Men are stupid!

I don't have pictures of my forehead and I may not have actually gotten bruised, but the lights in the master bathroom are dangerous!!! 


The placement of the lights is just bad.  They are too far away from the mirror on the side walls, so that when you lean forward to apply makeup, they are behind you.  Some stupid man made that call.  I bet his mascara is always a mess!!


Okay, not only are the lights in a bad location, the ones in this place protruded from the wall about 7 inches.  Who does that?  Every time I washed my face or put my contacts in, I hit my head on them!!! 


Have I mentioned that were just my style?  No?  Here's why.....

 

Oh my!



Um, yea.  Not for me.  Also take a look at this paint.  It wouldn't be bad, if it wasn't almost exactly the same color as the marble and cabinets in the room.  I can't wait to paint over it!  The next picture shows the light from the side, showing the danger I face.....get it?  Every time I wash my face! You can also see the marble color over the tub.  I love the marble, but it just dissapears with this paint color and treatment.  See my blue tape?  I'm ready!!!




Only a man would place lights here and I'm going to assume it was a man that picked this one out. 

First things first!



See the difference in what the ceilings were and what they are now? 

The first thing I needed to tackle in our new place was the ceilings and fans.  I posted about painting the ceiling fans, if you missed it click here.  Once those were done, I started on the ceilings.  I did most of them before we actually moved in.






They weren't awful, just not white.  I'm trying to get this place as bright and white and clean looking as I can and leaving the ceilings beige just wouldn't cut it.

I also found out the trim is not white!  As soon as the ceiling was painted white, the crown looked beige.  

Yes, I just bought white trim paint!!! 
Ceilings are a giant pain in the neck to paint and several of ours are where everything is located.  Vents, sprinklers, recessed lighting and exhaust fans!  I thought I would never finish, but alas, I did and .......boy, was it worth it!  It made a huge difference!!!

 



Too many irons!!!

We have officially been in our new place for two weeks today!!!  I do love it, but there is soooooo much to do.

Every room needs work, but I can't seem to stick to one room at a time.  There are small transformations taking place in every room of the condo, making me feel like I have "too many irons in the fire"!!!




Can you see the texture?

The dining room has painted/textured walls with stripes and not a stick of trim.  I don't have pictures of the process, but I did get the texture sanded off with an orbital sander.  What a messy job!  I draped plastic drop clothes over the doors, but I still got a huge layer of dust! 

Now I just need to add trim.  Crown, chair rail and a piece that creates a raised panel look.  Some folks like to call it shadow boxing. 

Wish me luck!  I've borrowed all the tools and purchased the trim.....not cheap, btw....and most importantly, I've watched lots of youtube videos!  This should be a snap! 

I'll let you know how it goes and post pics as soon as I get into it!

Now off to tend to another iron!

Very best painting tip!!

I have a painting tip for you that I think is AMAZING!!!  It's also an original!  I may not be the only person doing it, but I discovered it on my own!

You know how quickly paint starts to dry in a brush, tray or any other place you would like it to not dry in.

Here's the scenario...you're painting a room and you've just finished cutting-in (that's painter's lingo for doing all the edge work).  Now you need to put the brush, and whatever small container you're using to hold your paint for cutting in, down for the entire length of time it takes to roll the walls.  How do you keep the brush from drying out and the small container from skimming over???



Just press all around the roller and it's airtight!!!  It will stay wet a very long time!!!



Glad makes a product called Press 'N Seal that has a sticky side.  It will stick to almost anything, especially itself!  Just tear off enough to entirely cover your brush or roller or whatever and seal away!

You can come back a week later and use the same brush, roller or container of paint! 

You're welcome!



Paint my ceiling fans???

      It's now been a week since we moved in and I haven't had an extra minute!  There's sooooooooo much to do and soooooooo much more I want to do!




I took the blades off and taped the rest.

The first thing I wanted to tackle was the ceiling fans and ceilings.  The fans are nice, but they were just the wrong color.  I had read on Pinterest that you can spray paint ceiling fans and one post I found said it could be done while they hang!!


Before I go any farther, let me warn you!!!  I would NOT do this if I wasn't going to paint the ceiling, paint the walls and had empty rooms!!!!!




Maybe more paper on the ceiling!

The over spray from spray paint turns to a type of dust and falls to the floor.  I had covered the floors from wall to wall and also taped paper on the ceiling, but I still had a mess to deal with.  I got paint on the ceiling and the "dust" on the drop clothes ended up on the floors when I cleaned up.  Maybe I could have done a better job of containing it, but instead I vacuumed and mopped.....a lot!






All painted!



The small parts taped to a box.



Finished!!!  Looks great!



The paint I used.

I didn't prime before painting, but would have if it had been something we would be touching.  I think it turned out great!!!

The Setting

The main entrance.

Let me set the stage before the actual "play" begins.  Here is the front of our condo building!  Isn't it beautiful??  I love the European charm of it. 

We actually moved in 2 years ago, when we sold our last place.  We weren't sure what we were going to do next, so we decided to rent for a while.  The Mayfair had a small unit on the 7th floor available, so we jumped on it.  We had looked at units in the Mayfair complex before, while shopping for a condo to buy, but didn't find anything that was perfect.  We also didn't think our rental time here would be very long.

After a year here, we realized we probably aren't leaving Atlanta any time soon and we also realized how much we like living in the complex.  The search for a place to purchase...a much larger place.....began.



The side courtyard.  See the bldg in the background?  We used to live there!


A full year later, we found a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath unit on the 26th floor.  After all the negotiations that go in to buying a home took place, we were under contract and we close on it TOMORROW!!!!!!!  Tomorrow.....finally! 

Tomorrow, I get to start making the transformation of this new home for us and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

-I'm off to Home Depot. 



Just one before picture today...it's the dining room with paint that looks like paper (and lots of texture I get to sand off) and a light I look forward to replacing.  It's hard to tell, but the floors are great!!

My obsession.

I'm obsessed.  I've only been to Paris twice, but somewhere along the line, I became a certified Francophile.  It sounds silly, but there's a name for it.  There's no Italiaphile, Amsterdamophile or Mexicophile.  Just Francophile.

The reason for this blog is to document my effort to create my own Pied a Terre in Atlanta, Ga.  After living in very contemporary building, we are buying a condo with more of a european personality.  Decorating is one of my passions.....so, while lying awake "dreaming" of how I could decorate this new place, it occurred to me that I could try and create that Parisian apartment feeling. 

I think pied a terre translates literally to "foot of earth", which makes sense because Parisian apartments are mostly tiny, especially compared to Chateaus outside the city. 

How do you create a french apartment, you ask?  The recurring elements are the light wood floors and pastel walls with lots of trim work.  Some of the trim work is very old and ornate.  Both of these things can pretty easily be duplicated here and I got VERY LUCKY with the floors.  I just need to add a lot of moulding to the walls and paint, paint, paint. 

The last element that distinguishes a Parisian apartment seems to be the light.  Natural light.  Natural light that comes through those amazing floor to ceiling "french door" windows.  Okay, I don't have that, but I do have windows, so we'll see. 









I have some ambitious plans for the new place...most of which I hope to do myself!!  Check back for before, progress and after pictures.

Au revior!