SAINT GEORGE HOUSE

Three weeks before leaving on our mission to the Canary Islands we went to St. George to get warm.  It was January and we had been waiting for a visa for 9 months.  We happened to look at this house in Sunbrook on the golf course that was just too good of a deal to pass up.  It was a bank repo with cement work that had sunk in the courtyard and in the garage.  The bank was anxious to sell and we couldn't believe we made an offer that they accepted.  It wouldn't have happened without our contractor brother-in-law who did the repairs while we were gone and Mike's brother who rented it after.

When we returned home the renters left and Mike and I worked crazily for 5 months collecting and painting old furniture.  We painted over 20 pieces including lamps and mirrors.   Our daughter gave us some pieces.  We got others at consignment shops, Deseret Industries, and KSL.com classifieds.  I wanted the place to be happy and colorful and the painted furniture did the trick along with a wonderful rug I got at Pier One Imports.

I planned in the beginning to do chalk paint and did hours of research on Pinterest.  I started out mixing my own DIY formula but found that it didn't stick any better than just plain flat paint and it had issues that I could do a post on.  If we were worried about it sticking we would spray can a light primer base on.  I was going to use wax as a sealer but after reading this I changed my mind.  I crackled the tops of most of the pieces and some of the doors and I did a little stenciling and some glazing on a couple of pieces.  Then we put several coats of water base poly finish.  I started with Minwax and later used Varathane floor finish because it is very durable.

All of the paintings in the house are mine that have been stacking up over the last 10 years.  I also made the curtains and about 20 pillows.  It was all great fun but don't tell my husband that because he did a great deal of the painting and repairing.