Toddler painting (+ Baroque style picture frame)

As soon as I hung up our Baroque style picture frame I knew it wasn’t going to be one of those projects that sat around for six months waiting to be worked on. A few days after I bought it I headed to our local DeSerres to pick up some art supplies and a few days after that, I was sitting at the table with Cora mixing some peachy paint for her.

RANDOM STORY – when I was pregnant with Cora I craved some really weird things. Like 90’s movies and the colour peach. Both of which stuck with me after having Cora [and let’s face it, I loved 90’s movies to begin with], so now the moment I see anything peach or rose gold coloured I will find it hard to resist. I’d say 70% of Cora’s wardrobe is some shade of peach.

Because this frame’s ratio is a bit longer than typical frame sizes, I had to buy a canvas that was wider than it and cut it down to size [I used a really sharp kitchen knife since I couldn’t find my exacto knife].

I absolutely love painting with Cora supervising Cora painting. She really loves it and I love sending pieces to friends and family as little unexpected presents. I guide her at times [just by pointing at different parts of the canvas for her to paint] and she stops, listens to my suggestions and with a quick “okay” she gets to work. It is equal parts hilarious and adorable.

This of course isn’t Cora’s first time painting. She did a black and white piece for my One Room Challenge, which she points at and shouts to let me know she’d like to sit down and paint something else.

I also want to get our bar cart in bit more of some kind of order. I want to add something green too as this is all screaming, dare I say, too much burgundy? I’m not sure what plant though to get. If you have a favourite small house plant [that is hardy and won’t die too easily], please let me know! I’d love to have something potted on our bar cart, but I’m not entirely sure what. And it can’t be too fragile either because of curious toddler hands.

I can hear you all screaming “fake plant” at me as my only option.

Also featured – bar cart – black dining room hutch – Bill Murray print [which won’t be staying here for much longer. It looks strange here] – dining room One Room Challenge

Painting a leather chair with Fusion Mineral Paint

This is quickly becoming my new favourite update in our apartment and I will admit, it is taking a lot of restraint for me to not paint all of the things now.

After seeing our dining room hutch update, Fusion Mineral Paint got in contact with me and offered to let them know if I had any upcoming projects in mind and they would send me some paint. I was delighted by their offer, and I of course had some projects in mind! [I never don’t have five projects in mind]. I had thrifted an incredible tufted leather armchair a few months previously so when I finally decided on updating it, Fusion Mineral Paint kindly sent me some of their Coal Black paint [and a few other colours – projects coming soon!].

Yes, that’s right. Paint. I painted a leather chair.

I was at our local Salvation Army in May when I saw among the sea of secondhand furniture, the top of a worn tufted green leather chair. I went straight for it, sat in it, sent a picture to Robert for approval [sometimes when I’m nervous about a piece I need another pair of eyes. Luckily, he replied in capital letters to buy it], and headed straight to the cashier to buy it.

As I told the cashier I’d like to buy the green leather chair at the back, I heard “I was so close to buying that very chair yesterday!”, by an older gentleman behind me in the queue. We chatted about our favourite secondhand finds and as I was asking the cashier about the Salvation Army’s furniture delivery service, the man offered to drop it home with me now. The cynical Dubliner in me seized because who makes offers like that other than people who drug you and then you wake up in a bath full of ice? But my new inner Ottawan knew it wasn’t weird and he was making a genuinely nice offer. Plus, he was going to be driving in our direction, so I didn’t feel too bad.

10 minutes later we were lifting my new chair out of the back of his Jeep and onto the front lawn. It turns out, one of his daughters lived not too far from us a few years ago so he was able to tell me a few things about the area. I could dedicate four blog posts to the incredibly kind encounters we’ve had since moving here. Canadians are making my cold dead heart start to grow in the Grinchiest way possible.

I painted a test patch of paint on the back of the chair and left it for a few days. I came back to it and it was perfect; it was smooth and in no way tacky as Fusion Mineral Paint’s Classic Collection has a soft and almost chalky finish. During Cora’s next nap, I got to work. I took the seat cushion off the chair, cleaned it all over and painted Coal Black over the entire chair. I started with the tufted creases then moved onto the less difficult areas. I waited about 6 hours between coats and painted thin layers each time, two coats in total. I then left the chair cure for a full [agonizing] day before putting the seat cushion back and testing the chair out.

You definitely don’t notice you’re sitting in a painted chair and the finish is so smooth, you can hardly see the brush strokes.

I’ll come back and write an updated post in 6 months time to give an honest review of how our painted chair has held up. So far, even though it’s just been a week, it’s been perfect. Nothing has peeled and we haven’t been delicate with it [especially considering I love sitting with one leg over the arm at any given time. I’m classy like that].

But for now I would say if you’re considering updating a piece of leather furniture in your home, Fusion Mineral Paint is the absolute perfect option. As strange as it sounds to paint a leather chair, the results are worth it.

DISCLOSURE – while this post is not sponsored, I did receive this paint free of charge from Fusion Mineral Paint in exchange for a blog post. I only work with brands that I like and of course, think you will too. Thank you for supporting the companies that support The Interior DIYer.

Shop this look!

IKEA Ranarp Floor Lamp
IKEA Ranarp Floor Lamp
$59.99
Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Coal Black’
Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Coal Black’
CIL Classic Burgundy
CIL Classic Burgundy
IKEA Begavning Glass Dome
IKEA Begavning Glass Dome
$14.99
Anthropologie Mimira Candle
Anthropologie Mimira Candle
$24
April & The Bear Letter Board
April & The Bear Letter Board
€60
IKEA Ranarp Floor Lamp
IKEA Ranarp Floor Lamp
$59.99
Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Coal Black’
Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Coal Black’
CIL Classic Burgundy
CIL Classic Burgundy
IKEA Begavning Glass Dome
IKEA Begavning Glass Dome
$14.99
Anthropologie Mimira Candle
Anthropologie Mimira Candle
$24
April & The Bear Letter Board
April & The Bear Letter Board
€60
IKEA Ranarp Floor Lamp
IKEA Ranarp Floor Lamp
$59.99
Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Coal Black’
Fusion Mineral Paint ‘Coal Black’
CIL Classic Burgundy
CIL Classic Burgundy
IKEA Begavning Glass Dome
IKEA Begavning Glass Dome
$14.99
Anthropologie Mimira Candle
Anthropologie Mimira Candle
$24
April & The Bear Letter Board
April & The Bear Letter Board
€60

Mini interior sample stash for designing on the go

This is a trick I’ve used a few times so far and figured if I found it handy, someone else out there in the process of [ s l o w l y ] updating their home might also find it helpful!

What I started doing was collecting samples of the main colours and fabrics in our home to keep in one place; a swatch from our Article sofa, sample strips of CIL’s Kitten White and Burgundy paint, some cardboard with Coal Black Fusion Mineral Paint and Pure Gold spray paint from Rust-Oleum and a sample of my faux marble contact paper. Then I neatly stashed them all in a black envelope. This way when I’m heading out to look at something for our home I grab my black envelope, toss it in my bag and I can easily see if whatever I’m looking at will match what I already have.

I especially find this handy when I’m looking at something burgundy. I’m so picky when it comes to burgundy and I really love the shade in our home, so if I find something that’s a shade of red that I’m unsure of, I can quickly see if it’s the good kind or bad kind of clashing. It’s a minor design hack, but one that I use a lot! More importantly, it makes me feel like I have my shit together for a few minutes each day. Worth it.