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Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Priced Under Market - Don't Miss Out!!
Call Today to see this home Serena Hope Jones – Realtor Extraordinaire 480.570.4773
www.SereneLivingAZ.com / www.ThePhoenixMLS.com
PRICE BELOW MARKET TO SELL QUICKLY!!! Beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom townhome / Patio home, in great location! Close to ASU, Old Scottsdale, AND tons of shopping/entertainment. As well as close access to freeways. This townhome has it all. Totally remodeled in 2010 including new bath fixtures, tile, carpeting, kitchen counters and more. Drip system for plants and synthetic grass in backyard is no maintenance! One block from Papago Park for hiking, biking and dramatic 360 views of Phoenix. Come check this home out, it will not last long!!!
Priced Under Market - Don't Miss Out!!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Chalk Paint Instructions Anyone Can Follow
I LOVE Chalk Paint. Now, this is not to be mistaken for chalk board paint, and if I’m really honest, I don’t know why it is called chalk paint, except for maybe because of the chalky texture before you wax it. Whatever… lets do it!
First thing’s first. You want to make sure the piece is clean. If you’re like me, you’re using old furniture, likely from Goodwill or some place. You need to get all the oils and nasty off first. In an ideal world, you’d have acetone on hand, but alcohol works too. I happened to have nail polish remover… tada! (Do not use Vodka… wrong alcohol… and wasteful.)
Wipe it down, making sure you get in every nook and cranny. You’ll notice where you missed when it starts to crackle… eek.
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| *Side note… gloves would be good, since acetone and acrylic/gel nails don’t work together. |
Now, find a container, bowl, or something that you don’t need to use for popcorn in the future. This stuff dries fast and doesn’t come off anything.
You want to mix about 3 heaping spoons full of LOWES’ non-sanded grout with water, till it’s a thin paste. Get all the chunks out before adding paint. (this is why you don’t use the grout from Home Depot. We’ll get to that.)
You don’t need much paint for a small project. I was doing a night stand and bought a sample size paint off of the oops paint rack for only $.25. No I didn’t necessarily pick my color, but it turned out great and only cost me $.25!!
For 3 tablespoons of grout, you’ll use about a cup or 2 (give or take… you know I never measure anything.)
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| Warning! This stuff stinks! Maybe wear a mask. |
Once you mix it really well, you just start brushing it on. It’s a thick paint, and self leveling. Just keep an eye on drips.
You’ll probably need a thin second coat. Although, a nice, thick coat is better if you want it to be really sturdy.
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| I opted to go right over the pulls… it’s a look. |
If you want to distress it, you’ll need about a 100 grit sand paper. The thicker the paint, the more sanding you’ll have to do.
I sanded the handle too, and love how it turned out!
When you’re done, unless you’re going to draw on it with chalk, you want to wipe it down with a wax. I just used what I had on hand. The blogs I followed used a dark wax, which I haven’t found in the stores yet. But the wax makes the finish really soft and smooth, protects it from moisture and it gives the finish an aged look depending on the depth of your sanding. *Side note, gloves would not be out of line here either, unless you want waterproof hands.
My piece went from drab to fab (I just wanted to say that) in a matter of hours. Once we all came down off the fumes, we still loved how it turned out, so we’re calling it a success!
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| Before |
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| After |
**Yes, I realize my pictures are a little dark, It was late and the room was poorly lit. I really need to get my husband on fixing that.
Now… why do we not use Home Depot Grout? Because it does NOT blend down to a paste, and those little chunks look like crap when sanded. 
Just say no to Home Depot Grout… but YAY to oops paint!
Those white specks are the little chunks left behind by the inferior grout.
Now… what else can I paint?
Chalk Paint Instructions Anyone Can Follow
Chalk Painting and The Todd
I recently discovered this amazing painting technique and I’m completely addicted. Anyone who knows me knows that I love painting furniture (and anything else that paint will stick to). Up until this last week though, I thought I had to either spend a fortune on expensive cabinet paint, or spray paint, if I had any hopes of paint sticking to the wood.
A few weeks ago, though, I saw this post on Facebook. Someone took this old roll top desk and chalk painted it. I was only slightly horrified that someone would paint this cherry wood roll top desk, but the finished results were A-mazing! In the blog that I saw, they lady made the paint with regular, latex paint and a couple table spoons of plaster, so I was really intrigued by this, it sounded like it would be pretty solid. I have never done anything with chalk paint, so in my head, I was reading ahead on this blog post, waiting for the chalk to come into play. When I saw the finished results I KNEW I must try it. But what to try it on?
We bought (and by we, I mean, my husband) a really hideous 80′s dresser for us to use to make the sink in our master bathroom. The dresser had some redeeming qualities, but the mirror, with it’s gold etching and it’s silly gold ‘rail’ thing on the top, just screamed “PAINT ME!” My husband, however, desperately tried to sell me on the fact that it was “old” and I should appreciate it’s antiqueness and just refinish it with a stain…. The fact that he was trying to sell me on this “old” piece by pointing out that it was as “old” as me didn’t help his case. That damn thing was getting painted!- This is why he’s not allowed to shop without me!
I think I won the argument by default when he discovered it was 3inches too big for the bathroom. After talking him down from moving the wall out to accommodate it, we settled on it’s reshaping and painting. 
Resizing the dresser instead of moving the wall… it just made sense.
His biggest concern was the fact that he’d never heard of chalk paint, and he wasn’t convinced it had any place on furniture, especially in the bathroom, where it’s moist. So, I went back to Google. (It’s so odd that I’m blogging something that I found on blogs.) This time I watched a video, where again, the lady MADE the chalk paint, but this time using non-sanded grout! Ah HA! If that isn’t sturdy, I don’t know what is! (he still wasn’t convinced… more googling was involved, I’ll spare you the details of the next few hours)
Chalk paint, which is not to be confused for chalk BOARD paint (although, it might work for that) is the greatest invention ever! It is the toughest paint I’ve ever worked with. If you like to distress things, this is the technique for you. Everything in my house is gonna look like it’s “from the ’80′s”, as my son would say, if I have anything to say about it!
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| The final product |
I’ll be honest, I haven’t tried the plaster. No need, the non sanded grout works AMAZINGLY. Although, I will say, do NOT rush out to Home Depot. Their grout SUCKS! I’ll show you why later.
Chalk Painting and The Todd
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Great 3/2 Home for Sale on a Huge Cul de Sac Lot in a NON-HOA Neighborhood!!
You will not want to miss this home! Very rarely do these homes come on the market, and there’s a reason for that! No HOA, and a HUGE cul de sac yard… let your imagination run wild!
Great 3/2 Home for Sale on a Huge Cul de Sac Lot in a NON-HOA Neighborhood!!
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