Cross It Off My List!!

I painted the new kitchen corner today!! (cross another thing off my list! :-)
It was so fun to do, because two years ago is when I plastered and painted the kitchen walls, so I've been waiting that long to get this corner done, and now it's almost finished!!  YAY!!!
LOL  I know I get way too excited about these things! :-D  Here it is, all painted.....

Now it only needs the trim board up, then I'll stencil over it, and it's finished!  Of course, there is no door trim on any of the doors in the kitchen, because we have to wait until the tile floor is put in to be able to measure the length right....so I wait.... :-P  It's not one of my strong points!  Well, we are planning to put the floor in this winter, when we get our tax return money....I've figured it will only cost around $400 for the materials, and we will do it ourselves.  THAT will be a great post to read, won't it!! :-D

So, I promised to share what I did with my cabinet wood yesterday!
Here was my dilemma....I wanted to "age" the wood, and I already stained one side of it but not the inside because I ran out of it, but that was ok with me because it just looked too dark with the Early American stain on it - I should have used Ipswich Pine or Colonial Pine, they are lighter - but it was too late for that.  Anyway, I was trying to think of what to do about the inside....I didn't want solid paint, and I didn't want to buy more stain.....so I decided to mix some paint in water and try brushing it on - I've read about people doing it all the time, but I've never done it so I wasn't sure what would happen!
Here is how I started.....

The stained board is in front, and the other boards are turned over, you can see how light they are.  I sanded them on both sides, trying to make the stained side lighter, but it didn't work!  You can see my little plastic bowl of water, that's what I poured my dark brown paint into - I didn't measure, I just poured some in, maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons....I don't think it has to be exact.
I used the foam brush and stirred the paint in the water, and then wiped it all over the first board on the unfinished side.  Then I took my cloth and wiped it off......

Here it is wet, you can see that it's yellowed, I didn't notice a big difference yet, but I thought it was good enough for the inside and did the other boards the same way, dipping the foam brush into the paint water and swirling it around to the bottom every time.  It only took a little while for them to dry out, maybe 15 minutes, and I loved what I saw.....

The stained board is on the left, and the "paint" board is on the right - look at how it has a grayish-brown tint to it now!  I love it, it looks like the kind of gray I see on old wood boards!  I've always wondered how I could get that color into new boards that I build things out of....well, here it is!! :-D  Boy, that Molasses paint sample has sure proven itself to be useful, right?!
I decided to see what it looked like if I brushed on some polyurethane, because it brings out color and depth in wood - I don't like shine, so I only lightly brushed on one coat, and it looks exactly how I wanted it to.....

Here they all are!  That paint/water mix made them just dark enough and added the grayish tint that I always want!!  I am so thrilled with them! :-D  Although.....I do have a slight problem -- now the dark stained sides are going to be inside the cabinet....how is that going to look??  Oh well, we'll have to see.....

So there's my new technique for "aging" new wood boards!  It's cheap and easy, too!! :-D

I'm going to leave you with one last image.....I bought some fruit at the grocery store today, I had never seen them before, but they looked so delicious I had to try them!......

These are pluots - a cross between plums and apricots!  Aren't they beautiful?!!  I had to take a picture to post here, because they look so much like stone fruit in this wood bowl, don't they?  I wish there was a way to preserve them exactly like this....could I dip them in urethane? LOL  Nope, there's no way, but at least I have a picture!  I can't wait to try them and see how they taste - they are not quite soft and ripe enough, but maybe tomorrow.....I'll be sure to report back!!  If they are really good, I'll have to get some more and CAN them!!! ^-^