I've blogged several times about adding something to the wall space over my couch. I am definitely sticking with the multiple-mirror look, just need to find some cheap mirrors to hang.
Second project of the winter: paint the hideous 60-s era wood laminate door to my apartment. I certainly can't paint the hallway-side of the door, but I can paint the apartment side of the door. I've been doing a little research on painting laminate (always tough to get paint to grip the slippery/smooth surface.
Here's what I found thanks to a WashingtonPost.com artical found here:
The Zinsser company makes two primers that it recommends for use over laminate: Bulls Eye 1-2-3, an acrylic formula in a water base, and B-I-N, a pigmented shellac formula with an alcohol base. Tim O'Reilly, manager for primers and sealers at Zinsser, recommends the shellac formula even though it will leave your kitchen smelling like alcohol for an hour or so and even though it's more of a hassle to remove from your tools. (You'll need to use ammonia or denatured alcohol.) The reason for his recommendation: Once the alcohol evaporates from the primer, typically in 45 minutes, the shellac finish is fully cured. Not only can you can proceed immediately to put on the finish paint, but you greatly speed up the time when your kitchen can return to being fully functional.
The other approach to painting laminate skips the primer step and fast-forwards to the finish coat. This saves time but requires paint that is not readily available everywhere. One product that's designed to be applied directly to laminate is Diamond Hard Acrylic Enamel, manufactured by Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corp. of Columbus, Ohio. (Within a few months, Yenkin-Majestic plans to relabel this product as Diamond Hard Cabinet and Furniture Paint.) The paint sticks to smooth, clean laminate. Scuffing the surface first is a good but optional step, says Gary Dinnell, vice president of Yenkin-Majestic. Adding primer first is a bad idea, however. "With this paint, if you use a primer, that will be the weak link in the system," he says. The paint cures fully in seven days, Dinnell says.
Now I just have to figure how to open my frozen-shut windows so I can ventilate my apartment when applying the primer ;)
