Balcony Improvements

This week I attacked something completely new and different, a home improvement project. You see, I'm what you might call a 'style novice'. I never enter a space and say, 'You know what this needs? Accent pillows!' Recently however, I've been making a big effort to get things on my blank white walls, and to make sure that my living space feels like home. I've been inspired in no small part by Young House Love and enjoyed many conversations with my 'style master' aunt about how to improve the look of my home. This week I tackled a project that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a while: to paint my patio chairs black.

You see I have a black tabel, and now a cool black plant holder thing and light green ikea chairs. (Which of these things is not like the others?) So I wanted to paint these chairs black to match the rest of the outdoor furniture. I choose my tools, a can of semi-gloss black spray paint, trash bags turned drop cloths and a sort of sandpaper sponge thing called 'The SandBlaster'. (Behold: The SandBlaster!)

As instructed by the back of the spray paint can, I washed the chairs, sanded the chairs, and washed the chairs again. The longest part of the process for me was waiting for he chairs to dry off before I got to painting.

Then the moment of truth, the actual painting. It always is a little more complicated than you expect, right? Well the problem with these particular chairs is all those little spindly bits. Spray paint is awesome when you need to cover a huge flat piece of cardboard for an EPIC Halloween costume but not so great when you are trying to paint something that is in at least four dimensions and is probably a möbius strip. Trickier than they look.

To further increase the level of difficulty I was painting them on my tiny balcony it was tough to get all the angles. (LONG STORY, but basically I was to nervous to paint them in the alley behind my apartment building. Because, A. stray paint may get on cars, and B. I would have to leave the newly painted chairs unattended on the streets of LA for hours while they dried. So I settled for the balcony.) On the positive side, the light green color was bright against the black, so I could tell areas that needed a touch up. On the downside the time of day I was painting made light green/almost white paint peering through looks exactly like wet paint with the sun shining on it. Despite everything, it turned out pretty well.

So what did I learn? If I were to do it again, I would choose to paint in a larger space, or even one at a time. (I can be so impatient). I would cover the ground with more drop cloths to take into account the wind factor. (My patio has a bit of a tan line now, shhh). And I would choose a time of day where the light is bright enough to see but not glaring off the wet paint.

Now to go reap the rewards of my labors by sitting in my (now dry) chairs and contemplate deep thoughts that are too big for the indoors.

Claire Out.