Fireplace goes black!

Another painting project on my list was done! YaY! My original bronze fireplace finally got touched up to black. This is my first project of painting using spray paint. So scared to do it at first but I did it!

Here is her look that came with the house when we bought. I have to tell you that all hardware and light fixtures in this house are in brass, 1960s' style. Fireplace was not brass, I guess it's called bronze?? Since we plan to get rid of the brass look so this bronze fireplace must go too.

And here is her new look!

If you are wondering about " How to", below might help.

1. Clean surface with Lysol Dual action. I used this one because one side of wiper is rough and suppose to clean well.
2. Sand it with steel wool. Thank you anonymous employee at  ACE Hardware who suggested to use this product to get rid of its shine without leaving scratch.
3. Repeat step#1
4. Wipe with paper towel or any clean dry towel.
5. Spray primer, I use Rust-Oleum black primer. Let it dry for 1 hour.
6. Spray Rust-Oleum black heat resistant. Thanks again to that anonymous ACE employee.
7. Second coat spray paint. FYI, the heat resistance  Rust-Oleum only came in Gloss and Flat. I wanted satin finished so I used Rust-Oleum Double Cover 2X in Satin black for my second coat.

Again....before and after ^___^

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Get Pottery Barn dresser look for less!

I'm so excited with this project! I have this dresser since 2008 when my girl was born. It came in original natural pine wood color.  Along with my kids' growing, his dresser became decorated with stickers and tapes all over.  When we moved, we had to make decision what to keep and what to sell. The craftsmanship of this one was too great to put on Craigslist for $25. I insisted to keep it.....I had a plan ^__^

I fell in love with this Pottery Barn Tall Boy Dresser from Farmhouse collection which is $1299  OMG >_<"

I found great tutorial here to give an espresso finished to your furniture. Her blog and method used is fabulous. I follow her instruction carefully except for one thing, I used thin black sock from Dollar Trees instead of my hubby's athlete white sock as the original tutorial did. Reason?

       1. My hubby didn't like the idea that his socks would get stolen.
       2. I tried couple of thick white socks and it left some streaky mark unless you make a very thin layer as her suggestion.
       3. I'm not good with using foam brush either (as another blogger used).
       4. No socks from hubby allowed, no problem, $1 / pair at Dollar Trees! I tried both white and thin black. The latter works better.

Too bad I was so excited to try and forgot to take picture before starting. I have pic from 2 years ago with my little girl having fun with red jello!

At first I hand sanded but it didn't get rid of all sticky things. I tried using nail polish remover and power sanded after...yeah..came out really smooth. After many days of painting, drying and polishing, I got this!!

Now I've just started my new project.....bathroom makeover.... which I will use this technique to stain the vanity again. Stay tuned!

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