When we were moving into our house (just over a week ago), I insisted on setting up the living room while we moved things in. If you’ve ever had to slow down people who just want to empty a truck to make a space functional, I’m sure you can feel my pain!
It was so so worth it! On the first day, I had my rug down, the sofa in place, and the TV set-up on the entertainment center. It felt really, really good to have a room that wasn’t in total chaos. Now that I’ve had a week to unpack and hang things, I thought I’d share this room.
my living room
rug / pink chair / end tables / floor lamp / sofa / mirror / pink pillows / TV / globe / flower pillow / record player / white pillow cover / flamingo / table lamp / faux flower arrangement
This space is a combination of furniture from our Florida house and our condo before that. I needed a rug to pull everything together so I grabbed this Loloi rug– the Zharah in Raspberry/Taupe (I got the . The colors are perfect and I like how the pattern is traditional while the fringe has a modern twist to it. Isn’t it perfect for pulling the colors of the chair and sofa together?!
Before we moved in, I knew that I wanted to paint the stone on the fireplace. I wanted a way to make the stone blend into the space and not be such a focal point. I decided to white wash the stone with chalk paint. So today, I thought I’d share a tutorial on how I transformed this corner!
how to white wash stone with chalk paint
Supplies:
- cleaner
- 32 oz. Fluff chalk paint by Dixie Belle (note, I have 9′ ceilings and the rocks walls are each 4′ wide. This barely wasn’t enough paint)
- paint brush (no longer available)
- paint sprayer
- frog tape
tutorial
First off, you’re going to want to clean the surface you’ll be painting throughly. I love painting things when I first get in a space because its a great excuse to clean them! I also got the stove and tile while I was at it and they were so disgusting! To clean, I used this cleaner mixed with hot water in a bucket with a sponge.
prep
Next, tape off where the stone hits the walls, ceiling, stove/fireplace, and floor. I also put towels and drop cloths over everything I didn’t want paint to get on.
mix paint and water
Water down your paint. I poured in my paint first and then added some water and mixed it. I did 3 parts paint to 1 part water. That was a good proportion to create more a white wash (so the stone can “breath”) and not have the paint too runny that it dripped everywhere.
start painting
Now its finally time to start painting! I was most successful by concentrating on one stone at a time and making sure it was fully covered before moving on to the next one. I’ll be honest, the hand painting was a TON of work! I did 30 minutes of painting at a time and then took a break (while my hand uncramped- lol).
While I was painting (this isn’t an exaggeration), my new paint sprayer was delivered to my house! I’ve always been scared to use a sprayer because of the clean up and over-spray, but I decided to give it a try. And let me tell you, using the sprayer was at least 80 times faster! And the coverage was so even!
Yes, the clean up took a little longer than a brush, but it was perfect for this project with all of the hard to access areas on the stone and grout! I am officially a sprayer fan (as you’ll see when I paint my cabinets)
after
Here it is all finished! The white is definitely brighter (which I love)! And it goes better with my decor and style. I know that painting natural stone might be taboo for some people, but I believe you should love the house you’re in. And if you can change something that’ll make you happier, go for it (and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks)!
before and after
There’s a little before and after for you! You can see behind the stove I ran out of paint, but I’ll get that finished as soon as the paint arrives and then update this post.
What do you think? Is this something you’d tackle? Have you ever painted stone in your house?
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