A mini redo, white on white
cottage, Hand Painted Furniture, Kitchen remodel 
Before I went on my trip, I had one night alone. Totally alone. No girls, no sons, my husband was out of town, I was on my own.
I thought about going to a movie. Instead I decided to paint the kitchen.
But I bought the world's worst paint and only got as far as the mud room part of the kitchen. Here is the after, pure white walls. I've always wanted a white on white room, but I usually tint everything ivory or tan, or cream.
Here is the before, see, the walls are tan, with a green ceiling. It's now white with a faded birds egg blue ceiling.
I used the same pure white to paint the cabinet/pantry door in that area.
Here is the before, ivory with a coffee colored wash over it, and a topiary painting. Some of the trim had broken off, that had been bothering me.
Once the trim was repainted, the missing pieces didn't show. I did the center in chalkboard paint (mix plaster of paris into any paint color to make some). I'd love to repaint all of the kitchen cabinets pure gloss white, I think I'm ready for all white cabinets. But first, I'll keep an eye on this area to see if I still like it after a while, or if I only like it now because I wanted a change.
The same chalkboard paint was used on the girls' table in hopes that they wouldn't redo my cabinet door for me. But they already have, as well as Dewdrop deciding the floor could be drawn on too. Not a big deal, it wipes off, but still a bit messy.
I think I'll paint their table back to normal, the chalkboard paint isn't the best choice for it. They use that table for play dough, making cupcakes, and all sorts of activities. A fresh coat of white might be better, and I'm already tired of the chalk dust.
High gloss pure white from Behr was what I used on the trim, cabinet, and kitchen table top (over bonding primer for the cabinet, since it was previously done in oil paint) I used the paint and primer in one, and have always LOVED Behr paint. But when I used the new, one coat paint and primer called Marquee in eggshell for the walls, I absolutely hated it. Instead of one coat, it took 5-6 for white to cover soft tan. Crazy! and exhausting. An afternoon's work turned into two days.
I love having my table redone in a clear clean white! But it was a little too bright, so I flicked some splatters of tan on it with a toothbrush before doing a clear, protective top coat.
This is the original painted surface on the table.
This is what it is now, white with speckles. I left the chairs and table legs as they were, it is only the table top that needed a freshening up.
I also painted the inset area behind the kitchen sink the same blue as the slanted ceiling in the mud room to the right.
Maybe I'll paint the kitchen walls pure white (eggshell) like the mudroom too, I really like it. But I will never, ever use that Marquee paint again. I'll go back to the regular Behr paint or even switch to Valspar.
When I paint, I don't tape off or use drop cloths, I've had a lot of practice, and with good paint, there aren't many drips. But the Marquee brand from Behr flew everywhere when I used a roller and dripped in huge blotches, ran down the wall and was a total wreck.
I only had time to paint one part of the kitchen instead of the whole room. Which I guess will give me a chance to decide if I want to repaint it all white or try something else when I get around to doing it again. Without Marquee. Or as I was calling it, Machiavellian.
And I had thought about trying the chalkboard markers for a tidier sketching experience. But from what I hear, they are hard to remove unless you are drawing on real slate chalkboards. Regular chalk is already looking messy on the door, so I might have to make some changes here too.
I could paint the bottom half white again, and just have the chalkboard part higher, so the smudging from little fingers is less.
This isn't exactly part of the studio, but kind of an extension of it. When I have crafty events, we spill out onto the patio. So, this counts as something new to show for the blog tour, right?
