It’s the Little Things That Enliven the Everyday
I am sure you are familiar with the saying… “Make the Ordinary, Extraordinary” or “Enliven Everyday”. In a nutshell these words are about adding the right details to daily tasks so that we enjoy them instead of dreading them.
If you have read, Alexandra Stoddard’s book, Living a Beautiful Life then you know what I am talking about. If you have not read this classic book, then I highly recommend you do.
Asking myself, “How can I enliven everyday tasks?” is what prompted me to do a little makeover on something I use on a daily basis that was not so pretty anymore.
Much of enjoying life is in the details. Handling daily tasks well, thoroughly affects how we feel, our happiness and can even improve the overall quality of our lives.
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This pepper mill is part of my daily life, but every time I have reached for it lately, I say to myself, “Time for a new pepper grinder”, but then think…it works perfectly, I can’t get rid of it. So the time is right to give it some of my DIY love.
Making over a small item like this is the perfect project for anyone who is new or afraid to paint something for the first time, like a piece of furniture with chalk paint or any paint for that matter.
I like an aged finish, but this was getting way too chippy for my style. I did go in search of a new pepper grinder, but none that I could find had a dial where you can change the coarseness of the grind. I have gotten used to using this feature and did not want to give it up.
I don’t enjoy cooking, so I know having nice cooking gadgets around entice me to cook and make the process visually pleasing, which my brain needs.
So I decided to give my chipped pepper grinder a quick and easy makeover. I used leftover paint that I made into DIY chalk paint using this Calcium Carbonate Powder chalk paint recipe.
How to Paint a Small Object Using Chalk Paint
I had it made over in an afternoon.
I sanded it to rough up the surface and then cleaned it with hot sudsy water and let it dry. (I used 60 grit sandpaper which was too rough, but it was all I had on hand at the time. I like using 100 grit sandpaper better, as it still roughs up the surface, but doesn’t leave deep scratch marks in the surface.)
I used some of the leftover navy blue paint from the hallway of darkness makeover and make DIY chalk paint with it. I applied two light coats to the pepper grinder, letting the first coat dry before applying the second.
Once it was dry, I used 100 grit sandpaper to distress the edges a little. I don’t mind a little bit of aging on the surface, it give it character.
I then added a light coat of Annie Sloan’s clear wax, buffed it lightly and then added a coat of Dark Wax over the surface that I also had from a previous project.
Using clear wax first helps you to move the dark wax where you want it. If you apply dark wax directly on the paint you may not be able to move it around the surface to get it where you want.
I then picked up the pepper grinder and placed a soft paper towel in each hand and buffed the wax until the paper towels slid easily over the surface and the surface of the pepper milled took on a subtle sheen.
Of all my senses, I know I need to nourish my visual sense the most – seeing a pretty blue pepper grinder on my kitchen counter and table now increases feeding that sense.
I call it color therapy… which in turn makes me happy and best of all… even makes me enjoy cooking a meal… sometimes. :-)
Have you ever painted or changed something small in your home to make it fit your personal style?
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