Let There Be White

I don't know if it's a feeble attempt to regain my innocence or just an easy solution to brightening a dark house, but lately I've been wanting to spray paint everything white.

I started with the flea market mirror for LevelHead Jr.'s bathroom. I think it turned a switch in my brain to PERMA-WHITE.  Furniture, wall décor, even fake foliage has come under my ultra-white gun.

After the mirror, I was so thrilled with the results that I needed more --- like a Diet Coke addict waiting for the next aspartame hit. I found a pub table on Craig's List (another of my addictions -- will discuss separately). The owner required that I come to his house to inspect, so I dragged Mr. Hubby with me. And I'm glad I did. The guy, resplendent with tattoos on each forearm, invited me to the back of his condo to check out the table. The Hubster's massive dose of testosterone kept the CL man's actions in check.

After negotiating a good price (thanks, LevelHead Dad for teaching me fierce skills), I knew that I would be painting its oak color, oh-so trendy in the '80s, a beautiful white. I used a roller and brush for the transformation. The process took many coats, and now I'm stuck with some brush stroke marks despite my concerted efforts to eliminate them. But it still looks pretty good.

Unfortunately, I made a newbie blogger mistake and forgot to take a ''before'' picture, but you can see the ''after'' below. I still have plans for Mr. Hubby to use his mad painting skills and add something to the top -- will post when he completes that.

Over the weekend, I continued my epic journey and painted a wreath and the nightstand in LevelHead Jr.'s room. Now, the nightstand was a long time coming. When we moved to the new house, I made the naive statement to LHJ that she could decorate her room any way she wanted.

Little did I know she'd actually hold me to it. I have to run every decision by her -- she's the worst micro-manager I've ever had. So when we found the table at a flea market for $7, I thought we had found the deal of the day. Plus, I knew it would look adorable painted white.

But who knew LJH preferred wood in its natural state? So we negotiated for weeks, and I finally found her Achilles' heel: the china doll from The Great and Powerful Oz. So my table is turning out to not be the be bargain I originally found, but at least I'm getting my way.

And this time I ditched the paintbrush and went for a spray can with primer and paint in one. This stuff is fabulous -- the table barely needs a second coat.

I'm also spray painting a wreath, but this is proving a little more difficult. Apparently, fake leaves are not meant to be altered in color. But I am not so easily defeated and will keep trying.

Here are some pics from my White Album: the bistro table in the kitchen nook; before and after shots of LHJ's nightstand; and the Wreath That Doesn't Want To Be White ..