So, you know how I mentioned that Brian and I would be tackling a few home projects this weekend? Our biggest task being sanding a mirror down so we could repaint it a bright coral and transform our entry way. Transform it, people! Well, it didn’t really go according to plan. Actually, I would say our home looks worse from this weekends activities rather than better.
After spending Saturday morning at Home Depot (I hate that place in general, but on a Saturday..kill me) we returned home with sanding equipment, new hanging hardware, tape, paint & paint brushes. We were ready to tackle the mirror project! Considering, I have never sanded anything before I was unaware of how difficult it was and quickly learned I was going to have to put some serious muscle in to it. I also learned that this project was going to take much longer than I originally anticipated and that gloves would be required (I hate the feeling of dry dust). Once suited up with yellow kitchen gloves, I joined Brian to sand.
Sigh…I truly hated sanding. Every five minutes (alright two) I would huff and puff and complain to Brian about how much my arm hurt. He lovingly responded a few times, but then began to tune me out. Leaving me with no other option than to make up random excuses about why I had to go inside for a break…I had to feed the dog…I had to pee…was that my phone ringing? After awhile it was clear to both of us who would be finishing the sanding of the mirror that day. Brian finally called it quits at 3pm. The mirror was nearly striped but would need a bit more work before we could get to the fun part…PAINTING.
The next morning…I sucked it up, suited up in my gloves and poured myself a strong cup of coffee to help Brian finish. An hour later it was finally time to paint!
We readied the outdoor area…taping paper down to the coffee table we would be painting on and unwrapping the paint brushes. When the area was ready Brian began to tape the mirrored edges and it was then I heard… “FUCK!”.
What?! What happened?!? I said calmly.
I peered over to where he sat and saw coral paint (ooooo, that is a pretty color, I thought…really not to orange) pool out of the can and on to our cement patio and outdoor couch cover. Then I thought, SHIT and then I thought, thank God it wasn’t me who dropped it. The coral paint was not only all over our patio it was also spotted on Brian’s arms, clothes and shoes. I stood there with my mouth agape. I wasn’t even sure how best to help. It was bad.
“Honey, what are you doing!? Grab the paper towels! Hurry!!”, he yelled.
I ran as fast as I could to the kitchen and when I returned with we tried our best to sop up as much coral paint as we could. It was then I noticed that with each step Brian took his paint covered shoes were spreading coral paint all over.
“Take off your shoes!” I said trying my best not to laugh.
Actually, It took all my might not to laugh in that moment, not because I wasn’t sad by the fact coral paint was seeping into the cement on our brand new patio, but because situations like this just make me laugh. I looked up and saw Frank peering out at us through the sliding glass doors…with a look that said…you fools…you fooooools.
Thankfully the paint was water based and we were able to make good progress in cleaning with hot water and a sponge. Do we still have a pink circle on the patio? Yes. But, is it lighter? Yes. Maybe an outdoor rug is in order?
As you can imagine, we decided to call it quits after the coral paint debacle. Not only because we were low on paint but also because we were both feeling a bit defeated.
Damn you mirror, Damn you. Until next weekend.
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365til30.com 
Simple Green, mixed in hot water and vinegar, should help lighten the stain yet further. This, too, shall pass.
Oh noes, DIY home improvements mishaps!
This is not as bad though as when a family friend knocked a RED glass of wine on our living room rug a few months ago, spilling it all over my mom’s dark green velvet armchair and the expensive rug. As it turns out, red wine is really hard to remove from velvet. We had the armchair and rug professionally cleaned but it was too late for the rug, the stain had set. So we flipped the rug around and the stain is under the sofa now. And the armchair mostly looks pretty good, it’s just a darker green in some areas and some parts of the fabric are a different texture–I like to say it got artistically redecorated.
So you can just hide the stain under a rug/claim it’s part of the decor. 🙂
That is a pretty color! best of luck next weekend!
Just buy one for God sakes! Paint is a pain in the butt. Especially when it gets on skin or nails. On a side note, a coral cement floor patio sounds lovely 🙂
Make the stain mark into a heart and put your initials and the year on it. Make it a memory instead of something that makes you cringe…
Years ago, my ex and I decided to gut and remodel a powder room three weeks before having a full house for Thanksgiving. Our turn-of-the-century house needed a lot of love. We stripped and painted wainscoting, replaced the sink and toilet, replaced the old linoleum floor with incredible white marble, and selected a tangerine orange for the walls (which looked incredible in a small space against all of the white!). I vividly remember watching my ex teetering on a ladder, the bucket of paint perched on the ladder shelf, trying to reach the tippy-top of our 11-foot walls. I walked away for a moment and heard a THUMP and CRASH and multiple expletives. When I ran back in, my ex was coated in orange paint. So was the white wainscoting. The canvas we’d laid down to protect the white marble (which, incidentally, is quite porous) was soaked through. We both stood there in shock for a few silent seconds before a frantic scramble to save the marble…
In the end, the marble survived (except for a few orange-ish areas behind the toilet near the wall- you really have to look closely), the paint was cleaned up, and our adorable powder room was completed before guests came. We simply apologized that every single towel we owned now looked like orange tie-dye. We laughed about it for years.
Hilarious … love it! Staying tuned for the finished project!