Saturday, January 02, 2016

What a can of paint can do?

For past many years, my laundry loads were sorted into: Lights, Darks and Pinks…
Being a mother of two girls, I got so used to it that I never imagined this phase would ever end, it was my normal whether I liked it or not. So, it was an interesting process trying to untwine myself  of this accepted fact and start adjusting with the next phase of my girl's life…
Hello, Preteen years!
The first qualifying task to test my agility as a mother of a tween was to get rid of this pink chair.

My first choice was to make a fluffy chair cover in white fur that could be washed when needed, but that idea was shot down since we are currently in California and fur would be too hot to sit on for most of the year. As my other ideas, I also considered donating this chair and buying something in clear acrylic or plain white but that would have been too simple and would not have amounted to a blog post, hence I choose the paint of can to rescue me…
It was my first time using the paint that adheres to plastic and I thought how difficult could it be to follow directions. Hmmm….

Apparently, I lack the patience that is required for using spray cans but as the saying goes: 'I never loose, either I win or I learn'.

So here's my lessons learned, just in case you'd like to update your decor by painting your plastic chair next.

- Buy enough paint, you'll always find ways to use the left overs but like me if you run out of paint, you might not find the right brand when you need it.
- Follow the recommended direction about holding the nozzle 6-8 inches from the surface else you'll get pools of paints that will drip and lead to uneven finish.
-Tape the areas, you don't want to paint. my chair allowed me to take the entire bucket out so I could skip the step but I had the painter's tape handy.
- Take this project outside and Don't paint on the day your gardener help is going to blow leaves out
- My first coat of paint was the Krylon paint and It didn't have the best coverage but loved the smooth finish.
-The second coat of paint was Rustoleum because I ran out of Krylon and didn't find the replacement when I needed it. Rustoleum had good coverage and was more forgiving but leaves a grainy texture on surface, not the best thing for the sitting surface.

-If I could do it again, I'd probably just buy two cans of Krylon in the first place but if that wasn't an option I think the first coat with Rustoleum followed by the smoother coat of Krylon would be the best.
I'll let you know how the paint stands the test of time, but for now its seen a week of use and a couple of play dates with crazy tweens and seem to be holding up fine. 

2 comments:

  1. Wait - pink isn't leaving your life entirely already, is it? Like the chair, but I like the pink version best :-O

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    Replies
    1. Cindy, Pink isn't leaving entirely. Barely a 50% reduction :-)

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