Hannah’s Room

A while back my daughter, Beth, and her fiance, Matt, wanted to re-do Matt’s youngest sister’s bedroom. Matt’s youngest sister, Hannah, is now a teenager, and has since outgrown her little girl’s light blue bedroom with a flower border. I wish we had a picture of the room before, but we didn’t get a chance to take one. Hannah wanted to change her room into a more elegant and classic feel. Hannah chose a greyish-blue tone from the Valspar collection at Lowe’s, as well as Olympic Premium Interior latex paint with gloss finish for the trim and doors. She was all set!

Matt, Beth, and Matt’s other sister, Tara, began taking off the wallpaper, which thankfully came off pretty easily. The wiped down the walls and then applied the primer. Matt, Beth, and Tara rolled while I trimmed. The color was beautiful,and the white glossy finish trim really made it look elegant. Hannah was so excited about her room, but she definitely needed a new light fixture. She had asked about a chandelier, so Beth and I went out looking for some. The cute ones, of course, were too expensive for our budget. The cheapest chandeliers at Lowe’s were even out of our budget. It just so happened that Beth and I came across a little chandelier at Essex (the bargain hunt store, haha, we love bargains) in Cookeville. It was the perfect little chandelier! It was white with clear crystals, and the price was perfect! The retail price of the chandelier is almost $79.99, but thankfully we only paid $25! I love a good bargain!

The chandelier came from a company out of New York called Tadpoles that specializes in bedding, room decor, and accessories for children. So even though this chandelier was probably meant for a nursery, it fit perfectly in Hannah’s room, and she loved it!

Here is the link to the website: http://www.tadpolesbedding.com/3-bulb-chandelier.html

Check out the finished product!

Welcome!

Well, I finally did it! I got a blog! Hopefully it will attract those interested in home improvement services. Nonetheless, I want to advertise Mary Ann’s Painting to market to a wider audience. Please visit the about section to learn more about me and what I do. Thanks and have a blessed day!

A New Kitchen

We were asked by some good friends of ours to help them update their kitchen. The walls had two layers of wallpaper on them, and the texture of the walls was paneling. They also wanted us to paint their cabinets and the handles, so we went right to work!

After we got the not one, but two, layers of wallpaper off, we prepped the walls by applying spackling and caulking. After the spackling dried, we sanded it down to get all nice and smooth, and then we were ready to apply the grey-tinted primer (because we were painting the walls red, we used a tinted primer to allow for better application). In the meantime while the primer was drying, we had the cabinets taken off and sanded so we could put on a fresh coat of white enamel paint. After the primer dried, we applied the red paint, which took two coats. After a few touch-ups, we were finished!

Check out the before and after pictures:

Special thanks to the Englands for allowing us to work for them and display the pictures of their new kitchen!

DIY Wallpaper Removal

Tired of your outdated wallpaper? Don’t get me wrong, there are some beautiful (and expensive) wallpaper prints out there, but the ones from years past tend to be tacky and very stubborn to remove. If you’re looking to save money, then there’s no better way to improve your home than to just do it yourself. All you’ll need are a few items and some spare time.

What you’ll need:

• Bucket
• Hot water
• Fabric softener
• Sponges
• Scraper

  

  

  
  

Add about a third of a cup of fabric softener in the bucket of hot water. This will help to soften the paper, which will allow for better removal.

You’ll want to tear off the design portion of the paper first. If it’s stubborn, add the fabric softener water using the sponges onto it first. Once it’s nice and wet, use the scraper to tear it off. Next, you’ll find the paper backing. Wet it down with the fabric softener water as well. Make sure it is completely wet then proceed to remove using the scraper too.

It may sound simple, but sometimes wallpaper can be extremely stubborn, especially if it has been on the walls for years, and if they used super glue to get the corners to stick well. Keep working with it, and make sure to keep it nice and wet.