I like cobalt blue, white, and forest green for wrought, cast, and bar-stock iron furniture. and personally, I prefer the satin finish to the high-gloss. depending on the health of the iron (if the rust is built up to the point of bubbling and flaking, for instance) Rustoleum's made a career of 'no fuss' metal painting, and their paints are self-priming to a degree. that being said - spray paint is far easier to apply, but you'll need to recoat it four or five times to get something even close to as solid a coat as you'll get with one brushed-on layer. if the furniture is relatively simple, I'd go with their enamels in cans, and a disposable brush.

I just bought 2 small bags today, Denverdidi. But, that was for 2 reasons outside of need - - the perlite bag was too big for my experiment and a branch of one store had it for half the price of the sister store (have trouble passing up a chance like that ;o). I haven't used vermiculite in years and years. Back then, like Skybird, I was probably working with potting soil made from that crap from the W.R. Grace & Co mine in Libby, MT (pardon my Cherokee). I can't be as sure as Skybird that we don't have to worry about things like asbestos in vermiculite these days. Well over 100 mine workers and Libby residents have died from asbestos-related illnesses and the Grace company spread that stuff over all the 50 state for use as insulation and in potting soil. The reports of asbestos date back before Grace purchased the place in the mid 1960's. They started requiring chest x-rays but didn't bother to tell the workers the results. The feds were willing to be stalled thru most of the 1980's and Grace closed up in 1990. The US congress continues to try to decide how to pay off the wrongful-death claims which would surely bankrupt the company many times over without the infusion of taxpayers money. Right thru the stonewall and go-slow time in the 1980's an earlier administration put J. Peter Grace onto the task of teaching the government to operate like a business. Reagan said Grace was the best person he could find for the job. Reagan's deficits still ran beyond 5 percent of the gross domestic product. We didnÂt get them paid off until about 10 years ago. Peter Grace lived to a ripe old age and is dead and buried. My home is over 100 years old. When I had the insulators in shortly after I bought the place, I climbed up and looked in the attic. I thought, "gee, it already has all this stuff that looks the same as what they are spraying (blown-in cellulose)." But, I had them put in another foot or so. It was only afterward that it occurred to me that it might be vermiculite insulation up there. Not only am I too decrepit to climb up to try to figure it out but I don't hardly know what I'd do if it is vermiculite that "graces" my attic. As it is, I'm afraid that I'm still being "trickled on" by our ridiculous system that allows generations of people to get rich on the broken bodies of others. Sorry, very off topic . . . if you ever want to learn about the Libby mine disaster go to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website and type "Libby asbestos" into search. I guess maybe we can trust the fact that the damn place has been shut down for nearly 20 years and, at least, we donÂt live anywhere near Libby (an otherwise beautiful place in the mountains of MT). Steve

I wouldn't pick one or the other based solely on "look". Since you are the one that will be relaxing in, sitting in etc, your decision should include how comfortable it was for you to sit in w/arm resting etc. Normal positions you find yourself relaxing in. Many people like the slope of the straight arm. Do you lay on your couches? How does it feel w/a throw pillow to lay down etc? More important to ensure the quality of the fabric and construction will give you years of good use. If strictly basing on "look", I vote straight arm for the modern farmhouse style you are seeking.

If you can't trust yourself, how can you trust strangers on the internet who are not in your space? Maybe hire a color consultant for an hour for professional advice. Glossy vs. matte is a personal decision, no right or wrong. If you want contrast, and your counter top is glossy, then go with matte, or vice versa. And chispa has a very good point about the size of the picket tile on a backsplash, unless you install it horizontally.