Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! I want to tell you about something really cool that happened at our house a couple of weeks ago.
It started with Mom draping our sofa, loveseat and rocking chair in sheets. How interesting! I had never seen her do that before. Next thing I know, she turns the coffee table upside down. Now this was even more interesting. What on earth was she going to do?
Then she brought out all sorts of things: brushes, a can full of white stuff, gloves, a rolly thing in a plastic tray – this was getting better and better.
Ah, she was going to paint the coffee table! I told her I’d help, and I didn’t understand why she didn’t want me to. She mumbled something about “let’s not get any paint on you, Allegra” and gently shoved me away from the table.
After a while, it looked like she was done, but she didn’t put the coffee table right side up. She said it had to dry first. So I made sure to thoroughly inspect it once she let me get near it again.
A couple of hours later, she turned it right side up, and painted the other side. By then, I was getting bored with the whole thing and went off to the bedroom to take a long nap. When I came back in the living room, Mom was done! She said I couldn’t go near the table yet, so I just took a nap next to it until it was dry.
A note from Ingrid: One of the skills, and I use that term very loosely, I gained during the pandemic is painting furniture. I never thought of myself as a DIY person, but I had been wanting to paint my old, beat up coffee table for a long time. I worked up to it slowly: I started with painting a small shelf, and a couple of chairs, to get some practice, and to figure out the best kind of paint to use. I’m a lazy painter, I wanted something that didn’t require any prep – and after experimenting with chalk paint, which I wasn’t crazy about, I landed on Fusion Mineral Paint, which is a dream to work with and results in a gorgeous, durable finish.
I was still nervous about this project. I painted the shelf and chairs in a room behind closed doors so I didn’t have to worry about Allegra getting into things, but the coffee table is too heavy to move very far.
We did pretty good. I’m a messy painter, so at one point, a couple of paint splatters landed on her side, and her tail made contact with a wet paint splotch on the sheet I had underneath the coffee table. Thankfully, I managed to wipe her off quickly before she could take care of it herself.
I won’t be quitting my day job just yet, but I had a lot of fun and it felt good to do something so completely outside of my normal range of activities.
Dear Ingrid,
I hope you are planning to put together a book of Allegra and Ruby’s adventures. I enjoy them (and you) so much.
I just love your new design, Ingrid and Allegra; that coffee table is really different with the pedestal-
like adornments on each side. But what really amazes me is the fact that I didn’t know Allegra was an Inspector, and she performs her job so well. Good job girls, now both of you are ready for the next renovation.
Ingrid,
Your table looks beautiful!
The coffee table looks great! And it really brightens up the room. It’s a good thing Allegra helped.
Great job Ingrid and Allegra! The white table is perfect in your living room! Glad that a lot of paint didn’t get on Allegra’s beautiful fur. xoxox
These Allegra pics are so cute! What a difference, the white paint makes..So bright and pretty..Great job..I’m sure Allegra’s supervision really helped!
What a great job! Chief Inspector Allegra! Love the before and after photos. Came out looking great and a major improvement!
That was a really great project and it greatly lightens up the living area. Good idea well executed
Well done, that looks terrific! It’s always fun to see how a relatively small change can make a big difference in a space. Thanks for sharing 🙂
It looks BEAUTIFUL, and definitely lightens up the room. Bravo!
Allegra and Ingrid
The painting projects look great! I searched for the paint you used close to where I am and found a unique local business that I didn’t know was there. It sells the paint and other cool items for projects I want to tackle:)
Please tell them you heard about Fusion from me, Ais, and good luck with your projects!
Good job Allegra & Ingrid. The white brightens your living area.
Your table looks really good. I have a friend who has been painting nearly every wood surface in her house and I envy the talent. I want to paint my desk. I’m just afraid I would make it look worse than it already does. I can just see my curious girls getting into the paint.
I’m about to paint my living/dining room combo and I’m sure Mocha and her friends will want to “help”, instead they’ll be complaining and wrecking things behind closed doors in my bedroom. I’m sure not interested in having wash one of them while I’m in the middle of painting.