...and I Want It Painted Black

I titled this post in an attempt to conjure a melody in your head right now ;) Are you silently singing "I see a red door and I want it painted black" from the Rolling Stones? That tune often goes through my mind as I am slathering bold black paint onto a table, a handrail, or in this case, the cabinet in our first floor powder room. This is the first step in the mini makeover I'm working on in this room.

Here in the Midwest, people LOVE their oak woodwork. And particularly in the decade that our home was built (the 90's), oak was unquestionably the go-to choice for cabinets, trim, and doors in new construction and remodeling in Nebraska. Oak is a hard wood that takes stain well, but personally, I am not a huge fan of the look of so much wood grain. In fact, if I was more ambitious or had an unlimited budget, I'd either paint all of the woodwork in our house or hire someone else to do it. Truth be told, though, I am too lazy for that project, and I'd rather spend some of my moola on travel and other fun!

But in manageable doses, I can talk myself into the work required to paint wood. I had originally planned to paint this cabinet ivory, to match our interior doors and the kitchen cabinets in the next room (where the countertop is the same as this one.) Our kitchen lacks natural light, so the ivory cabinets really help to brighten the space in there. By the way, we hired a professional to paint those cabinets eight years ago when our daughter graduated from high school. I certainly didn't take that project on by myself! But after thinking about using the same paint color in this bathroom, the white fixtures next to an ivory cabinet just didn't sit right with me. I decided that black would give weight to this cabinet and add distinction. So, after a little eye-rolling from the hubby, haha, I bought a quart of black paint and set to work.

My intention was to use self-leveling latex cabinet, door, and trim paint. But the salesperson at Sherwin Williams told me he couldn't do black in a latex cabinet paint unless I wanted to purchase a whole gallon...I was a little disgruntled, let me tell you. Then he convinced me that an oil-based enamel would do a beautiful job on this cabinet, and that I wouldn't need to prime it first. Who knows for sure if he gave me the best advice, but that is what I ended up with. The paint is smelly and harder to clean up, but I do think it will hold up to wear and tear really well.

These photos show the job in progress, with two of three coats completed. Thankfully, it's a small cabinet and hasn't taken too terribly long to do. I think the key is using multiple, light coats to avoid runs and drips. The countertop color is slightly more black in person than it appears in the photos. I'm definitely happy with the decision to eliminate a little more of the stained wood in our interiors.

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Next up in the mini makeover is new paint on the walls. Maybe you noticed a few paint chips leaning atop the backsplash in that first photo...not much of a surprise that I'm planning on using a shade of green, right? (My husband always tells me that the square footage of our house is decreasing with all of the layers of paint I keep adding. Can I help it that I have an actively creative mind? Haha.) There is also some new art and a little embellishing of the existing mirror in the plans. Stay tuned for a reveal as soon as the "fluffing" is complete!

Thanks for stopping by, Friends.
Julie


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