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 One of the hallmarks of coastal chic is the marriage of rustic charm with breathtaking color schemes. But what to do when you’ve found that perfect piece to fit your home but the color is all wrong?
One cheap and easy way to achieve the coastal chic look is through spray paint, according to design expert, author and do-it-yourself television personality Kathy Peterson.
“When it comes to experimenting with color and style, spray paint is to
decorating what speed-dating is to relationships,” Peterson says. “You
can get great results without a big commitment of time or money.” Love
the color? Keep it and build on it with flower arrangements, pillows,
throws and other accessories. Was your color fling just a flirtation?
No problem. With today’s trendy spray paint color palettes, it’s easy
to find love with another color the second time around. To achieve that
coastal chic look on furniture from chairs to nightstands, find paint
in a pure white tone or highlight with soothing pastels. You can even
find an earth tone and distress it yourself for that ‘lived in’ look.
One of Peterson’s newest spray paint raves is Krylon H20 Latex, a premium-quality spray paint that offers the ultimate in convenience. Named for its water-based, nontoxic formulation, Krylon H20 Latex is friendlier to the environment than solvent-based paints and dries in only 15 minutes. It washes off hands with just soap and water, plus overspray can be wiped up with a wet sponge within 20 minutes of application. As a result, it can be sprayed indoors with ventilation or outdoors on wood, metal, wicker, Styrofoam and more.
Now that you’ve sprayed your way to that perfect coastal color, what else can you do to give your furniture that coastal look? One thing that helps make the coastal look unique is the way it uses distressed furniture to evoke a timeless quality.
With a few simple steps, you can imbue your coastal projects with that same antique patina for a rustic, comfortable coastal look. To begin distressing your furniture, apply a coat of satin sealer and let dry. Then, begin by adding wear marks. Generally, you’ll want to think about what parts of the furniture would get worn most over time. The ends of arm rests and footrails on chairs will generally get smoothed out over time, as will the corners of drawers. To duplicate this natural wearing down, use fine-grit sandpaper (NOT a power sander) and sand those areas down to the desired size and discoloration.
Now, to add the finishing touches. Use a coarse file to add scuff marks at strategic locations, a hammer for dents and a small drill bit (1/16” ought to do it) to create tiny groupings of worm holes. Keep it simple, and definitely keep it tasteful (too many distressed marks will just make it look beat up). Once you’re done, apply a coat of light paste wax to keep the look in and bring out the marks made by distressing.
And now, if you want to spraypaint your way to a magnificent coastal abode, you can win a chance to see how they do coastal chic in an island paradise that’s nothing but coast!
Spray painters who want to get serious can enter a contest to win a trip for two to Hawaii’s Grand Wailea Resort including airfare, car rental, hotel and cash for spending. Five additional winners will receive a $100 American Express gift card. To enter, snap a “before” photo of your next do-it-yourself project and an “after” photo of the project painted with Krylon H20 Latex colors. There are five project categories: wood décor, wicker décor, metal décor, kids’ room décor and baby nursery projects.
All entries must be postmarked by Dec. 20, 2006, and received by Dec. 31, 2006. Judging will be completed by Jan. 31, 2007, and will be based on creativity (40 percent), use of Krylon H20 Latex (30 percent) and originality (30 percent). Winners will be notified by mail by Feb. 15, 2007. Professional designers are not eligible to participate.
Visit the Krylon Web site at www.krylon.com to get complete contest rules and instructions on how to enter.
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