gray... just about every color but white. But, I digress. So, as long as we are repainting I might as well try to fit some shiplap in there! Now remember, my house is old which means ceilings are wonky and floors are not level and there is no such thing as a 90 degree angle. Shiplap kinda needs at least one of those things to work off of. Hmm.

I scoured blogs and all the aforementioned sites for help. I didn't really find anything pertaining to my situation but I was not deterred. When I thought I had a plan I took off to Home Depot for some fact gathering and pricing. My thought was that I would purchase 1/4 plywood, have it ripped down into 6" strips and uses those as my planks. This would minimize the overall weight on the wall, eliminate the need to remove the baseboard Mister had already reapplied. I could fudge the spacing to make up for some of the wonkiness of the walls. I was using this as my inspiration; found on Pinterest.

Source, Source

Okay, so my Home Depot will not cut the plywood that small. The smallest they cut is 24". That means I will still have to rip those down on the table saw. We don't have a great table saw or room for it. We end up with a saw horse and saw on the driveway and the cuts tend to be a little less than perfect. Not the look I was going for. My Lowes store would cut the pieces into 12" strips which would still require me to break out the table saw. Hmm. I came back home and looked at all the blogs again that have stores that cut their wood smaller. Maybe I should to move to where those stores are! Or, maybe I should take a road trip to one of them and come back with a vehicle full of ripped down plywood. I don't think Mister would go for it...

Then I came across another blog that showed a beautiful pitched-ceiling room with a window on the gable end. The shiplap was pretty and clean... but it wasn't shiplap!

Source

Following Emily's lead, here is what I did:

I wanted to reposition the bed against the wall that had just been rebuilt and that is the wall I wanted shiplapped. I busted out my big level and grabbed a couple pencils. With a yard stick I measured down the center of the wall every 6 inches, making a small little mark. I used the level to draw parallel lines mimicking the wood planks. Sometimes my metal level left marks on the wall. This happened because we did not change the framing and so the studs are not uniform meaning the drywall is not quite flat-leaving high and low places in the elevation. For the most part the marks erased off or washed off but there are a couple that will require a little touch up paint.

When I was done I stood back. My pencil lines were too skinny. I grabbed a colored pencil in gray and went back to the wall. I used my yardstick to come just under the first line and made a parallel line and filled in the space between with my gray pencil. I stood back several times making sure the lines were thick enough. Ha! An FIY (Faux It Yourself) Shiplap Wall.

As I stand back from the wall it really looks off because of the ceiling not being flat or level but I have a plan for that. I'm not gonna lie... I am worried that I may have to have Mister repaint the wall. Ugh.  I will press on first to see what will happen when things get into place.

In my inspiration photo, the blogger went back over her lines with a sealer to keep the lines from getting smudged. I have not done this as the wall has the bed against it. I may change my mind but for now I think I'm okay. This has become a long post so I will spare you all the fears and worries about when "level" according the level doesn't look level to the eye. It will all work out...right?

 So, that is it for now. Stop back soon! ~ Jolena

*I forgot to add a picture of the finished shiplap...just a peek... I'll show you more when it's all done.

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