Some Days I Question My Sanity

When I stumbled across these antique balusters at Portland Architectural Salvage, I should have just kept going.  But no, I stopped and marveled at how fabulous these would look on the little front porch of the Maison Mansard.  And in a weak moment, I decided I was up to the challenge of stripping that old paint and restoring them.

I need my head examined.

This is our little front entry porch.  The existing railing isn't the right style for this home - these balusters will be so much better.

I spent the next 3 weeks painstakingly removing the paint.  I tried all the usual methods - chemicals, infrared heat, scraping, cursing.....😂. Cursing doesn't help with the paint, but makes me feel better. 

At last they were cleaned up enough to repaint and it was time to do some repair of the splits and chunks that were missing. 

Finally, I could start the repainting step.  The guys created a painting jig for me, that let me spin the balusters around as they got painted.  

I primed each one with a high quality oil based exterior primer

And then I faced the paint color challenge.  I've been to the paint store so many times, they chuckle when I walk through the door.  Picking paint colors for a Second Empire home has been a challenge for me.  But I appreciate that the Victorian aesthetic uses color to highlight architectural details.  

So I started trying different colors on different parts of the balusters.  We'll also use the color scheme on other details of the house, so getting it right is important.  I hated some of them....and started over.  

Why am I smiling?  I have so many balusters to paint!!!

At last, I came up with a combination I'm happy with.  I love that they don't look brand new.  They reflect the history of the past, which will be perfect on our 1880 house.  Now I just need to paint the next 15 of them!  Like I said, I need my head examined! 

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