We always pop into the powder room to ‘refresh’, but what if that powder room needed a little refresher too? Well, that was the case with our main floor loo.

Hey! It’s been a hot minute (cough – a year – cough) but here I am. No reason for the absence except ‘life’ – I love my blog but I also love my job, my kids, my husband, my friends etc. I don’t love my laundry yet it remarkably still keeps taking up my time. Regardless, I’m back (my plan is to post a blog twice a week), and with me, I bring a paint update.

I know it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been on this blog, but hey, life gets busy when you are a full-time working mom with a long commute. And let’s face it, no one probably noticed I was missing anyway as we are all so busy these days!

But, if you are interested in what I’m up to on the old homestead, I’m getting ready to freshen up the “heart of the home” with some paint!

When I last left you in Chace’s “modern farmhouse bedroom redo” we had the faux wood wallpaper installed and the walls painted. If you are new, you can catch up on the vision for this space by reading about the mood board here.

However, before that I shared the hand me down loft bed that we inherited from a friend whose son had outgrown it.

Yes I know, cliche but SO true! What a difference paint can make!

The basement of our house is multifunctional. Part of it is Chef Kev’s media room (or “man cave” as some may say… but not me, because that term kind of annoys me) and the other part is a one bedroom (currently vacant) income suite. And ALL of it was UGLY.

For reals. Industrial blue/grey carpet, painted brown trim and doors (nope, not wood but deliberately painted milk chocolate brown trim and doors). And yes, it was oil based. And the cherry on top? Well, not a cherry but rather mustard. Yes, mustard yellow walls to go with the blue carpet and milk chocolate trim and doors.

Yum.

It was all kinds of special. The top two floors of our house had been nicely updated by past owners but heading down the basement was like entering a different dimension. We are going to renovate the basement down the road and will update the carpet at that time so for now it stays. However, milk chocolate had to become white chocolate and mustard had to become grey. It was an order (by me).

But enough about that… you want before and afters right? I’ll share the space leading down to Chef Kev’s non-man-cave but save the suite paint for another post.

Oh, and due to the MONSTROSITY of this job (four coats on all the trim and doors anyone?), we hired it out. Thank goodness for Uncles who paint #unclechrisforthewin! #andhisfriendmike

Opening the door to head to the basement used to look like this (not too ugly yet but just you wait)…

(See, the real ugly is starting).

But now it looks like this:

And now…

We still have a ton to do in here (details in this post) but it’s starting to take shape!

Before:

Oh, notice the brown venetian shades too? Evvverywherrrre down here…. But gone now… We have some white ones that are going to be installed this weekend.

The other side of the room before:

And now:

And one more thing to note, looking towards the hall before you will see we had three doors in about 6 square feet (the one you can’t see is the one I showed earlier which leads to the hall between our side and the suite). THREE. Weird.

So, now we have one (the one you can’t see from this angle but I promise it’s there). Because, ain’t nobody got time for three doors!

So, here we are! Still a lot to do but SO much fresher and brighter. And the carpet doesn’t even look half bad now since it’s paired with colours that MAKE SENSE!  Sorry, to yell, just passionate that milk chocolate and mustard never ever need to meet again.

Progress!

Last month I left you with our progress on the double desk in our office/bonus room. At that point it was looking like this:

The desk was complete but in need of stain (if you are new to this blog you may wish to catch up on the vision for this space here).

Well, wait no more. Ta da!

Stained!

We went with a nice rich brown that was deep, but not too dark. Here is how we did it…

First, I taped around the wood desk top along the walls and cabinets. The desk is fixed to the wall so I could not pull it out.

Then, I gave the desk a thorough light sanding (220 grit sandpaper) and followed that with a tack cloth to pick up all the dust.

Next, I did a coat of wood conditioner. Wood conditioner is great for prepping your surface to receive the stain uniformly. I used Miniwax Water based Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner. I chose the water based product because it has less fumes and clean up is easier.

I applied the wood conditioner with a brush and used a rag to rub it in and pick up the excess conditioner. After it dried I did another light sand and followed again with a tack cloth.

For the stain, I tested a water based stain (on a scrap piece of wood) but was not happy with the results. In the end I went with a oil based version as I liked the finished product better. I chose Varathane Ultimate Wood Stain in Chocolate.

To apply, I used a foam brush and applied quickly in sections. Then I followed with a rag to rub it in and pick up the excess stain. You can use a brush or rag to apply but I opted for a foam brush because I could just throw it away when done. I hate cleaning brushes after they have been used with an oil based product. Blech.

I only needed one coat of the stain, so once that was dry I applied my first coat of polyurethane. The poly protects the surface and helps seal in the stain.

For the poly, I went with Miniwax Oil-modified Polyurethane.