Painting Mistake #9483294829

AghhhhHHHHHhhhhh!!!!!!! Here we go again. I think I have more posts now on painting mistakes than I do on painting tips. Oh well, such is life.

So, we are working on building built-in cabinets in our kitchen around the refrigerator (super excited!) We have the basic frame built and decided to prime before installing the shelves/trim/etc. because it would give us easier access to the nooks in the crannies in the back of the unit. So far, so good.

(And yes, many more posts on this project coming soon!)

In all of our PAST projects, we've used Kilz primer and its worked incredibly well. It stinks to high heaven when you are applying it, but the smell usually dissipates very quickly as it dries, and it dries within a few hours. (The label even says it is dry within the hour) Works for us!

Until the lady with pregnancy brain is the one sent to Home Depot, and buys a different version of Killz than we've used in the past!

Instead of buying the Kilz 2 Latex Primer (on right), I bought Kilz Complete (on left).

I should have been tipped off when Evan started telling me how it was going on better than he ever remembered (I guess thats the pro! Evan thought it went on thicker and smoother)

HOWEVER, the stuff stinks. LIKE REALLY REALLY REALLY STINKS!

Of course I kept my distance and was upstairs or outside during the afternoon while he was working, but I remember thinking as he was finishing priming that it smelled faintly stronger than I remembered. (Of course I chalked it up to my heightened sense of smell... at first...) But come 10:30 at night when we needed to close the windows on the first floor before heading up to bed, the smell became CONSUMING and I could start smelling it upstairs. Well, that was an instant deal breaker for me so at 10:45 we packed our bags and headed to my in-laws to sleep. Being pregnant, I'm not taking a any chances! 

Now its Sunday and we have every window open in the house and every fan we own blowing at high speed. Still, Tuckie (the dog) and I are on the deck enjoying the fresh air and I think this is where we will be parked until heading back to my in-laws again tonight! The room STILL stinks but it is getting much, much better.

Why the difference? I think it all comes down to the fact Kilz complete is oil based and the Kilz 2 we usually use is Latex (and water based). We've only ever used Latex paints before in our house projects and I would absolutely stick to them going forward. Even though they say oil based primer is more durable and smoother, we've had such good experiences with the Kilz latex paint in previous projects that without a doubt any benefits of using an oil based primer are outweighed by the terrible smell issue! I'm sooooo mad I didn't look closer at the label! I don't know what I was thinking.... Oh well, lesson learned. Again!

For more posts on my painting mistakes, go here: 

Painting Tips I've Learned from Mistakes I've Made

Fixing Another Design Mistake

Lately!!

I feel like I say this every time I post, but I'll say it again: It's been too long!

I have a dozen projects and updates to share, but instead of delving into each one I'll just give you the overall big picture of what I've been up to lately.

• First and foremost I'll say that lately it has been babies on the brain!! I'm currently 17 weeks 5 days :)We find out the baby's gender next week! I can honestly say I've never been so excited for anything in my life (with the exception of maybe my wedding!)
• We are slowly putting the nursery together. We got the crib and the changing table!
• This weekend I started getting out the fall decorations.. It has been so cool here the last couple of days, I love it!
• Finally started buying some maternity clothes. It was really rough at first (too many low quality EXTREMELY high priced items) but finally found some things I like that are SO comfortable and didn't break the bank.
• Cravings.... This week its frozen yogurt with fresh fruit! Could be worse ;)
• We also spent a lot of Labor Day weekend working on a kitchen project that I will share soon... :)

Hope you are all doing great, if anyone even still reads this!! I promise I'll give more detailed updates soon

Finishing Touches in the Master Bath

Along with the kitchen, this is like the project that will never end! A couple of weeks ago we decided to bite the bullet and work on the finishing touches.

First, I made a lovely (and much needed) shelf for above the tub. So easy - literally a couple of corbels from Home Depot ($8 each) and a board, painted white. Of course Evan was the one who actually drilled it into the wall (So tough w/plaster walls!)

Then we hung up the last towel rod... (by we once again I mean Evan!)

The final result! Woo hoo

We also put some "baseboard" tile around the bottom of the shower. Water was starting to stain the lower part of the wall, so tile here was much needed.

Tuckie helped too :) 

Now we just have to have the bathtub re-coated and we'll be all set! :) I'm ready for a bubble bath!

(Sorry about the white balance in these pictures... so hard to get it right in this small space!)

5-Year Anniversary!!

This past Friday Evan and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary! We were married 8/16/2008. It some ways it seems like it was just yesterday that we were married and in some ways it feels like we've been married forever!

When I look back on these last 5 years I cannot help but feel SO BLESSED! We have a wonderful family, an abundance of amazing friends, good health, a happy home, jobs in which we continue to grow, a crazy pup, and of course a baby on the way! It's truly more than I could have hoped for.

Here are some pictures of our big day:

You Guessed It!! :)

Baby B is due to make his or her arrival on February 8, 2014 :)

We are so excited we can barely stand it! It's been a really long time coming and we feel truly blessed!

I'm 13 weeks tomorrow, woo hoo! I'm just now starting to have a little baby bump, which is super fun. The not so fun part? I have had the worst "evening sickness" (as opposed to morning sickness) for the last 7 weeks. Every single night starting at about 6 or 7:00pm, without exception.  I'm hoping now that I'm sliding into my second trimester it will start to subside. However, even if it doesn't, it is still completely worth it. I tell myself it just means the baby is growing so that it is a GOOD thing :)

In the meantime, Evan's been taking really good care of me, and the dog, and the house.... He's a saint! (Don't let his pillow-stuffed shirt and grimace fool you in that picture, lol)

We are diving into decorating the nursery (and un-decorating the office) this weekend so I'll definitely share pictures!

Oh and in case you are wondering, we are definitely going to find out the sex. The plan is to share the gender of the baby with family and friends immediately, but keep the name a secret until the baby is born.

That's all for now! Thanks for sharing in our excitement :)

Has it really been a MONTH? Huge Makeover in Progress!

TIME FLIES! I seriously cannot even tell you where the last month has gone.

 

But we do have an exciting house project going on. This room is about to get a major overall in form and function. Goodbye 2nd floor office!

 

 

Can you guess why???????? :) :) :)

Parade of Homes 2013 - House #3

Ahhh sorry for the delay! Life has been a little bit crazy (but in all good ways!)  :)

Here is another house! Same designer as the last one. I don't love this one quite as much... its a little too light and white for me, but still pretty cool. 

What do you think?