The Wonders of ORB

I have a confession.

The first thing I do when I go to a hotel is check to see if their cable line up includes HGTV.  If they have HGTV - score!  Dad and the kids are off to the pool and I get comfortable for a "Designed to Sell" marathon - completely prepared to be inspired and motivated to turn our house into a home worthy of it's own dedicated episode of "Dream Home".

If the hotel does not have HGTV, I curl up into the fetal position and whimper "Chocolate...hurry."

I love HGTV.  I could exist on HGTV.  And at home...nope, no HGTV.  When we moved from our last apartment, with the free extended cable, to our humble abode, with the cheap because-now-we're-paying-for-it-ourselves basic cable, I did not think I was going to survive.  But months, and then years, marched drug on and I slowly weaned learned to live without my precious HGTV.

Go ahead a few years.  Introduce the internet.  And websites.  And streaming TV.  And DIY blogs!!!

I lo-ove DIY blogs.  There's the Casabella Project and DecorChick and  Thrifty Decor Chick and House of Hepworths and Pretty Handy Girl and Young House Love and...

You get the picture.

It's endless inspiration and encouragement at my fingertips - and, hey, without the commercials!  And my obsession with DIY blogs, shows and projects has paid off over the years - and this year has been no exception.  And one of things I am most thankful for, this year, is all the Bloggy DIY-ers who introduced me to Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint (otherwise known as O.R.B. )

This stuff, from all bloggy reports, can only be described as "magic in a can."

And so, several months ago, inspired by all the transformations that I've seen on the world wide web, I bought 3 cans of ORB - just waiting for my first opportunity to use it.  Well, March April May came and the snow finally melted and I spotted my first opportunity.

And it looked like this:

Not the cute, but despondent looking, child sitting there but the very sad looking backyard swing.  Isaac's face in this picture speaks volumes, though - after all, it is his favorite summertime reading spot (other wise known as his I-can't-take-one-more-minute-in-the-same-room-with-my-very-loud-younger-brother-hiding-spot.)  But ORB to the rescue and and 2 coats later it looked like this:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!  So.Much.Better. Can you see the deep, rich chocolate-like tones and the subtle shine?

I added some cute cushions and this is the official before and after:

Fantabulous! As in, get me a book and some ice tea.  And now I am on a roll.  What could I paint next?  How about these:

Yuck, huh? (Sorry for the blurry picture but they were faded and nasty, just trust me.)  But out comes my magic ORB and we now have these:

Woo-Hoo!  But wait, we are NOT done! (I'm starting to sound like an infomercial.)  I've wanted new lamps in my living room FOR-EVER but every time I would go price the little darlings I would just about have cardiac arrest and swear to resort to flash lights.  My frugal bones just could not plunk down that much money for a stick of wood with a light bulb on the end.  But then I got inspired at my local thrift store and came home with these:

I love the lines.  I love the details.  I lo-ove the price  - only $1.99 each!!  However, the color? Meh...

Out comes my trusty ORB and 20 minutes later:

*Dance of Joy*  Aren't they lovely?!?  I have new lamps and the wallet barely even knows it.  I attached the shades from the old lamps (they'll do for now) and sighed in contentment.

See, it really doesn't take all that much to make me happy.

So are you as in love with the magic of ORB as I am?  Once again, the blogger world knows what they are talking about and I know this won't be the last can of the stuff I buy (OK, I've actually bought 5 already.  Ahem. Maybe I need to buy stock in the company instead.)

Anyhow, this is just some of what we were tackling during our crazy "welcome to summer" busy-ness that I talked about here.  But stay tuned, because the foolishness and mayhem continues...

 
So what projects have you been working on this summer? And do you have any DIY products that you just can't live without?


A big 'Thanks!' to House of Hepworths for letting me join her link party.  Check it out HERE!