Black Beauty Meets Barbie

We're very much enjoying our sleek and glossy black beauty.

What isn't so enjoyable is her inside. The car painter we hired to paint her did a great job, but didn't bother to undertake the full preparation work on the inside, meaning that the inside is coated in a very thin layer of the black paint that doesn't stick very well. It scratches off very easily with the lightest scrape.

So I decided from the beginning that I would need to coat the inside with something - be it some kind of liner, or painting it.

Last weekend, I decided to go with painting it. But that couldn't happen until I sanded off enough of the non-sticky black paint so that the new paint would stick!

I donned my sanding gear, and dived in.

Literally. I never really considered just how much sanding the inside of the cabinet would require me to contort! I ended up inside and backwards mechanic-style, with my arms ready to fall off from pushing to get the black off.

Hours later (I'm serious, I was inside that cabinet for hours), here I am. Considerably dirtier and dustier, and sorry for myself.

But it was worth it, to make sure that the new paint would stick!

Finally, it was time to vacuum and wash away all of the paint dust, and tape up the edges for painting.

It never ceases to amaze me how much difference an undercoat makes. So neat and clean and fresh!

And now for the big question - what colour was I painting the inside?

Well that's where Barbie comes in.

Yes, I decided to go a bit crazy (well, crazy for me), and introduce a bit of pizzaz.

Enter Dulux Pink Chintz!

I only bought a tiny little sample pot of the colour, since I was hopeful that I wouldn't need very much to cover just the inside of the cabinet.

And then the first coat went on.

Daniel hates it. Tom is yet to actually offer an opinion.

I think it's gorgeous. And why not go a bit crazy on the inside of the cabinet? At least I'm not out painting the lounge room pink!

What's not gorgeous is what happened when I peeled off the blue painters tape.

Fortunately, I'd been miraculously well prepared by finding a little bottle of black nail polish in the bargain bin at the chemist just last week.

And now you would never know we had peeling paint issues!

So there is our black beauty, now with pretty pink petticoats!

As always, I freaked out when the first coat went on, because it was very very... well... pink!

But pink and black have always gone well together, and why not have a bit of fun with something that hardly anyone sees?!!! Well, except a whole bunch of people on the Internet. Oops.

Long live Barbie!