Desperately Seeking...

No, definitely not Desperately Seeking Susan (if you automatically thought of this cheesy 80s movie starring Madonna, you're at least as old as I am!)
I am actually desperately seeking chalkboard paint. Look at these beautiful inspiration shots from Canadian House & Home magazine...




Be still my heart.

I am not simply jumping on the latest hot trend. In the 90s I painted a small chalkboard on The Creative One's bedroom wall (notice the film theme and you may also notice I am STILL the skilled photographer I have always been).


I later painted that entire wall with the chalkboard paint, and the other walls in his room in alternating colours (purple, sunshine yellow and lime green - the ceiling was royal blue because he wanted his room to look like the Silver City movie theatre complex in our city). I obliged which probably makes me Mother of the Decade!

So back to chalkboard paint. I loved it before and now I want to use it in our condo. I thought I would paint my entire powder room in it - cool right? And what about my old ugly kitchen backsplash - I saw the idea to paint the backsplash in the July/Aug 2010 issue This Old House magazine which featured the blog condo-blues.blogspot.com. Super cool!

All I need is the damn chalkboard paint! Why am I cussing, you ask?

Because, while there are several different products available, if you look online,
(it even comes in spray paint!) it appears to be a rare commodity in my town...

Since I live within walking distance of a paint store (ICI), I went over and asked if they carried the paint. Not only did they NOT carry the paint, the clerk told me all I needed was FLAT BLACK regular latex paint to achieve the same result!!!!!!!!!!! Notice all the exclamation points! Seriously! This is not my first time at the rodeo dude! Can you imagine if someone actually TOOK this advice (why is the question mark not working on my keyboard) All I'm getting is ÉÉÉÉÉ. If I was a DIY newbie and actually did this - I would seriously be ÉÉÉÉÉÉ all over them!

[Ok, so I talked to The Creative One and he told me I had my keyboard in Canadian French - problem all fixed for now.]

Back to the problem at hand. So I took myself down to the local hardware store - McDiarmid's - and no luck either. Ditto for Walmart. So it was time to go down to the big orange box- yes, you heard me - Home Depot (heavenly lights go on) and guess what - THEY didn't have it either! What is the world coming to? This is a trend that is in ALL the magazines, but you CAN'T BUY IT IN WINNIPEG!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!

But I still have Rona and Benjamin Moore to try out. I was trying to avoid Benjamin Moore because of the price point, but at this rate, folks, I may have no other choice.

I'll let you know how it goes.....






Nadine

Like Watching Paint Dry, but Worse

So yes, I have been AWOL for a while. I know you missed me. Summer called and I have been enjoying the hot beach weather. I promise I will be back in full force this fall with lots of new projects.
This summer we have been working on our powder room. Veerry sloooowly, working on the powder room. Under the heading "Jack must do everything the most hardest way possible", after ripping out the old light fixture, he was left with holes in the drywall which needed to be taped and mudded over with drywall compound. Since he has placed a lifetime ban on me EVER touching the stuff (in my defense, did a few goopy messes really ever hurt anyone?), I now must wait until he has patched the holes, sanded them down and declared the room fit to paint.

Ok, fine, UNTIL he opened up the leftover compound and found - a soupy mess. Why? We'll never know. SO what would a reasonable person do? Go buy a new jug? (I suggested; he rejected). Go buy a box of dry compound and add it to said goopy mess? (I suggested; he rejected). What is he doing instead? LEAVING THE LID OFF AND LETTING IT DRY OUT. SERIOUSLY. I mean that is really cheap-ass. I have been accused of being cheap-assed in my lifetime, but THIS, THIS is seriously cheap-assed. So that is why I do not have a finished room to show you.
THIS is what I have to show you:

Notice the open drywall compound bucket. Notice the red lid balancing on the tissue box and the starfish. Notice the dust everywhere. Sigh. At least he works cheaply. If not quickly.

Finished room coming soon (I hope!).

Nadine