Good Goodwill Trip: Finding & Painting the Wooden Frame

People gather in kitchens.  I need to give the people in mine something to look at other than the dust on the refrigerator while they’re there.  Enter a chalkboard frame project for the kitchen; I just needed a frame.

“I don’t like the way it smells in here,” said my child with a weak stomach as we went into Goodwill, tape measure in hand on the search for a cheap frame.  

Oh, please don’t throw up on all this crap and make me buy the stuff everyone just got rid of after 10 years of it being in the bottom of their dusty closets…, thought me.  

Thankfully, we didn’t have to stay long before I saw and miraculously made a pretty quick decision to buy this beauty for $4.25.  I didn’t even have to rip an old, smoke-stained picture out… it’s just a frame, a solid-wood-from-a-frame-shop-frame! (Side note: Why is it so expensive to frame something at a frame shop?!) 

Home we went where my hubs was skeptical about the gaps at the joints and having to paint around the linen like area.  I thought that part would pop out and I honestly didn’t even notice the gaps.  As usual, I had good intentions and was only seeing potential.  Oh well, just go with it.

On to priming! Luckily we had some left over from other projects.  I’m not always the most patient person so I just grabbed paint brushes from the stash I keep for kid projects.  Last year I bought the cheapest ones at Michael’s or Wal-Mart and I was a *little* worried about their quality, but not enough to wait until I could buy more.  Hey, this is me living life on the edge.  Hold on to your seats, people.

I had already decided to use the leftover almost six year old dining room paint for the frame. (Benjamin Moore’s Beach Glass)  I *thought* it would be fine after a lot of stirring, but it didn’t look like it when I took my first few strokes.  In fact, I brought it back inside just to compare it to the dining room walls.  Sure enough, it was the same!

So, I just kept painting and impressing myself with my patience while avoiding the linen part.  

Two coats and some touch-ups later, I’m in love.  And the gaps weren't a problem at all.  I just filled them with paint. :)

 Because no one threw up during any part of this project, I’m considering it totally worth it.  Anyone else think their Goodwill store has a nasty odor to it?  Are you willing to chance an embarrassing public barfing for the possibility of a good deal?