She even told us that we don’t have to paint it back when we move out! Woohoo!

Of course, that means more work on our plates, because now I’ll be painting the stairwell this color and the 4th wall of the living room that really just facilitates a 1/2 bath door and a shoe cabinet — but less of that grungy white paint, the better! Our stairwell currently has various shades and sheens of white everywhere from the various patch jobs the last tenant did. What was she thinking!? Whatever! Now to figure out how to paint our 10 foot high stairwell…

Horrah for the landlord’s approval! :)

This is what we started with:

So two weeks ago I decided to tackle the dark, heavy bookcase which would, in the end, help lighten the room up a bit. First thing’s first, remove all the CRAP from the bookcase. Make sure you give it a good wipedown with a damp rag, just to get the dust off. Don’t use dusting spray or any chemicals, as it might make the primer not stick as well.

After I taped off the doors, I pulled out the supplies I needed. Mine included some paint brushes (both bristle and sponge), some mini rollers, a drop cloth for the floor (since I was doing it inside, but helpful none-the-less), my primer and my paint. Oh, and gloves! Since the primer is oil based, it will be a pain to get off your hands, so just grab some latex gloves when you pick up your supplies!

By now you should have your bookcase lying down and ready to paint. Luckily the boyfriend had some cinder blocks in the back yard, so I used those to prop the bookcase up so I could get all around it without worrying about getting the floor.

Then it’s time to start priming!! I think I did 2 coats of primer and a third for touch ups. Mine wasn’t mixed very well — had I known when I purchased it, I would have had the paint counter shake it up for me. It’s a good time to warn about the smell and fumes. I don’t recommend doing this inside if you don’t have to. I was desperate to get it done (and stubborn!) so I went through with it — but it stinks to high heaven, and I had to take a couple breaks due to lightheaded-ness. That’ll bode well for future-me!

The primer didn’t stick as well as I would have liked, and that could have been due to the humidity or my lack of patience in letting it cure long enough. Regardless, the end result turned out decent enough.

Let me tell you — those doors were a pain! I almost said screw it, because they are double sided and the paint and primer kept seeping into the holes and just filling it up. Thank goodness for screwdrivers to clean them out later! (Invest in a powerdrill, kiddies!)

So I had 5 shelves and 2 doors to prime and paint. Hm.. How’d I do it? Well, initially, like this:

Books come in handy, yanno! ;) After that, I just lined them all up on a cardboard box on top of our dining chairs.

Also, make sure to sand between coats! It’ll cut down on the bumps and brush strokes you’ll have in the end.

I’d suggest giving at least 30 minutes between primer coats, an hour before painting and a half hour between paint coats. I’m sure elsewhere you’ll hear wait longer, but, well, I’m impatient, and that timing seemed to work out just fine for me.

In the process of redoing the bookcase I decided I wanted it farther away from the window, so it didn’t crowd that area as much. That really helped! Later this week I’ll show you our living room as it is today.

From far away it looks like a white bookcase, but up close you can see that it was painted, especially around the doors where some of the paint peeled off when I removed the tape.

But it’s made better by the sweet knobs the boyfriend spotted at Ikea in the as-is section for 2 bucks!

So what do you think? Much better, right? I would have loved to purchase a new bookcase, probably something like the CB2 kickstand bookcase, but this is much more economical — and we have a couch to save up for!!

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Here is a breakdown of my costs:

Primer: $10 for a quart — it was just enough, so if you have a bigger piece, get two quarts!

Paint: Already had on hand.

Brushes/rollers/sponges: $8

Paint trays: $2

Gloves: On hand already.

Painter’s tape: On hand already.

So for about twenty bucks, I repainted this bookcase, gave it a new look and helped lighten up our dark living room in one weekend! Hoozah! Stay tuned for an overall shot of the room to see how much it helped me lighten up the space!

He is way too dark! In my old apartment he worked, but now that we have a lighter, airier feel to the space (not yet, that is), I want something lighter! So this weekend, I plan to tackle the bookcase with some primer, some paint, and git-r-done! I was inspired, and plan to follow Centsational Girl’s post on painting laminate furniture.

So Billy, get ready to meet your match! (Wish me luck, DC has been suffering some serious humidity so this’ll be an indoor project..)

We also managed to get a lot of our small stuff in this weekend, but with all the dressers and bookcases and everything still at our apartments, we just have boxes lying around.

Silly me packed away my camera cord, so you’ll have to imagine that the dark iPhone photos you are about to see are actually a lot lighter. To recap, this is the old living room and master bedroom:

Pretty plain and boring huh? Personally I think the white makes the space look extremely dingy. But with our new colors, the space has more dimension and warmth.

Sadly the lighting is not very good. These were taken late in the day, and right after a thunderstorm, so it’s very dark. But we’re making progress! And it will all come together very quickly!

Time to get back to packing and cleaning. Such is the life of a perpetual mover!

First up was the living room. I wanted to go with something that was fun, comfortable and modern. A space that evoked both leisure and style, the living room is the heart of our home. I know, I know — the kitchen is supposed to be the heart of the home, but I imagine we will spend countless hours watching TV, playing Wii, reading, listening to music (both iPod and the boyfriend’s guitar) and hosting a friend or two.

With that in mind, I present the rough moodboard for our space. Nothing has been purchased yet (except that lovely Wayne Pate print) so things may get altered slightly..

What do you think? I decided that since I’m really in love with the mid-century modern style, I wanted to reflect that in our home. Let’s break it down, shall we?

• Room and Board Jasper Couch in Dela Charcoal — This is the big purchase for the room. We have a Room and Board store opening up 2 days after we move in, and are planning to check it out and sit on this sofa to make sure it aces the comfort test. I wanted to go with a darker fabric color that grounded the space, but not black, as I thought that would be too dark. The charcoal grey is perfect. This particular fabric choice will be special order, but should be totally worth it.
• Koldby Rug from Ikea — Originally I had wanted to go with a shag rug, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. While both rugs will probably be hard to keep clean, I’ll feel better about the shorter “hair” length that the cowhide rug will have. Lord knows what would end up in the shag with two sloppies and a kitteh. The plan will be to get one that has some brown in it, some white, and a lot of black to really anchor the room. Plus, if we get it in a shade similar to this one, Kira (the kitteh) will blend right in. :)
• Conical Floor Lamp by CB2 — I have been in love with the Arne Jacobsen floor lamp for some time, but cannot bring myself to spend $800 on a lamp (much like a certain blanket..). So when I came across the Conical Floor Lamp from CB2, I knew it would be a good fit. And even better, there are two light sources, and they tilt to the side and all the way up!
• Accessories to Tie it All Together — These are just as important as the big ticket items! I am still not 100% on a ceiling lamp yet — you see, we don’t have a ceiling socket, so my originally intended George Nelson saucer lamp has been delegated to the dining room. In it’s place, I was thinking something simple and rounded, and I thought this black Ikea Brasa lamp would be perfect. We also have a Spike Clock in colorful hues that will be perfect for a variety of accessories to fit into the scheme and go along with the mid-century feel. And while the color is still debatable (I love it, the boyfriend does not) we have a throw pillow in a bright and bold color as well as one that adds a bit of texture to the couch.
• Color Palette — Our base color for the room, aka the walls, is Valspar’s Oatlands Subtle Taupe which will be a nice, neutral base for the bold and colorful accessories. Accessories will be in a range of grey, (hopefully) chartreuse and salmon/orange/red. We may even toss some turquoise in there to cool it off.

Altogether, I am excited to make this a reality. The last 10 months of living in my current space have been a bit of a disappointment because I knew it wasn’t going to last. Finally seeing a moodboard become reality will be extremely satisfying.

What do you think? Anything you’d change? Anything you love? I’d love to know what you think!

If you weren’t lucky enough to get the free paint last round (back in May/June), you’ll be happy to know that Glidden is offering paint again! The process is a little different this time, but if you have something you’ve been dying to paint — here’s your chance!

What’s your project? What paint color did you choose? I am thinking of getting Bittersweet Chocolate for my coffee table, cause it really needs it!!

Get paintin’!

Coverage
While my Glidden Shakespeare Green covered one large wall and another medium sized wall with ease, we were not as fortunate with the Duron brand. Because the green wasn’t super dark, I assumed I could forgo using a primer. But at the rate we’re going, it would’ve benefited me greatly to have used a primer and saved myself some time, money and stress. We have put two coats on most of the green, and there are still variations in the look of the paint, meaning it’s going to need a third coat. I just do not understand why a light wall color, covered with white paint, would need three coats. Two, I could handle — you know, cover those spots you missed, but three is just crazy, in my opinion.

Quality
To be honest, I was surprised at the quality. Based on the price, I figured this had to be some good paint! But the latex paint dried too quickly and left the bottom of the pan a mess, so that when the rolled when through the paint, then to the wall, we ended up with wonderful little latex globs on the wall.. Talk about a pain!

Smell
It’s been a week since we painted the first two coats of paint. I’ve cooked, I’ve cleaned, I’ve had the balcony door open — the smell is just now starting to diminish a bit.

Price
I can handle bad paint — when it’s cheap. This stuff isn’t sold in Home Depot (at least, not around me) so I had to find a specific store in the industrial district that is mostly used by contractors. Their hours are inconvenient — I could not get a gallon during the week because they are only open from 9-5 and only on Saturday from 8-12. No Sundays. Which is why the walls still aren’t finished.. So what was the damage? $40. Fourty dollars for one gallon of white paint.

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When it comes down to it, I give Duron Paint a 1 out of 5. It was inconvenient to locate a store, it had a high odor, and quality and coverage were poor.

I want to make a disclaimer that I am writing this review not out of disrespect for the Duron brand, but so that other’s might know what they are going into before painting a rental’s walls. Had I known it was going to cost me over $100, supplies included, to paint my walls back to white, I probably would have forgone the green paint in favor of other decorative accessories.

Have you had any products lately that you’ve been disappointed in? Have you had different results with Duron paint?