Painting My Cabinets Gray...

Hey guys!  Happy Sunday!

I wanted to share my latest project with you.

I recently had an itch to revamp my laundry room.  I decided that if I changed it up a bit it might make me fall in love with doing laundry... I'll let you know how that works out for me ;-)

Here is how my laundry room looked before this weekend.  It has looked like this for 2 years with no change at all whatsoever.  I've never even hung anything on the walls.

Here's my uppers...

And I have this long one in the center with adjustable shelving.

So there is not really anything wrong with it.  I'm just over it.  My ceilings match the wall which is fine in the rest of the house but I was wanting to brighten this room up and change that window up for sure.

I decided to go gray.

I LOVE gray cabinets.  I especially love when I see gray cabinets mixed with traditional lines and hardware.  That is my goal in here.  Today I am just showing you how I painted them.

I went with Valspar's Woodlawn Colonial Gray

My original cabinets were painted with an oil based paint.  I wanted to put a latex paint over them so I went to my local paint store and was told my a very helpful man to use THIS primer.

First, I removed all my doors, drawers and hardware and laid the doors out in the garage.  I put two coats of primer on everything.  I didn't tape off the walls or cabinets yet because I knew I would be painting the walls a different color.

I love when I find new favorite products!!  Many of you ask how I apply paint to some of my projects.  This is my first time using these and I will never paint walls, cabinets or furniture again without them.

Whizz Roller Systems

I found mine at Lowe's and it comes with a 4" tool like this.

I used 2 coats of primer on everything.  After that dried I started on my gray.  For the doors I would use an angle brush to get in all my grooves like this first.

Then, I would use my Whizz roller to cover the rest of the door.  I used the roller on my cabinets and the angle brush on the crown at the top.  It took two coats of gray to get everything smooth and I was done!  

I decided to leave that middle door off.  I filled the holes from the hardware with some wood putty, sanded it and it looked brand new.  I am going to do something fun on those shelves just because.

Remember my knobs??

Yep... They got a little revamp too!  I will show you those in my next post when I get them all on and start to get this room back together.

I hope you like them.  I love them!  It was hard, but only because I was working in such a small space and I had to keep climbing over the washer and dryer.  Ooooh... I should have taken pics of that for you guys :-)

I am so happy I asked the nice man at the paint store about my primer.  That stuff went on perfect and I didn't have to sand anything!

Let me know if you have any questions!  Have a great week and I will be back soon with an update.

~Whitney

Shanty Storage Crate

Hey guys!!

These are so simple and fun!  I think they would make great blanket storage, magazine storage or in this case, under the bed storage.

I found something similar at Joann's unfinished which was my inspiration.  I then realized that Ana White has a similar plan HERE too.

This is how I did them...

I used 1x10 white pine board from Lowe's for my base and sides.  You can use 1x12 but I needed mine a bit smaller to fit my cubbies.  I used my miter saw to cut my wood.  Home Depot and Lowe's will both cut your wood as well if you don't have a saw.

I used my very favorite wood glue to help assemble my crates.

I put a line of glue down my 18" board which will be my base.

I then used my brad nailer to attach one of my 10.5" sides to my base.  You can also use finish nails or a drill and wood screws.

I then did the same thing to the other side of the base which left me with a piece that looked like this.

For my side slats I used 1x4" furring strips from Lowe's.  THESE are the furring strips I used.

I love using furring strips because they have a bit of a rounded edge and they seem to have more knots which I feel adds to the shantiness :-)

I cut 6 pieces that were each 18" long... or the same width as your base.  To attach my first one I added a bit of glue and used my brad nailer to secure it.  You can use finish nails and a hammer here if you need to.

Then I lined up my top piece and attached it the same way.

I add my middle piece last to make sure the spaces are even.  I attached it using the same steps.

Then, I flipped it over and attached the other 3 slats the exact same way.  How easy it that??

Now I shantied it up a bit.  I didn't want to cut handles and I thought adding a knob would be a good solution to them.  I drilled a hole in the center of the middle slat.

I decided to stain mine.  I love the look of the rough, dark boards against my cream fancy bed.  It is a perfect combination in my opinion.  I used a dark mahogany stain.

I wanted to add just a bit more to mine so I found these simple frames at the Dollar Tree.

Bleck.  I know... But I saw potential!  I removed the back and the glass and gave her a little makeover.

Let me introduce you to my very favorite new spray paint color....

Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch in Blue Sky

Aww... It's perfection!

I gave my little frame two coats and once it was dry, I hot glued it to my crate.

How cute is that??  I kind of love them.  And now I only have 10 more to make for my storage beds! :-)

ARCHITECTURAL OFF-WHITE PAINT CODE

For those of you that have emailed me about that off-white paint code, apparently Lowe's also needs this code here...

221395

This is the base code!  I have also had lots of emails about it so sorry!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  You can also keep up with Shanty2Chic on our Facebook HERE!!

~Whitney

The Beds Finished... Well, Almost!

So, I thought I would share the girls' beds finished... Almost.

I love them!  The only thing I still have to finish is the storage underneath.  Here is one...

I wanted a functional storage bed with a fancy headboard.

HERE is the inspiration for my headboard!!

HERE are the instructions I followed for my twin storage beds!!

I spent right around $110 on each bed not including paint.  I thought that was a steal for the function and cuteness I get from them :-)

As I went looking for baskets on Sunday I had an epiphany.  I was having trouble finding baskets that made me happy at a decent price and I saw some unfinished wood crates at Joann's.  I knew I could recreate them and that they would make the perfect storage.  I made one to show you in this picture and I will show you in my next post how I did them.  They were super easy and cheaper than any basket I found.

Hard to get them both in the picture with good lighting but I gave it a go anyway!

I'm pretty sure after now making two of these babies I could build one with my eyes closed.  The building part was easy but I was kind of over the whole painting thing after one bed!  However... I am so pleased with the results!!

These beds are the same color as their dresser.

I probably had 50 or so of you ask about that great Valspar paint color.  I used semi-gloss with the primer mixed in the paint and these are the codes for those that still want it.

The number above the barcode is 

107-35, 101-3.5

The number below the barcode is

2440-A-5483

Not sure which one the paint guy needs :-)

Next up... Finishing 576 or so storage crates for under the beds and then deciding on a nightstand to go in between the beds.  

Hope you like them!!  My girls do... And now they can't shove junk under the bedskirt... Whoop!

Finally... Thanks so much to all of you who leave sweet comments!  I reply to those that I have a return email for but if you leave me a question in a comment and don't leave your email I can't return it.  I'm not ignoring you... I promise :-)

~Whitney

Shanty's Television Feature!!

Hey guys!!

I just wanted to share something so fun with you!!

This morning Shanty2Chic was featured on Great Day St. Louis!!

Virginia Kerr of Great Day St. Louis made her own shanty memo board and showed her viewers how easy and cheap they could make them!!

Click HERE to see her video segment!!

Thank you so much Virginia!!  This was such a cool treat!!

Just a Good Ol' Revamp...

Wow...

It has been forever since I have done a big revamp.

It felt good!  I love seeing shanty turn chic :-)!!

I recently received this beautiful dresser from my in-laws.  I loved everything about it!  It has beautiful lines, WORKING drawers and perfect old hardware.  She just needed a little revamp.

I did sand the top a bit just to smooth it out a bit.  I didn't prime it first but I did use Valspar's new paint that is mixed with primer.  I notice a huge difference in this paint and the original Valspar.  It goes on so much thicker and seems very durable.

I removed all the drawers and removed the hardware.  I then painted everything with 2 coats of my perfect off-white.  It's a Ralph Lauren color that they no longer sell.  It was called Architectural Off-White and I love it!  I had Lowe's remake it off of a chip so if anyone wants the code just email me :-)

Finally, I sanded my edges up a bit and topped everything with 2 thin coats of Polycrylic.  I prefer Polycrylic to Polyurethane because it doesn't yellow over time and it's not near as strong in smell so I don't feel bad doing it inside!

Here are the results...

What do you think??  I thought the hardware was perfect so I didn't change a thing there! Doesn't a good revamp feel so good???

This dresser is going in my girls' room.  I have one bed totally finished, painted and put together.  I bought all my wood for bed number 2 today and should have it finished in a day or so!! Whoooop!

Can't wait to show you guys!!  

Make sure to check out Silhouette's great SHANTY sale they have going on through the 22nd by clicking HERE!

Happy Thursday :-)!!

~Whitney