Housekeeping - The Final Edition.

Don't know about you but I can't take much more housekeeping - it is only because it has taken up so much of my time recently that I have been banging on about it - usually it is the last thing on my mind!
Anyway, today I have finally got it together to post about the mini-refurb in the flat and to discuss the merits of various paints that are widely available now. I am a bit of a paint connoisseur having spent the first 8 years after graduating working as a Scenic Artist/Designer in the theatre industry. I have worked with every paint product imaginable, at one time I even used to make my own paint using size (animal glue), whiting and pigment - you can imagine the smell! That way of making scenic paint has been phased out as thankfully these days even the most basic Trade Emulsions are pretty good plus it was pretty unpleasant to work with all day long.
My favourite paints to use are these............

Farrow & Ball (now available at Homebase), Crown Trade Historic Colours Collection (Available at Crown Decorator Centres) and Craig & Rose 1829 (available at B&Q). All of these have a great range of colours to suit a period property and a lovely chalky matt finish. However, if I had to choose one paint above all others it would be the Craig & Rose. Not only is it locally produced I have found that it goes on much better and covers better than F&B. The only drawback with C&R is that the colour range is quite limited - luckily I like most of the colours and have managed to find colours within the range for all the other rooms in the flat. F&B paints are highly pigmented which give them a grainy texture when applying. This also means that it takes far more coats to cover. It is also £7.00 per 2.5litres more expensive than C&R. On the plus side the F&B colour range is extensive and there are a few colours that you just can't match elsewhere (believe me I have tried) and once you have applied several coats it has a wonderful rich depth of colour and a great matt finish. I have painted my hall in F&B 'Rectory Red' and the walls look like velvet! Both C&R and F&B paints are eco frindly which is also a plus.
Choices for the Kitchen and Bathroom were pretty straightforward. These for the Kitchen.............

Craig & Rose 1829 'Deep Sung Cream' and Farrow & Ball 'Brinjal' and for the Bathroom....

Craig & Rose 1829 'Eau de Nil' - all in chalky matt emulsion finish. The choice for the bedroom was much harder. I had originally painted it an orchid white colour but apart from the fact it was looking very tired it was also incredibly bland. I experimented with a few colours.............

before plumping for a Dulux Heritage colour 'Victorian Sage' in a matt emulsion. It is the pale green sample above the fireplace. I am embarrassed to admit that after mucking around with lots of different samples the final colour choice was made after a visit to one of my local deli/cafes 'Gusto & Relish'. I popped in for a coffee with my friend Anna and we both admired the wall colour. We asked to the waitress if she could find out what the colour was. She heaved a sigh and quoted "Dulux Heritage Victorian Sage". It appears alot of people ask for that information! I tried it and liked it so that was the choice finally made. If only I had gone in there sooner I would have saved a fortune on matchpots! To finish the fireplace I also needed to paint the tiles and fireplace recess so I used this...........

I wouldn't ordinarily use spray paint but I found this in a box the cupboard and thought it would be OK for such a small area. The tiles were painted with Craig & Rose 1829 'Grate Black' . It goes on like emulsion, is water soluble but because of its high PVA content it dries to a dull metallic finish which works well on tiles and metal and gives a good solid finish.
The painting went well, no mess or fuss as someone else was doing it! The only small bit of painting I actually did was the fireplace and that's when it all went horribly wrong. It seems my common sense desserts me when I get near that fireplace. I masked off the carpet area in front of the fireplace and sprayed the inset. Then I painted the tiles and went out for dinner. When I came back I removed the masking and found this..........

Yes I had f*****ed up my newly cleaned carpet. I tried to get it off with nailvarnish remover (acetone) but that just made it worse! The really stupid thing is that I knew at the time that I hadn't put enough paper down but I was in a hurry. The solution to the problem was radical but necessary - I cut the affected piece of carpet out......

I was able to follow the line of the old hearthstone which I then painted with the same paint as the tiles. I think I have got away with it although there are still a few remnants of spray that I can't do anything about. Walls look nice though!
The Bathroom before and after....

I had the ceiling painted the same colour as the walls so it is like a cosy cocoon of creamy green when you are in there - very relaxing.
And the Kitchen ........

or rather a corner of it - a very tidy corner I might add, compared to how it was. My kitchen is not a fitted kitchen but a disparate variety of floor standing and wall hung cabinets. I had the flat valued a couple of years ago when I was thinking of moving and the estate agent walked in and said "Oh, it's very West End isn't it?"  What she meant I am not quite sure but I prefer to think she meant arty and bohemian. Delusion is my middle name.

The winner of this months Sew Hip is...........Debs.

Comments

[ness]

Glad to hear your spring clean has finally come to an end (I was starting to worry) enabling you to take advantage of the glorious sunshine. As another 'retired' scenic artist I thought I'd put in a word for my favourite paint which comes from the The Paint & Paper Library http://www.paintlibrary.co.uk
It's not cheap but it is fab.
ness

[Fancy Elastic]

Everywhere looking fab... well done, and I think that carpets look better when you leave the shape of the hearth in anyway, so you have totally got away with that one!

x

[ambika]

Having devoted the last two weekends to painting, you have my utmost sympathy! I think I'm still finding random paint drops on our hard woods (which were pretty beat up as is).

I adore the sage you choose--it looks fabulous with the trim and fire place. What a difference a little color makes.

[caireen]

nice paintjob! cx

[monica]

wow, you can now sit down and pour yourself a well earned drink!