WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011 Paint It Black "Paint it black" is probably the most fundamental tenet of gothic decorating on a budget. I recently went thrifting and found several items that could be transformed into treasures with a coat of paint. Behold the loot: Rust-Oleum Universal - Metallic - Satin Nickel ($6): I found the handle/spray button clunky and a little awkward. It was more like an atomizer, with the spray forming a cloud rather than hitting the object. Cap accurately represents the color. Final result looks good. Sometimes a goth needs a little shiny silver. :) ColorPlace - Black Satin: To be blunt, this stuff is crap. Terrible coverage and the spray button spit out droplets. I think I paid two bucks; not worth it. Krylon Indoor/Outdoor- Black Satin ($3.25): Rotating spray button is a little odd; I didn't find any advantage in rotating it. Good coverage. Dries very quickly. Does not play well with plastic (but it doesn't purport to be for plastic). Rust-Oleum - Black Satin ($4.75): I liked the wide spray button; easy to aim. Excellent coverage. Dries more slowly than Krylon. I would choose this over Krylon unless I was in a major hurry. Rust-Oleum - Hammered - Black ($5.75): Great for giving a wrought iron look. Good coverage. Spray button will spit droplets if you don't shake the can frequently. Cap accurately represents the color and texture. Final result looks good. Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane - Clear Satin ($7.50): Good stuff. I like it better than brush-on polyurethane because if sprayed properly, it gives an extremely smooth finish. Rust-Oleum Painters' Touch - Primer and Satin Black (not shown) ($3.75): Highly recommended. Wide spray button is comfy and easy to aim. Best coverage of any paint I tried. Rust-Oleum Painters' Touch - Metallic - Aluminum ($3.75): I like this MUCH better than the Universal metallic. The aluminum color is super shiny; I used it for coverage and then toned it down with a light coat of the Universal Satin Nickel. In summary: Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch will be my first choice in the future. Krylon would be a good second choice. Posted by J.Bane

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 Stripey, Batty Chest of Drawers I love to rescue old furniture and give it new life with paint. With craft stores full of stencils and so forth, one does not need to be a Monet to create a fun piece of furniture. I'm sure the artists on etsy would scoff at me, but I am happy with the results (and that's all that matters). First, I sanded it a little to smooth out the nicks and dings, then applied a coat of latex primer. Primer helps the paint stick; this is especially important if you have not stripped the furniture down to the bare wood. Then I painted the drawer fronts and the sides of the chest black and the front and top of the chest white. I used Behr interior latex paint, the same stuff I use on my walls. After the paint was thoroughly dry, I masked off stripes using 1" painters tape. To make crisp stripes, I highly recommend spending a couple extra dollars for FrogTape instead of regular blue painters tape. The paint seeps underneath FrogTape much less, especially if you're careful to rub the edges down well. I then painted white over the unmasked areas. It might seem counter-intuitive to paint white over black, but with latex paints, lighter colors cover better. To dress up the drawer fronts, I decided to add bats behind the existing wood knobs. Craft stores sell a variety of little wood shapes for less than $1 each. Around Halloween, you can get shapes suitable for gothy decor -- bats, skulls, cats, coffins. I always stock up on bats. ;-) I painted the wood bats and knobs purple, then drilled a hole in each bat for the screw to go through. To finish, I gave all the painted surfaces a couple coats of polyurethane.