Thursday, October 13, 2005

Quick Color

Have you browsed the spray paint aisle lately? Last year I was excited to find Walmart's brand had a subtle taupe choice. This year I was amazed at the new palette. I even found Walmart's soft buttery yellow, a shade I've never seen outside the expensive hobby paints. Spray painting furniture is a ritual started by my grandmother, who would drag anything dull into the lawn and change colors each spring. I even rented a gas-powered sprayer at our last home and gave the exterior two coats of white in a day. One long, exhausting day, that is. I thought my elderly neighbor would have a heart attack when he saw me in coveralls atop the extension ladder!

A good investment is a plastic trigger you can attach to the top of a can. It's worth $3 to save your finger from a night of frozen cramping. And don't forget the mask--don't ask me how I know, but nostrils are pretty sensitive to a layer of gloss black.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Meredith!-
Spray paints are my new love!! There is a wonderful variety of paints now, and I have taken many, many garage sale/ thrift store finds and made them look wonderful, new and very up-to-the-minute just by giving them a coat of paint. I especially like the metallic and specialty paints made by Rustoleum. For not much money, you can give several items a new look. Don't you just love doing something like that, where you end up with a fabulous finished result for almost nothing? I LOVE your blog, and check it every single day. I found it from the article you had on the Dollar Stretcher site. Thanks!
Susan in Illinois

Anonymous said...

I have a small piece of furniture that I've been wanting to paint--is spray paint really better than brush painting? It's a small dresser--very small (think nightstand size). Would you need more than one can of spray paint? I'd appreciate any tips for a newbie spray painter.

Thanks!