The (surprising) color every room needs!

Hello my friends! I hope you had a great weekend -- we had a lovely one with friends and family. It was a good distraction from the sadness I've felt lately. My sister is moving away tomorrow and I've been dreading this day for months. I don't know how in the world I'm going make it a week without seeing her or my baby niece. I was reminded this weekend that it could be so much worse, and I know this. I'm trying to keep in mind that we'll be able to talk whenever we want -- I will just miss them so much. 

If any of you live in the Wheeling area of West Virginia and could hug my sister's neck for me once and awhile, please let me know. :) I'm glad to be writing to you all today because it always makes me feel better! 

I've been busy working on our basement fireplace and hope to have an update to share with you this week. I'm so excited about it! I'm thinking about my next steps for down there and I was reminded of my absolute favorite addition when it comes to decorating. I've said it for years but it's worth sharing again -- nearly every room can take some black accents! 

Whether they are small (frames or small furniture) or big like walls, I am absolutely obsessed with the understated drama that black adds to a room. I've always said it grounds a space and it never fails. 

I went mostly white in our office/loft makeover this summer but I knew all along I wanted the contrast of black in here as well -- I added that with the lights and the large DIY chalkboard: 

The beauty of black is that it works even when your walls aren't white. I know some worry that it will  make a room feel heavy and it can...but if you have a fairly neutral space it will only add to your space! 

I recently transformed this old table into a bar cart and knew it needed to be black. It was the perfect contrast in this spot: 

I discovered that green and black is one of my favorite combos when I moved one my favorite dressers up to the guest room earlier this year: 

I also love our black metal bed in that room too. There are a few colors that it doesn't pair with as well -- I used to have a yellow and black laundry room and it went a little bumblebee. ;) 

And if you already have dark walls it may be a little much to have solid black pieces. But especially in rooms with gray, white or neutral walls like ours, it looks fantastic: 

I would totally paint a room black and was going to paint my husband's office dark, it just hasn't happened yet. :) If a whole room is too scary for you, you can do a smaller accent wall like I did on the stairs. I still love it! It demands your attention but doesn't make it feel heavy at all. 

I love chalkboard walls and it's not because they are fun to write on (they are). It's that pop of black: 

This small wall in our kitchen was perfect for it and now it's a great spot for doodling and lists, but also gives some nice contrast. 

This painted dresser in our family room is one of my favorites -- the white trim around the room makes it pop: 

And that hardware that I didn't like before is now perfection against the dark color. Funny how it completely changed how I felt about that brass! 

And you know what? I don't even mind TV's that are hung on the wall, because they give you the same feel: 

There's a hint at one of my favorites in that picture -- if you don't want to go dark on furniture or walls, you can always do the doors: 

All of our interior doors on the main floor and basement are black and I would do it again a million times over. They are classic and I love them against the white trim. 

One of my first dark doors was our glass pantry door: 

I'm itching to get started on the upstairs but there are seven to do! It's going to take me another year at least. :) 

I have black accents in nearly every room of our house, and I'm always looking for ways to add it to the rooms that don't! 

Do you use black paint in your home? Have you taken the plunge with black doors? It doesn't have to be anything large!The black lines of a coffee table, frames on the wall or even the legs of a chair all help to give you that look. 

To see the paint colors I used in these spaces go here! 

The lazy person's guide to painting furniture

Hey there! I've been thinking a lot about projects I want to finish up before the end of the year -- especially those that I promised myself I would finish up. One is our guest room and I only have a couple more projects to do that I've put off for months! 

I finally bit the bullet on a bigger one the other day. I decided I was going do it in the quickest and easiest way possible because sometimes you just want to get it done. This is a tutorial on the fastest way to paint furniture for when you're feeling the same. :) 

I told you about these inexpensive IKEA dresser/night stands a few months ago: 

I also shared some of the many ways you can dress them up. The possibilities are endless with these unfinished pieces! For now I didn't have any grand plans in mind -- I just wanted to get them painted. I may add to them later but I actually a little in love with how they turned out. 

In general I'm not one to say you need to do things perfectly when it comes to DIY projects. I think it discourages people from trying to do things themselves when people like me say it needs to be perfectly done. YOU will be the main person seeing what you do in your house. As I've said many, many times -- if someone notices that something isn't perfect then they get a cookie cause that means they are super observant. But really, it better be your mate, sister or best friend who would actually tell you it isn't perfect because anyone else saying it is just mean. Ha! ;) 

I will tell you -- this job would be much easier if I had done it before I built the dressers. Keep that in mind if you purchase these. I could have just painted the frame and the drawer fronts. But because these are made to "catch" and don't slide out all the way (unless you remove some stuff), I just taped them off and covered them with paper: 

Usually I paint furniture with a brush and roller, but we're talking fast this time. These dressers are so small I knew spray paint would make much quicker work of it. 

I've tried two primers in the spray paint version -- BIN and Kilz. I prefer BIN out of the can but their spray drives me nutty. It has never sprayed well for me. This time I used the Kilz spray and it performed MUCH better: 

I will be using this brand from now on when I need to spray prime. 

This furniture is super inexpensive because it's made from cheaper pine and it has knots in it. If you want to paint these a lighter color you'll need to prime well -- those knots will bleed through if you don't. Sometimes it takes a while but they always will (with white). Even sometimes with great primer they'll come through white paint -- I've touched up many spots over the years. 

Because of this I did a few coats where there were knots:

It's important when spray painting to use short, quick bursts instead of long ones. Don't hold the nozzle down and just spray. Numerous lighter coats will work much better than one heavy one. 

I used this light gray color to paint the dressers: 

Here's a video to show how you should spray: 

I always do a light sanding between coats, whether I'm using rollers or a spray. You'll want do a sanding after the primer as well:

It doesn't have to be intense -- a quick sanding is fine! 

I picked this color for the night stands because I wanted to pull in the light blue/gray I'm using in this room:

Then it was time to decide on the knobs! I really didn't want to go buy something new right now -- even at the cheapest place I've found they probably would have been three bucks each. I knew I could make the wood knobs that came with it work: 

I sprayed them with the same primer and then white paint and started on my little crafting project. I thought it would be pretty to add a little design to them and knew the perfect item to do that -- paper napkins!:

I had these already and the color worked perfectly! (I've used napkins on a few projects but these coasters are a favorite gift idea.) I used the cap to my decoupage glue to trace the size I needed.

I cut them out and then put a layer of the glue on the knob:

I flattened out the napkin: 

And then put another coat on top immediately: 

Then you can use your finger to smooth everything out. I made sure the napkin was flat during this part. After they dried for about 20 minutes I did another coat. When these dry they are hard and cleanable! 

I had Mod Podge but chose to use some Decoart stuff I had in my craft stash because it dries in a glossy finish. These glues come in both matte and glossy and either work fine! 

This seriously turned out so cute. I'm a little obsessed with these pretty knobs! I've walked into the room a few times just to look at them: 

This isn't a dramatic makeover by any means but goodness, I really like it. It's simple and pretty and perfect for this room! 

If something strikes me eventually I may add more detail someday but I'm really happy with them: 

The color is so nice and soothing, just like the rest of the room. They work so well with the gray/blue colors in the bedding. And those knobs are a sweet little detail that goes well with the nod to farmhouse style in this room. 

Spray painting furniture is quicker for sure! I was able to prep and paint both of these in less than two hours (including dry time). Sometimes you just want to get it done! Remember you can also use a paint sprayer to do a custom color if you don't like your spray paint options:

The only caveat with using spray paint is it can get expensive if you're using it on larger pieces. I used nearly a can on each dresser (two coats each). You just have two weigh the convenience with the cost. 

Now, just one more project in here and I'll be sharing this whole before and after transformation! I'm determined to finish this one up before the end of the year. 

Here's a quick in progress shot I took for Instagram that you can pin if you'd like to try this technique on knobs: 

And here's a quick list of the items I used again for easy reference: 

Wood knobs 

Decoupage glue

Spray primer

Light gray spray paint

IKEA dressers

Have you tried this technique on knobs? Paper works too but it will not conform to the round edges like napkins will. Do you have any furniture pieces that you've spray painted? Another bonus to spray painting furniture is that it's oil based paint and gives you a great, tough finish once it cures. 

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