My Rustoleum Countertop Transformations Update...

Well, it's been three and a half years since I "transformed" my kitchen countertop.

How has it held up??

Not bad. Not bad at all. Mind you, it's just my sweet hubs and I so not a whole heck of a lot of wear and tear going on.

I will say I never cut directly on the countertop and always used a cutting board and trivets. But my sweet hubs did cut directly on it once and when he did, he made a small slice in it. But after all this time the texture has lifted off slightly. Again, not bad at all. Especially for the price of the product.

There are some spots where it chipped off.



Some spots wore off along the seams.





I was considering doing it again. But I'm also thinking about getting a new countertop instead. Like I've mentioned in the past it was a lot of hard work to transform the countertop and quite frankly I'm too old and too tired to do it again.

Granite, quartz and marble are the hot trends for countertops. But as lovely as they are, I'm not sure about them. Besides the obvious high price, I'm not a fan of shiny, glossy countertops. Yes they are gorgeous but our home is very much lived in. It would be covered in fingerprints and hand smears and that's not so gorgeous. ((giggle))
I love the look of a wood countertop. But I know I would spend my time worrying about any drop of water or liquid sitting on it. (I do that now with my free standing butcher block.)

I have seen some wonderful laminate countertops in Formica 180fx and Wilsonart HD. They've come a long way from our 80's laminate countertop. Truth be told, as dated and unattractive as our white countertop was, there were no chips or cracks in it.

Here's a blast from the past...



I ordered and received some laminate countertop samples and will share with you in my next post.

In the meantime, if anyone wants to put in their 2 cents about their countertops (pros and cons-laminate to quartz) please feel free to chime in. I'd truly appreciate your comments.



:> )

Took a drive to one of my favorite little antique shops...

When I walked in I saw a basketful of vintage calendars that were taken apart for the prints.

As I thumbed though them my eyes got as big as saucers!!

Some were from a 1976 bicentennial calendar with Currier and Ives prints AND they were only a buck a piece.

Heck, it was a no brainer!!





I do believe these boys are quite happy hanging on the wall along with our Founding Fathers portraits.



1776 was a good year... So was 1976.

♥

It was a big, puffy clouds day...

My favorite kind of day.

:> )

TONIGHT on Early Work Mercantile...

Gwenda...



Polka Dot Folk Art Rooster...




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:> )

A Wednesday Giggle....

:> )

It only took me a couple of years...

When I found a vintage dry sink on Craigslist a few year back, I struggled with wanting to paint it.



Not because I loved the groovy, dark stained pine. But because I've (kind of) had a change of heart about painting vintage/antique furniture even if I really dislike the finish. I guess it's about preserving history. Yeah, I know. Who wants to preserve some of the 70's era furniture?? Like those gigantic, bulky, dark pine waterbeds where you could park a small vehicle on the headboard shelf right next to the center mirror? Okay. Maybe there are some who would. But personally, I've never been a waterbed fan. After about 5 minutes, I need a Dramamine.

Anyway, I decided to go for it!! I also decided to paint it red. Gee, who would have thought??!! ((giggle))

I used Olde Century Colors in "Country Red." Seemed appropriate.

I had an extremely old bottle of Valspar Vintage Antiquing Deep Toner. I have no idea where it came from. But I found it in our basement. I needed something to antique the dry sink with and when I opened it, it wasn't all crusty and dried up. Works for me! Although the fumes almost rendered me unconscious, the color was perfect. If I wake up tomorrow with an arm growing out of my forehead, I'll know why.



I finished it off with a light coat of wax.



Ta-dah!!





Man, I love the look of this antiquing toner! I must admit it is worth using the stuff and possibly growing another body part. I'll take the risk.

Happy Monday.

:> )

Took Betsy for a ride...

I was looking to buy some Olde Century Colors paint. I found out the closest dealer was only 11 miles away! YaY!!

So I drove over to the cutest, little prim shop, I had no idea existed!!

When I walked in, my eye was immediately drawn to a particular sign. I knew it had to hang on our powder room door.

Now it does...





(((giggle)))

Have a terrific weekend, all.

:> )

Just because...

Happy Tuesday.

♥

Ooops, I did it again...

Let me just start out by saying this past week has been one heck of a week!!! I won't go into details. But I will say I was going on week two without a washing machine. Ack!!

I don't know about you, but when I get stressed I paint. No. Not pictures. I paint entire rooms. ((giggle))

I decided to use (the leftover) Behr Antique White again. This time in my "dining room." I type "dining room" in quotes because we really don't use it. It just looks nice and quite frankly my sweet hubs is not fond of the antique table and chairs. Folks were a lot smaller and lighter back in the day. ((hee hee))



I'm very pleased with the color. It is a tiny room so the darker color walls made it feel even tinier. The Antique White paint color brightens it up nicely.

Here's a photo of the previous color. It's was cozy. But a little gloomy.



So now it's time to kick back and reflect on this past week from h*ll and learn from it. Heck, we may even sit in the dining room and eat dinner. Hmmm... What are the odds of talking my sweet hubs into that?!

Happy Sunday, all.

:> )

More thoughts to ponder...

♥

Finished another DIY project...

When I saw the price of a custom spare tire cover,



I decided to make my own.



It came out exactly as I had envisioned.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend!

:> )

Bet I can make you smile...

Told you so.
(I never tire of this one.)

:> )

A Stella scare over the weekend...

I swear, my dogs are going to be the death of me. I worry more about their health than my own.

On Sunday, after my hubs and I took Stella for a ride, I noticed she looked to be having a mild, focal seizure as she lay on the settee. Of course I went into panic mode. As many of you remember we had to put down our first Boston Terrier because of massive cluster seizures due to liver failure. It was horrific to watch and I swore I would never have another Boston Terrier. But all that went out the window after I held my sweet Stella. ♥

I called our vet first thing yesterday and she was seen in the afternoon. She was examined and I had some blood work done to check her liver enzymes. I had her enzymes checked in January and her ALT was slightly elevated. But was told no need for concern.

I mentioned to our vet she has terrible seasonal allergies. As soon as the warm weather arrives and it starts to green up outside, she's itching, digging and scratching at herself like crazy. He came to the conclusion she has bad allergies (Ummm, yeah I knew that), a slight temperature and ear infection/fluid in her ears. So she got an injection, ear drops and an antibiotic. I got a peace of mind and a much lighter pocketbook.

The vet called this morning with her liver enzyme result. It is still slightly elevated but lower than January's results.
I'm thinking it's diet related. I have researched and tried so many high end commercial dog foods that my eyes are crossed. What I thought was a top notch food might not be. Salmon and chickpea are high in copper. Too much copper is bad for the liver.

So I will temporarily try Dr. Dodd's "Liver Cleansing Diet" then have blood work done again. If the number goes down I'll know for sure. This diet gave me an additional month with our Darla. I will do everything in my power to make sure Stella never has to go through what our sweet Darla had to.

Too bad I don't drink or do legal/illegal drugs. I could have really used them on Sunday.

;> )

Stella For President!!!

Has a nice ring to it.
I think she could win too.
((giggle))

:> )

We hold these truths to be self-evident...

that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Remember to teach the wee ones (and not so wee ones) why we celebrate this grand day!!

There's much more to it than fireworks and cookouts.

Happy Birthday, America!!!!

:> )

It was a picture perfect day...

Today reminded me of summers as a kid. Sunny, warm with slight breeze and no humidity. The kind of day you'd run through a sprinkler. Or play hopscotch. Or pile in the car and head over to the local Dairy Isle to get a soft serve ice cream cone.

It was also a perfect day to take Betsy for a drive around the back roads. Took the doors and windows off and away I went. I wish I could bring Stella with me. But it's much too dangerous for her to sit by herself in the seat. So it was just me and Betsy... and my camera.



I couldn't help but think of Bob Ross and smile when I saw this happy, little cloud. Man, I miss that guy.



Can't really see it, but I decided to hang my Betsy Ross flag off the roll bar.♥



Yep. It was a picture perfect day.

:> )

Enough said...

I Am Loved
Jackie Atwell, ©April 2001

I am loved, I am hated, I am spit on,
I am burned. Regardless, I am proud of
my country and her people. They say
that love is the greatest gift but the true
greatest gift is FREEDOM. May my
country and her people always have this
great gift. I ask the blessing of God to
be with my people now and forever.


♥