Patty Van Dorin

good bye to the fishes

Things that are making me happy today.

A late blooming camellia which was a pleasant surprise in the splotched colors.
This is the first time that I had seen this plant bloom as I had not yet purchased my house to see it bloom last year.
A happy surprise.

Please over look the white flecks on the leaves as it is over spray from painting this past weekend.

Now here's a story, read along if you have time.

When we had to relocate to our current location, I had a specific area I wanted to live in. AND since I am not loaded with cash, I knew it would be hard, if not impossible to find a house. BUT, the heavens must have been smiling on me the day I found a house for sale in my meager budget.

In my neighborhood very few houses come up for sale. It is an old beach neighborhood and when homes do come on the market, they are pricey, quickly torn down and mini mansions are then constructed.

But waiting for me was my soon to be very own "special" tiny beach cottage. (note that I used the word special)  Why no one snapped it up and demolished is fortunate for me. Maybe because it is set back far from the street. Maybe because the vegetation was so out of control that even trying to get to the house was like a modern day Tarzan adventure.

Or maybe it was because the previous owner had painted murals over all the exterior walls. All the walls, ground to roof, everything. Now granted, the painter was very talented, like Diego Rivera talented when it comes to mural painting. BUT, the house was painted to look a giant aquarium. Seriously, a mega aquarium with windows, doors and a very old roof. I don’t think even Frieda Kahlo would approve.

In my town, this house was called "The Mermaid Cottage" because of all these incredibly detailed murals. Yes, it was cool but... parking next to a 10 foot dolphin every day is odd, having to tell the UPS man to leave the packages by the orca is wierd and gardening under a school of 5 foot sea turtles starts to become a bit surreal for real life.

Anyways, last weekend, 20 gallons of primer was purchased and I said my fare thee well to the fishes... and frogs.

It was sad to cover up the talented painting but it is time to move on to having a "real" and ordinary house.

I have spent months and hundreds of paint samples trying to find the perfect house paint colors. Some how I feel that if I found the perfect color scheme, it would make covering the murals acceptable. But then really a house with murals....do I really need to justify it.

Here is what I picked out.

How fitting and surprised I was to find the name of the color that I chose for the house is called "Spanish Galleon".
Seems fitting doesn't it for the Mermaid Cottage.

"Hoist your sail when the wind is fair"
translated: "there will be painting this weekend if the weather holds out".

stuff I find while gardening

When gardening, sometimes I find a treasure that I will clean up and add to the collection of "things I find when gardening". There was a time when I found quite a few fossils, not so much at the new house. Mostly my recent finds are shells and toys that had been left in the yard and forgotten over time.

Some are old like arrowheads, campfire glass, sun colored amethyst
and some are new.

I think the new items may be perfect for use in a shrine. 
 

squirrel sanctuary

I have said good-by to the squirrel sanctuary that was formerly the living room dining room. Good riddance to the dark green ceilings.

So much better.

My quest this weekend was to find a sofa.  After going to nearly all the furniture stores, I could not find a sofa. That is one that I liked and one that was under five grand. My last stop was a thrift store run by a local church group and there she was, the perfect sofa, comfortable and really cheap.

I am going to re-upholster it with fabric that I have been collecting but I am really happy with it's "bones".
There are still things to unpack and things to hang but finally it's starting to look like home.

Little vignettes set up that I have had in every house I have lived in.

The color of paint was a big change and I am in love with the pale shade of grey that I used in both rooms.

Transferware plates are one of the things that I like to collect. The cheap ones that may have chips, cracks or repairs. Ones that I find at thrift stores, these are the plates that I love the most. Like this one I found a few months ago.

Aside from the nice periwinkle blue color, what had me excited about this plate is the old metal hanger on the back.
How perfect is that?

So now that I have a living area somewhat set up in my house, I am back to the studio this afternoon.

And maybe start that upholstery project.

one thing leads to another

Tuscan Sun stacked bangle set

click here for more details
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and comments on painting ceilings. Inevitably, one thing leads to another and we decided to re-texture (knock down finish) on the walls of the living room and dining room prior to painting. This put the painting behind a day so I am still working on these rooms. 

After quite a bit of primer, the ceilings are finally white which has me doing a happy dance.

In this tiny house there are few places to put things out of the way while painting. Luckily, the old cabinet I found over Thanksgiving breaks down into three pieces that we strapped together and have in the middle of the room.

I can't wait to show off this cabinet. I have great plans for it. As much as I hate to, I will be taking the mirror out and replacing it with a wallpaper panel. The mirror will be reframed and reused somewhere. The cabinet will hold the tv and the two drawers are going to be re-purposed. One will have the drawer front flip down and it will hold the dvd player. The second drawer will be wired with outlets and be a "charging station" for phones and tablets. It will still function as a drawer put will be a dedicated place for charging.

I just noticed in the photo, you can't see that there are drawers. Trust me there are and I will post more detailed photos soon.

There is some painting left to do, wiring and a vintage chandelier to be hung, and curtains, and ... but I love how it is turning out. The walls were painted a light shade of grey which I am hoping will go well with the modern Moroccan theme that I have chosen for the two rooms.

broken piecrust

This little piecrust table was seriously damaged in the last move.
 
Instead of tossing it out, I thought it would be a good candidate to play with paint. It would have been easy to paint it white but I am tired of white painted furniture and felt this table needed color.
The table was glued back together and patched with wood filler.
It isn't perfect but that made it easier to paint.
 
A few days later, color, stencil, hand painted details and a bit of antiquing glaze.
 
I am glad that I didn't toss it out.

wet weekend

 
We make it through tropical storm lee with only minor inconvenience from the storm.

change the light of a room

 
You know those TV shows where they say that paint can change the light in a room and how important it is when you are trying to sell that home.

Well, I'm not painting to sell my home but I thought this side by side picture shows how a fresh coat of paint especially on the ceiling can really, I mean REALLY change the light of a room.

Now on to wall paint and trim.

Then next up is room on left and the hallway.

Dramatic isn't it.

More pictures to follow.

a page or two from the inspiration journal

 
White creamy vintage bright cheery rooms appeal to me and I have done that look so many times in the many houses that I have lived in.

As much as I love whites and creams, the gypsy in me longs for deep rich vivid colors.

The creams and whites will be used in the bedrooms but I think this beach cottage may just have a living room with eggplant walls, crisp white trim and accented with peacock blue, orange, and acid green.

But I may end up playing safe with my favorite pale gray.

the flower pot project

 
I love the shape of this flower pot and how nicely it fits in the old plant stand but I didn't like the color of the flower pot.
(I didn't realize I took a picture of the plant stand while I was in the process of choosing between two paint colors for the sun room. The walls aren't striped.)

After painting the sun room, I thought I would give a try painting the flower pot.
 
1. clean flower pot and let dry

2. spray with a good primer (above is what I used)
I wasn't sure how well the primer would stick to the glossy surface.
This flower pot is used as a decorative pot only and I place a flower pot inside. I am not sure this would work if the flower pot was actually used as a planter.

3. sponge on several shades of the same color.
I picked up 5 paint samples in gray at the Habitat for Humanity store.
The Habitat stores are a good source for cheap paint. It is kind of luck of the draw with the colors and finish that they may have at any one given time but I was lucky and found colors I could use.
I happened to have latex paint, so I thinned it down with water for sponging.

4. continue building up layers of paint and let dry

5. spray with gloss lacquer finish or could be left without a finish or in matte.
 
Now it is perfect. I like to use this for orchids that are in bloom. All my orchid pots fit in this flower pot so it is easy to rotate the orchids.

The color, I chose for the sun room is a perfect shade of light gray.
Valspar Polar Star 4005-1A and it is nice with crisp white trim.

I will post more pictures as I continue finishing this room.
 

laughing dog

 
 
 
best dog ever
five years ago, I adopted Ralph the Dog from an animal shelter
 the second day after bringing him home, I found out he had distemper
what a sick puppy he was but you would never guess it now

isn't he a beauty and he always gets my jokes