On the Spray Paint Kick

There's shabby chic, and there's just plain shabby.  This is the latter.

Oh, and just cause I was on a roll with the old spray paint from working on the gallery wall, I decided to give our rental's house numbers a once-over. I can't have the Dominos delivery guy not be able to find my house when I need him.  As you can see, they were rusted, weathered (but not in a chic vintage way), and peeling.  But, gold spray paint alone was too bright and might make the mean guy next door who likes to remind us when we break the Home Owner's Association decor rules (seriously, he does this) knock on our door AGAIN.  So, I used this great tutorial taken from a child's costume link to weather the numbers down a bit.

First, I pulled down the old numbers and ran over the metal with 220 grit sandpaper.  Probably supposed to have used 150, but 220 was all we had, and I wasn't about to get out of this house again.  If it doesn't last...the next tenant can deal with it :-)  Then, on to the spray paint!

Liquid gold!

Then, I put them back up on the outside of the house, but something wasn't right....

See?  Really really shiny.  BLING! WE LIVE HERE! I'm reminded of the Sex in the City episode where Miranda picks out a gold engagement ring for Carrie and when Carrie is disgusted and Miranda claims that she wears gold, she says "Yeah, like ghetto gold for fun!"  So, this is definitely ghetto gold.  Time for some weathering!

First, some black acrylic paint gets brushed on and nearly wiped off with a rag.  Second, that's the last step.  Pretty simple.  A bit of the black paint gets sucked into the texture of the numbers, so the bright gold takes on a weathered look.

Since I couldn't find any gold nails around the house to replace the old ones, and, let's be honest, I dropped a few of the ones that originally came off the numbers, I sprayed a little gold spray paint in a puddle and then dabbed the head of each nail (new or old) in the puddle, then dabbed the nail on a cloth so a little of the black nail color could show through.  Or, in the case of new silver nails, just a bit of gold.

Much more Homeowner's Association appropriate and much less Ghetto Gold Lives Here.  Back on the house with you!

I know it's a very very very slight difference, so here's the before, during, and after photos.

Before

During

After

I totally see the difference.  Please tell me that you do too, so I don't feel like a crazy.  Have you done a tiny little change that makes a difference?  Tell me about it in the comments!