A million times better is better than perfect. :-)

This post is part of a 31 day series about trying new things. 

Day 28

First a reminder of the sad pitiful thing I ended yesterday with...

Tragic right?

Well look at it now!

Isn't that gorgeous? I'd hoped to stage it all fancy with a fern and a chair but it was still drying and I was already running late for work. 

I may or may not give it another coat later. It was still drying when it started to rain so I had to move everything in lickity split.  :-P

I'm really happy with how it turned out in the end. After two trips each to two different stores and spending nearly 100 on paint and supplies, I finally have something I'll be happy to have in my dining room and it coordinates perfectly with the giant rug going in the "living room" two feet to the right ;-).

Lessons learned: The upholstery fabric spray paint does not work well on patterns with high contrast or on anything dark.  I imagine it's best on very light solid fabric with low absorbency. 

Also. A quart of paint doesn't go very far. 

Sometimes it is better to get the good stuff instead of being cheap. 

I know it is kind of hard to tell, but the left side I did with a quart of mid grade paint. The right side I did with the top of the line stuff and I really could tell a pretty dramatic difference in how well it covered. It is also supposed to be highly durable which I'm glad of since it is going under a dining room table that will be used by a baker, a klutz, and lots of younger people. ;-D It is going to end up a little crunchy because I didn't want to mess with fabric medium, but it wasn't a super soft and squishy rug to start with. :-)

And one last before and after...

And with its new best friend instead of very very distant cousin...

Compared to the rug, my bookshelves should be a piece of cake right? Right. ;-)

This post was made possible by the generosity of kind friends who heard we were moving and offered us a gorgeous coffee table, an adorable old rocking chair, and the rug featured in this post. Thanks friends! You know who you are. :-)