They're dropping like flies

We have a problem and I need your help to solve it.

These are our front porch steps. Yes, they are covered in gross pollen but thats the least of my worries.

See how the terra cotta tile is not everywhere? It once was. I am sure it was beautiful back in 1954 when our house was built. Leaving grouted tile exposed to the elements for 50+ years in a spot that doesn't get much sun = drainage issues =
One by one, they are dropping like flies. Right after we moved in we lost one, then another, then another. I save the whole tiles thinking once the weather warmed up I could use some heavy duty outdoor adhesive and fix it right up.
But now, piles like this one show up on a regular basis.

What to do? I love the tiled look, I would even do it again if I could find the exact same tiles...

because they are on the landing of our covered front porch. Those tiles are in great shape. Just covered in gross pollen at the moment.

So, as I see it, here are my options. Paint or re-tile the whole dang thing (landing and all). I am pretty sure I won't be able to find the exact same tile and I know mismatched tile will probably look worse than what it looks like right now.

Painting without ripping out the tile on the landing is what I am leaning towards. It's quick, cheap and durable. Worst case scenario, I can tile over it. Should I go grey? red? black? taupe? pink? neon yellow?

Here's a picture of the front of the house for inspiration. (Taken back when the front porch had all of it's tiles.... )

HALP!

I loooove gold... SUCCESS!

Thank you Hobby Lobby and your Brush 'n' Leaf. You kept my dream of gold alive for just $6.99.

This stuff rocks. First, it's pretty gold, like a gilded frame around a priceless piece of art not shiny gold like cheap jewelry. Second, it covered in one coat, went on smooth and dried mega fast. On the downside, it smells like turpentine and I'm pretty sure I got a contact high.

Second time is the charm people (1st time FAIL). Allow me to introduce you to my gold buddy.

I used a small artist brush because the bottle top is little and I didn't want to waste a precious drop by decanting it. So it took me like 3 hours to paint the back of the shelves. Up close, you can see a brush pattern but in reality it looks more like a "hammered" finish than actual brush strokes. BONUS.

She's photographing really yellow in the top pictures but believe me, she's beautiful. So glamourous! Now I just need to find some retro handles for the drawers.

**Featured on The Lettered Cottage March How-To'sday Party

Dreading, Dreading...

Up next, my most favorite thing to do ever. Painting Trim... wah, wah, waaaahhhh....

Here's the rub: Before we bought our house back in 2009 (wow, can't believe it's been that long), the previous owners had the trim painted. I understand why because the old trim color was a greenish-off-white. GROSS. See this picture, where paint is chipping... the color underneath was the trim color. Again, EWWW.

BUT... The painters (whether just dumb or lazy) painted with latex paint over the older oil based paint. PAINTING FOUL!!! I take it back, I mean, it can be done but only if - as the guy at Sherwin Williams told me - the old wall/trim is clean, dull and dry. That didn't happen in our house and this is what happens.

Not really attractive is it? In some spots they really didn't even finish the job...

Now you see why I am dreading this project. The painters however were nice enough to leave an empty trim paint bucket and it was labeled with the paint color... HALLELUJAH! I had picked up a chip of the color back when we bought the house... the trim was already chipping way back then.

I just had to find it...

The color used is Pure White from Sherwin Williams SW7005. (right above the color that is starred)

and today is the day. I picked up a gallon of latex trim paint from Sherwin yesterday. I know, you're saying, "But, you just said, the problem was the latex paint." You are right, I had a lengthy discussion with the paint guy about the best way to proceed. Here were my two options:

1. sand extensively all the trim in the house (approximately 2,876,858,865 miles of baseboard, chair railing, doors, crown, windows, etc). Clean all the dust. Prime with oil based primer and then paint with oil based semi gloss.

2. Lightly sand the trouble spots, clean all trim really well. Paint with latex semi gloss paint.

DUH, I went with #2.

If you need me, I will be on a ladder with my hand cramped in a claw around my paint brush. SAVE ME!!!

I looooove GOLD...FAIL

First Spring Break project = FAIL.

You see, I was inspired to add a little gold to our living room from this

piece.

I had a good start with this hutch/bookshelf we built a while ago. It is practically the same color and I thought, "Self, why don't you paint the back of the shelves gold?"

FABULOUS IDEA SELF. I thought about gold leafing. In fact, that's what I went to Michaels to buy... but I was swayed by the thought that metallic paint might be cheaper and less steps. Enter this guy:

Acrylic gold metallic paint. PERFECT! And it was only $4. I got home, stoked about the fact that I would have gold and teal bookshelf in no time. I emptied the shelves, wiped it down..

and started painting with a foam brush. Here's where the FAIL started. The back of the shelves is plywood and was a little rough which means the foam brush hung up and the paint did not go on smooth.

Ok, no problem. "Self, get a regular brush." Great, good coverage, it will probably just need 2 coats and then...

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM...

You see where the paint is not sticking? Yeah, that's not good.

So, I spent the next 10 minutes wiping all the paint off with a wet paper towel. I am now left with this:

and I need your help. If I went back to Michaels (dreading, dreading...) and got gold leaf, this cheap project would soon turn into a $75 project. I would love to do gold spray paint but this thing weighs about 400lbs and I am not lugging it outside. So what should I do??

Inspiration Dumping Ground: Bathrooms

Next up in the Inspirational Virtual dumping post: Bathrooms!!!

Grab a book and some bubble bath and sink (get it, sink) into these great bathrooms.
It's the clawfoot tubs. They get me every single time.

photos from Martha Stewart, Sarah Richardson, Elle Decor, Country Living and all around the web.

The Betty Draper Kitchen - After

You remember what it looked like before right?....
Well, no more. We promptly (as in less than a month after closing on this puppy - which was about a year ago now. Man I am late in sharing these pics) painted them.

Lets just say that this little guy and I are BFFs now.
We primed with Kilz and primed and primed... and my hand almost fell off. All the doors lived in our sunroom for a few days.
And our kitchen looked straight out of an episode of Hoarders for awhile.
We decided we were going to replace the hardware since it was a nice dated "copper" hammered look. BUT... the problem was the doors have this little beveled edge and there is not a hinge out there that would sit right. Without either trimming all sides of the doors or changing the doors so the hinges would sit inside the cabinets and re-drilling everything, we were SOL. So we kept the hardware BUT we did give it a coat of gloss black spray paint and updated the drawer pulls to the half circle looking kind. Not a major improvement but it when you pair it with the new paint job it looked cute and modern and still a little bit cottage/country. Finally... the after shot - the color is "Coastal Jeddy" which is an old Sherwin Williams color - but we had it mixed in Valspar.
The counter tops were here when we moved in as well as the black dishwasher but they work so much better now... eventually I would love to put Carerra (sp?) marble in but for now the gleaming white Formica is just fine. We also upgraded the faucet when my brother-in-law...you're never going to believe this...decided to stab our old one while washing knives. Literally he cut our old faucet right at the place where the water comes out so whenever you turned the water on you got sprayed right in the face. Hilarity ensued and my father-in-law and brother-in-law wrestled with the old one for about an our before this beauty finally went into place. I've always loved the scalloped detail but I really love it in grey. swoon. They just don't make that kind of detail anymore. Suck it new construction.