Wednesday, March 7, 2012

ten questions

I have a guilty pleasure. Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio is fantastic, in a big way. I dvr it religiously. So far, my favorite episodes have been Kate Hudson, Betty White and George Clooney. The show gives insight to your favorite actors' lives and careers.

My favorite part of the show is toward the end. James Lipton, the host, asks ten questions that originated from a french television host named Bernard Pivot. Watching the show so much, I got to thinking about what my answers are to these questions. I thought it would be fun to share

What is your favorite word?  Bless

What is your least favorite word?  No

What turns you on?  Laughter

What turns you off?  Lack of ambition

What sound do you love?  Two things: the sound of a champagne cork popping & my cats' meow

What sound do you hate?  Finger nails scratching grosgrain ribbon or another fabric with similar texture

What is your favorite curse word?  F*$k

What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?  Interior designer

What profession would you not like to do?  Mortician

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?  Come on in, my dahlin'! Some of your favorite people already started the party.

What would your answers be? And don't you want to watch the show now to find out the answers to your favorite stars??? I highly suggest it.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

operation: make us a home - trunk edition

This has been a long post coming. You remember my camp trunk? I finally got around to transforming it.

I started way back before the holidays. B & I went to OKC to visit my parents. They have an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint dealer near so Mom and I made a trip and picked my paint. I knew I wanted a pop of color and it needed to be different from my chairs and area rug. Too much blue mixing and it would have looked ridiculous and matchy match {my most hated decorating idea}. So, I chose Antibes Green.

Upon first look what does one see?


The Incredible Hulk.

Look passed the brightness and know that there are techniques to tone it down.

I started with my muscle, AKA, the husband.


Since this piece had raised lettering I did have to do a little sanding so it would be an even surface. Thank goodness for B and an electric sander.

Then we moved onto the painting. Since chalk paint is so wonderful there was no need for priming. I could have if I wanted and it would have probably taken less paint, but there was no need, per say.




My assistant fell asleep on the job.

I did have to apply several coats since the red and the lettering were pretty dark but it dries so fast I still managed it all in one evening. After the painting was done, I moved on to waxing. I knew that to mask the Incredible Hulk green I would need to use more of the dark wax than I used on my chairs. 

I applied dark wax and then clear wax, using a rag to wipe away some of the dark wax. I had to do this several times to get the texture or look that I really wanted. I struggled with the look for a while. I wanted it done before Thanksgiving since we were hosting so I just got through that part quickly. It was good enough to have as my end table for the holidays.

After the holidays, I finally got back to the project. I then had to find feet for my trunk! I thought this was going to be significantly easier than it was. Mostly because I'm thrifty...I did not want bun feet. The trunk is so boxy that adding round feet would have looked so awkward. I finally found reasonable feet from Van Dykes Restorers.

I painted them, waxed them and then again turned to the muscle for assistance. B had to drill a hole through the bottom of the trunk. We then used a drill to attach the feet and such. I used some gold Rub 'n Buff on the hardware and edges of the trunk and voila!


I used some of my favorite books, a wedding photo, an artisan pot that we got as a wedding gift (I had no where to display it before) and a yummy candle to accessorize and I'm done!

I'm not sure if there are really any other projects I can do to the apartment. I guess B & I will just have to start the house hunt....what a pain ;) I jest, but ohhh man, will the house projects be aplenty when we find the right house! Until then, I'll enjoy my comfortable apartment living.