DIY is NOT! My Middle Name

I have learned a lot of things through the process of blogging. One of the most recent lessons was…… Do not post on a project until it is at least near completion. Case in point-my porch. I am use to taking my time on projects.  You know me, I am the girl that is constantly saying, “ Enjoy the Process.” What I realized through my “ Enjoying the Process,”is that I made my readers wait to long for the final outcome.

With that being said, I did a post a week or so ago on Spring Fever. Well, during my feverish two weeks.(yes it only lasted 2 weeks and the illness has left me, depleted) I did do a few little projects. No, that is not true, I did two little projects and one that turned out to be waaaaay bigger than I originally thought.

The two little projects consisted of an original oil painting done by Dorothy Spangler and a rather ornate gold frame. This painting is full of bright Springy colors and was given to me as a gift from a very dear friend.
During my Spring Fever time I got a bee in my bonnet that this frame would look much better in white. I thought a soft white would look nice.  I read a lot of DIY blog post out in blog land and they do all kinds of wonderful projects. Surely I can spray paint a picture frame white.  If you read my Brocade post here, you know that their wonderful pieces done in white have always inspired me.
Well, I purchased the paint taped off the oil painting verrrrry carefully and began my project. I primed and began spraying. Everything was going along smoothly(including the finish) until all of the sudden I started seeing little tiny, tiny specks of paint that appeared to be dust caught in the spray paint. I stopped what I was doing and had to get Hubby to rescue me. After sanding between coats and putting a coat of gloss on top, thanks to him I now have a fresh looking ornate picture frame and a nice white frame for an antique mirror. I can show you the mirror and the picture frame but the other, bigger project is not quite done. Here is the before………….

BEFOREI love this original oil painting with its bright Spring colors but the frame looked a bit tired so after the spraying and painting it now looks like this………….

AFTER

I love how it now stands out in the room as a fresh bouquet of Spring flowers. The wall color is actually the color of vanilla ice-cream so the new color on the frame looks really nice.

Now for the little antique mirror that I bought at a garage sale. A couple was selling their grandmothers belongings. She had some beautiful pieces that I will share on another post. This is a small oval mirror. I like the way it turned out, but I needed to adjust some of the objects around it to make it work in the space better. More on that later! Notice how I do one thing and then it leads to another, Oh my!!

BEFORE

Here it is sitting in my wicker chair. I just noticed this is a great picture to show my ceiling treatment. It is a soft celadon green with white moldings. The chandelier is a 1930’s crystal piece . I love to add a little architecture to my suburban California ranch. Okay back to the mirror. Here is a close-up of the top detailing……….

This is all carved wood so it is pretty ornate.

AFTER

You can see that I need to put some white candles on the low boy underneath this piece. I am not sure what I will do exactly, but trust me when I make the change you all will be the first to know. For those of you who love antique clocks, this is a beauty. She is red marble with a bronze statue and has a wonderful porcelain face with numbers in the same color as the marble and in the center a lovely iris. This is one of my favorite pieces in my home.

A closer look at the now painted detail.

I realize that spray painting a couple of frames is no great shakes for most people but unfortunately it is kind of a big deal to this not so DIYer.

I am very pleased with the results and I think they add a fresher look to my living room. Now on to the “Other” bigger project. Boy, have I opened a can of worms,Yikes!!

“Enjoy the Process” Of: Giving something old a fresh new look.

Kathysue