Seeing black in the kitchen

The Florida August heat has turned me positively nocturnal. It's just to hot during the day to do anything but hold a siesta in the shade with some icy lemonade in the shade near a body of cool water or indoors with the ac and the ceiling fan running. With my parents' arrival hanging over my head like my own personal version of Damocles' sword, I'm working overtime on a couple of easy and quick-to-finish projects.

No, not every bit of trim and door will be freshly painted before my parents arrive.
Yes, there'll be plenty of work left to do (not that I plan on doing anything but enjoy my family's company for those 3 weeks they are here and mmmmmaaaaaybe post the occasional update here).

However, pride doesn't allow me to slack just yet. I mean, this is the first time my folks will get to meet our Duckling house and by God, I want it to charm them just the way it did us!

One of the rooms I'm putting finishing touches on is our kitchen. It's - like pretty much all rooms - almost done (emphasis on 'almost'): I still need to build/buy/conjure open shelves to go on either side of the window, add new window treatments and finish painting the trim and door. So I thought I'd start with the 'hardware' of the room, grit my teeth and just "get'er done".

[Before: The door in the kitchen. Behind that is the laundry/mudroom]

Doesn't look so bad, eh? This is one of the nicer doors in the house. The paint job isn't as atrocious as on other doors and there's no obvious peeling. Ha! It had me fooled good - just like you. There's one teeny tiny chip that stuck out, and all I wanted to do was run the painter's tool over it to take it off ... and down came the entire paint job. Gah!

[It's raining paint chips ...]

Within seconds, the floor started to look like this. So much for an easy and quick job. I peeled and scraped and sanded and de-glossed and filled. Bleh ... While it's still my least favorite task, I've now learned to let my brain wander (which can be a bad thing ...). So, inspired by a few pictures I'd seen on pinterest and knowing I had the supplies right at hand, I went into the shed and rummaged through the paint storage for this:


Ta-da! Chalk board paint! I decided to turn the top panel of our vintage two panel door into a chalkboard for notes and reminders. The molded edge of the panel was quickly taped off and on went the first coat (of a total of four).

[Nothing is shabbier than a door in mid-progress:
first coat of spray chalk board paint]

[Better already: primed and ready for paint]

Once all the prep work was out of the way, the paint went on easily enough. Lately I've been using a dense foam roller instead of a brush and I've definitely developed a preference for it. Less chances of brush marks and easy rolling action. It also appears to be saving paint: the paint goes on thin and even and there are fewer drops and splats. Maybe I've just gotten the hang of and and am simply less messy about the process, who knows?

[After: Chalkboard message board in our kitchen]

All is well that ends well. After hours of prep work and painting, the new old door is ready to convey all kinds of messages. The chalk paint was ready just in time for a first message when the husband returned from his trip to Ukraine. He absolutely loved it!