Monday, March 30, 2015

Removing Heavy Texture

When I removed the dark green country print wallpaper back in 98, I textured the walls before painting them. 



It was a mix of paint, mud and sand that was dabbed on with a rag. 
 I gave it little peaks.
I would have preferred to pay to have orange peel blown in but we just couldn't afford it. Old World was just coming into vogue and the textured walls were perfect for that look.
I always knew that someday heavy texture would be out and I would have to deal with these walls.  
Fortunately I didn't go overboard with big peaks or swirls. 

I started on a Saturday morning with a scraper and a hammer. 


Bill quickly fired me. 
There are times when I simply do not have the muscle power to get a job done.
It took several hours but we were able to get most of the peaks of texture knocked down. When I say "we" I mean for the most part "he". 
Bill said this was a lot of work. He tried the sander but it didn't do anything. 
The scrapper and hammer was the most effective. 


Now you might be thinking that we ruined a perfectly good paint job. 
We did. 


If you remember, I painted my kitchen in December right before Christmas. I loved it- during the day. 



At night I didn't like it. 
After the sun went down on the very first night I feared that I'd made a mistake. 
Surely I was seeing things. 
The cabinets and the wall color became a sickly very light yellow.
"No - our cabinets are white."
They didn't look white anymore. 
They didn't even look cream.  


I have this same white wall color all through the entry and stair well and I love it. I even love it at night.


I thought that maybe I was tired and seeing things.
No.
I hated it at night and when it was cloudy. 
I tried to convince myself that it would be okay.
That I loved it during the day and that would be enough.



Do you know how much time a person spends in the kitchen at night?
As soon as we were done with dinner and cleaned up, I turned off the lights in the kitchen. 
I tried to ignore it.
I thought about getting new light fixtures that had whiter shades. 
Our light fixtures are only a few years old and I don't want to change them. 
I entertained the thought of repainting the cabinets. 
(Only for a minute.)
I knew deep down that re-painting the kitchen was the only answer. The  slightly off white cabinets would read whiter with a contrasting color on the walls.
It was the best way to go.
The easiest and least expensive.
But who wants to paint again after just painting? 
This room is hard to paint. There is a ton of hand painting around doors, windows, cabinets and shelves.  
I remembered a kitchen done by Nicole Curtis on the show Rehab Addict. I love that show.
It had to be the color of our next kitchen. 
She custom mixed the paint herself and I followed in her footsteps.  
I mixed Halcyon Green by Sherwin Williams with Glidden white. 
It was too blue so I added some green chalk paint. 
It still wasn't blue/green enough. A few drops of yellow acrylic artist's paint fixed it. This was very risky and for a minute I thought I'd ruined two gallons of white paint.
Bill kept saying it looked blue and it does but with a hint of green. 
It reminds me of the the color of an antique Ball jar.



 Vintage touches and pops of black look great with this color. 



Bill thought it was too baby blue but after all the walls were done but he said it had toned down. 




I didn't paint the nook where the desk is.


I love black with it.





When the sun went down the cabinets appeared white again.
What a relief! 
I have finally stopped fretting about it and looking at them. 



We are still in the market for stone counters. 
It has taken a while for Bill's bonus to come in and for us to find a countertop guy. 
Both have finally happened.
I'll let you know what transpires.
Have a great day.
Katie    
Linking with,

French Country Cottage
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
Funky Junk Interiors
From My Front Porch to Yours
Common Ground

6 comments :

  1. the color looks so good. I like softer colors on the walls.

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  2. LOVE the new colour! Can relate to how colour can change from daylight to dark. (My kitchen is a wonderful shade of blue in natural lighting however its violet undertone is very prominent in artificial light.) Re removing textured compounds; I found using a spray bottle and saturating it with water usually works. -Brenda-

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  3. The new color is perfect. Such a pretty kitchen. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me.

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  4. It seems you've almost gone full circle back to the "Robin's Egg Blue" ... almost ... You take such risks and they pay off! I don't think I could take on a task especially if I had just done it a few months ago, but your house looks great as always!

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  5. I think your new paint color is gorgeous! Soft and subtle, and the perfect accent to your white cabinets! :)
    Susan

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  6. Hi, Really great effort. Everyone must read this article. Thanks for sharing.

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