One more Ore...

We have quite the selection of coastal décor in our home, one might think we actually live at the beach instead of Richmond.  Not yet!  I had purchased an ore some years back that I left a dark wood color that had rope around the neck.  It's hanging on our wall and I decided we needed one with some color!  I purchased an ore off of amazon for about $12 and here's the pic of the one I chose....

 

It actually was much lighter, a pine color, when it arrived.  I decided to paint it white as a base color so I sanded the surface to get it ready.  Here's what it looked like....

 

 

 

I taped off the areas I wanted to paint and chose a blue and yellow.  I had to make sure that all the tape was in a straight line all the way around the rounded part of the ore.  That was tricky but I made it work.  Here's the finished product.....

 

 

 

I sanded the edges and It turned out great.  In fact, I saved myself about $30-$40.  The ones I found on the internet that were  3-4ft in size were more than I wanted to spend.  So my solution, get creative and make it yourself!  I just love my new painted Ore! 



 

 

 





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Fireplace Re-do!

Don't be afraid to paint a fireplace.  Sometimes that's just what you need to make a room look more cohesive.  My parents have had the same house since I was 2 years old and the fireplace was always an eye sore.  The brick was so orange and the fireplace insert, buck stove, was black with gold trim.  Not a good combination!  It just always looked like it didn't compliment the room at all.  I think it was the stove insert that ruined it but it was so useful in the winter and my dad loved it.   So it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  I brought up the idea of painting the bricks so it would help the insert to disappear and really blend in instead of sticking out.  Here is a before picture but it's hard to see just how Orange the bricks really were......

It actually looks nice next to the gray walls in this picture, but Don't be fooled.  It needed a face-lift!  So we chose a Java color, really dark brown, and painted the bricks and mantle. 

 

 

It really had a more sleek look which is what we wanted and when you 1st glance in the black insert is not the first thing you see.  Here's a close up....

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, It is what the rooms needs.  Most people shy away from painting brick but if the original look is not your style, paint it!  Don't be afraid!  Some rooms just aren't meant to have that natural orange color of brick.  It will make such a difference to the way the room looks and feels and all with just a can of paint!  Using Paint and color in a room is one of the easiest ways to transform your look and an inexpensive fix as well :)

 



Coastal Cottage Wall hooks

I was given an iron wall hanging with hooks that I thought needing some jazzing up.  I have many items in my home that are coastal cottage and I thought this would make a great addition.  Here's the before picture of the wall hooks....

 

 

Nice looking wall hooks but I wanted a softer color that screamed Beach Décor with some shabby chicness!  So I did a dry bush technique and chose a coral-ish color to brush on.  I actually used this color which was $.50 at walmart.  It's an acrylic paint which works great with just about any surface you put it on.  I added a touch of a strawberry color I had to make it a bit less sherbert like.  I just lightly brushed on the first two coats and to try and get in some of the nooks and crannies of this iron scroll work.  I did a third coat so the color looked rich and finished. 

 

 

 

I lightly sanded the areas to let some of the original black iron to show through to give it that warn look.  I love anything that looks used and imperfect.  After the sanding and getting the right combo of dark to coral color, I did two coats of poly to seal it from chipping.  Here is a close up....

 

 

 

 

It really is that easy.  It's such fun to transform an item and give it new personality!  If that's not your thing and you have old iron hooks laying around, I'll gladly take them off your hands :)