The (Frustrating) Knife Block Makeover

Sometimes it's the little things that can make the biggest impact.  Or cause the most problems.

 My knife block was the traditional golden brown chunk of wood that resides in so many kitchens today.  It definitely stood out just sitting on the counter.  (But not in a good way.)  It just did not gel with the general look of my kitchen.  My plan was to paint it so it would look a little prettier.

 I cleaned it well and then sanded it down.  I decided not to use a primer because I wanted to be able to easily distress it.  I spray painted it with Krylon's Catalina Mist.

 After the paint was dry, I taped around the edges and sprayed Chalkboard paint in the center.

 And that is when the problems started.  While the knife block was sitting outside to dry, a bird thought it would be fun to relieve himself right on the center of the block.  (Bull's eye!)  After I cleaned up the lovely mess and removed the tape I discovered that the paint had bled through.  (A common beginner's mistake.  Really?)   I obviously wasn't paying attention when I applied the tape.  It was going to be a pain to touch up since I had used spray paint instead of a brush.  And then in the middle of my frustration I realized that I didn't even like the design, anyway.  (It was a lot of trouble for nothing since I had run out of chalkboard paint and had to go to the store for more.)

So I repainted the whole thing in Catalina Mist and grabbed some stamps.

The butterfly was bordering on too cutesy but was the right size for the block so I went with it.  (I mean, who doesn't want a butterfly stamped knife block?)

 So here is the finished project (for now.)  I'm not exactly loving it but I like it much better than before.

(I just realized that I never distressed it.)  I guess it's fine for now.  (Although I'm starting to think of polka dots.)  I'm just happy that my sharps are all corralled safely in the block and not scattered across the counter top.  (Like they had been the last few days...)

So what about you?  Have you entered the land of remodeled knife blocks and survived?

Linking up with these fun parties:

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