I was working on just a few more little projects today before I photograph my kitchen for the big reveal.  I had to change the tone of the wood frame for some artwork above the pantry, and my inexpensive corkboard where I keep a rotating photo gallery.  I also wanted to add a little artwork to a plain white pitcher I purchased at Target to coordinate with some other decorative items.  

Change Your (Wood) Tone with Craft Paint:

Did you know that semi opaque $2 acrylic craft paint acts just like stain on raw natural wood?  True.  I have never shied away from using wood stain (see this project and this project), but rather than get the stinky walnut tone Minwax stain out of my garage, I opted for simple craft paint. 

You can see how the raw wood absorbs the craft paint, just like stain.  This acrylic paint dries so fast that by the time you’ve applied your first coat, you’re ready for your second or third application.  You can apply three coats in under 20 minutes.  The best part is that this craft paint acts like stain as well:  because the layers are so thin, it doesn’t fully cover the wood, it enhances it.  Check out the inexpensive corkboard in transformation with some painter’s tape and craft paint:

Rather than a backsplash behind my phone station in my kitchen, I opted for a corkboard where I keep a rotating photo gallery.  I find that nail heads (leftover from this project) make a more sophisticated statement than ordinary push pins.

I like inspiring images of food in the kitchen, so I purchased some prints last year to place above my pantry.  Here’s that artwork in transformation with more craft paint:

And the final display above my pantry door: 

Change Your Pitch(er):

I wanted to change a plain Jane pitcher I purchased at Target into a painted compliment to my Vietri pitcher.  I saw this Vietri pitcher (featured below) sitting in the window of a high end kitchen store four years ago, and spent a pretty penny on it.  This pitcher has been the inspiration for my entire kitchen color scheme. 

Here’s the plain Target pitcher I purchased for $12:

With paint specially designed for ceramics, leftover from this project and this project, I added some brown tones, some leaves, and a basic pear shape.  I used the Vietri as my muse.  

My final pear painting:

Then I positioned it on the mantle above my range:

Is it just me, or do you see the name “Ella” ?  I may have to rearrange the mantle decor. 

So with all of these teasers, you may want a sneaky peek into my kitchen. 

Here you go:

Reveal coming soon. 

If I can just get to that pile of laundry, and the dust collecting on my furniture . . .

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Tags: craft paint

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at and is filed under Crafty, DIY, Decorating, My Home, Works in Progress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.