Teal Blue Vintage Shutters

 Above is my finished shutters.

And below is from my last blog, showing the shutters in their original brown stained wood. Yuck!

So not complimenting my new chandelier light.

 

I found these brown wooden shutters at a Church sale.  I had been looking for shutters for a while and when I spotted them hidden away behind some other stuff, I pounced on them, literally!  And for $5 the pair, how could I not buy them.  Score!

At Christmas I decided to put them up on our lounge/dining room wall, just to get them out of the way and fill up the blank wall while I pondered what colour to paint them.  I had toyed with a distressed white, a distressed grey or a bright red with a black stain.  Decisions, decisions....

I usually paint everything with a brush or roller, but knew this project was going to require spray paint or it would take forever.  I'd heard the raves about Krylon, but unfortunately I could only find one stockist in Sydney, Australia, and they wanted $12.95 a can, plus $12 postage.  I've read Walmart in the US stocks it for $3.99!!!  Perhaps we should move. :)  Previously I was paying $10.95 a can at the hardware store.  Again, just a bit too much for a thrifty budget.  Then I thought about an automotive shop.  They have lots of different colours and majority, if not all paint, is metal friendly, so worth checking out for various projects.  I was right.  $3.45 a can.  Gotta be happy with that.   I was initially looking for a turquoise colour but they didn't have anything even close.  So instead I picked up a can of very light blue and a can of teal blue.  I'd decide which colour to use later.

I'd bought a can of Birch white undercoat last week at Spotlight for $8.  (Again, not very thrifty.) This was just enough to cover both.  Ouch!

After this dried I decided to be brave and go with my lovely "Teal Blue" spray paint.  The quality was quite good and I'd happily use it again.  One can was just enough to cover both shutters with a decent coverage.  Okay, it was a bit sparse in a couple of places.  Anyway ...

 

After this dried I got my sandpaper and started distressing the edges.  The paint was quite shiny so I had to do a lot of sanding to give it a more matt finish.  In fact, I had to sand every single slat.  Super dooper time consuming and rough on the hands.  So I saved heaps of time with the spray painting, but the distressing became distressing. ;)

 

 

I only managed to get one shutter finished today, but really wanted to show you the finished product.  I'm really happy with the result.  I was a bit hesitant about the teal, but actually love the pop of colour on my Antique White walls.  I'm guessing I might still add a coat of spray clear varnish, when I find a cheap can. ;)

 

 

Don't you just love my matching shabby teal ceramic bird. :)

I'd also like to add a shelf underneath so I can add some bits and pieces in front of the shutters.

 

 

Speaking of which, I'd love to hear what paints people residing in Australia use on their projects.  Just add a comment or drop me an email at julie@floralandplaid.com. 

Now I'm debating whether to paint the top of our dining room table and chairs white, then distress, and coat with a really glossy varnish.  I saw this on another post recent and fell in love with the shine.  What do you think?

Thanks,

Julie