Rembrandt's Got Nothing on Us (well, maybe a bit more than nothing)…

August 12, 2018

Not much to write about, but wanted to give everyone a quick look at some painting that’s going on around the house.  Charming has finished painting the living room although he still has to put trim around the windows at some point.  The color of the living room is called “Mesa Yellow”.  He also started painting the master bedroom.  The color for this room is called “Oriental Ivory,” which is a really pale mint color.  I’m hoping the color will be a calming influence, as I often find it hard to relax and fall asleep.  I have always lived in houses that have had beige walls.  While that particular color is extremely practical and goes with everything, I decided this house needed more color.

I’m also including pictures of the mock-up of the refrigerator door.  I used black “Duck Tape” to hold the mural on the door, but both Charming and I agree that it does look a bit “trailer park”.  Although I sometimes refer to myself as “The Queen of the Double Wide,” we decided that the mural would look much better if we take some time to brainstorm and come up with something that’s more wood-like to make a frame.  I expect that to take place after the rest of the rooms are painted and the flooring has been installed, but I’ll post more pictures when we come up with a solution.

The "before" picture of the living room with new drywall installed.

Not quite the same angle (use windows as focal point), but much more cheerful looking.

At left is an alcove for a small phone table & a shelf above for computer stuff.

Hallway to other bedrooms...one is my craft/guest room, the other is Charming's den/guest room.

Before installing the mural on the refrigerator door, I had to fill a good-sized dent.

The mural taped in place w/duck tape.  Worked well; just doesn't look as nice as I'd like, but we'll fix that.

A chicken wire overlay made the pictures appear more realistic.

Hot Chicks...

August 5, 2018

Since Charming has completed most of the work in the kitchen at the farm and has moved on to painting the other rooms in the house, I decided it was time to work on the mural to cover up the dents and scratches on the refrigerator that my brother Jeff gave to us.  You might recall that I wanted a chicken theme for that project, so I got serious last week and put what little painting talent I could muster to work.  I had originally thought I could simply use big sheets of cardboard leftover from large appliance purchases, but the cardboard warped after it was painted.  I considered and discarded many other options including store-bought artist’s canvas, construction paper, and poster board.  All of these options were rejected for various reasons such as cost, available sizes, weight, or warping after they were painted.  Then I had a brainstorm, we had quite a bit of Tyvek house wrap left over from re-siding the house so perhaps that would work.  It is light-weight, stable, and flexible which made it easy to cut.  I’m sure that most serious artists would never consider using Tyvek, but it worked perfectly for this project. 

First, I measured the refrigerator door, including the cut-out for the icemaker.  Then I measured it again.  And just because I’ve been around Charming for so long and have picked up some of his work habits, I measured it a third time.  I cut the Tyvek to match the door measurements and used Charming’s square to mark off the space for the icemaker.  After cutting out the space for the icemaker, I painted the entire piece of Tyvek with leftover kitchen paint.  To make the mural resemble the walls of a chicken house, I streaked it lightly with black paint and drew vertical lines for the “boards” at 3-inch intervals with a Sharpie marker.  Next, I painted brown “nests” for the chickens.  Then I lightly penciled in chickens on the nests.  After that, it was just a matter of mixing paints and slapping the paint on the mural.

This week I plan to cut chicken wire to go over each chicken and frame it all with black Duck Tape.  Using the Duck Tape will keep the mural light and hold it firmly onto the door.  I’m hoping it will turn out o.k. and will be a relatively inexpensive solution to cover up the dings and dents on the refrigerator.  Also, in the event that the used refrigerator dies in the near future, I won’t have a lot of money invested in the project!

The first layers of paint on the inside of my "chicken house" mural.

Had to use the kitchen countertop as an easel since the mural is about 5 feet long.

Chicken #1 is my favorite...all fat and fluffy.

This one looks a bit odd, but it won't be as noticeable behind the chicken wire.

Another fat and fluffy chick...too much chicken feed, I guess.

While I worked on the mural in the kitchen, Charming worked on painting the living room.

The first layer of paint in the living room...I'm sure he'll add at least one more layer, maybe two.

A small shelf that Charming made from kitchen cabinet doors...so talented!

The utility closet holds washer, dryer, and freezer...so convenient!