Painting the stripes

After looking at the pictures of the scraped ceilings in my last post, I was remembering how proud I was of painting something bold on my walls, in addition to completely repainting the whole room.

We have two "spare" bedrooms right now, and the one the dogs use as their area during the day was a lovely shade of purple.  Being the design whore that I am, and reviewing what has seemed like thousands of photos on HGTV.com's RateMySpace, I settled on some techniques I wanted to try.  I really liked the idea of neutral stripes with contrasting black furniture for what someday should become our office.  (the other spare room is considered an office, but I'm not sure that a desk and a bunch of clutter on the desktop and floors counts technically as an office...)

Here are the before Photos:

 

(notice that *awesome* outdoor light fixture on the wall.  eegads.  It has yet to be replaced.  sigh.)

 

So, in order to make these horizontal stripes on my focal wall, along with the faux crown molding, I did the following back in May.

First, I removed everything from the room, and went to the store.  I had taken a day off work to have a three day weekend, and trust me, painting hadn't been on the agenda.  In fact, when Z got home from work that day to find me painting, he started laughing, but didn't think anything unusual of it.  Love him!

I used my Pittsburgh Paints fan deck, and chose the base color to be Navajo White (which I later found out to be a popular choice?)  I had picked a darker tan for the contrast stripe, but when I got to the paint store, there was an oops paint of a nice soft grey that I picked up for $5, and worked so much better!

I painted two coats of the Navajo White paint right over the purple after taping the window sill up.  I didn't worry about going all the way to the top of the ceiling since I knew I was going to paint a white border along the top.

After that dried a bit, I taped up the 4" crown border for the focal wall.  At the top of the ceiling, I measured down 4" because I knew I wanted a thick looking molding (all as a test!).  Because I was using 1" painters tape, I placed the bottom edge of the tape at the 4" line I had drawn using my laser level and a few pencil lines.  Then, I started calculating for my large 12" stripes.  I measured them out and taped them.  In order to paint as little as possible, the stripes looked off when taped up.  In reality, they were all the same size, but because the Navajo White was already on the walls, I only needed to do the 12" grey stripes.  I put small bits of painters tape in the stripes that I wasn't supposed to paint with the grey.

 

The secret trick to getting your tape to come off easy, and your lines crisp?!  Spackle!  Once you tape up your tape lines, on the edge that you're actually going to need to paint over, apply a thin layer of Spackle.  Then paint.  When you pull the tape off, the line is super crisp.  And, for those of you with slightly textured walls, this is a perfect solution so you don't have the bleed through of paint under the texture.  The Spackle coat was so thin you can't even see it, but worked like a charm.  Thanks to my friend Giovanna that I work with who had seen this on HGTV just days before this project culminated in my little head.  :)

I think that's about it!  Take the tape off, and enjoy the look of your hard work, and maybe wipe the sweat off your brow.

This of course was all before I removed the popcorn ceilings in this room, so the ceiling looks dingy.  I couldn't recommend the removal enough for those of you that have it still.  It looks completely different the MINUTE it's removed.  I love it (even though it's not done just quite yet)

*Note: my room was NOT square.  I had to eyeball the levelness (is that a word?) of the line, even though the paint line was straight.  Does that make sense?  I had to do that for the crown stripes, as well as the focal wall stripes.

I  still haven't addressed the old style gold sliding closet door mirrors in this room, but the dogs don't mind, and I think they like living in style.  :)

Total Cost:
$15 Gallon of Navajo White (didn't use the whole thing, about 25% left
$5 Gallon of Grey
$8 Quart of flat white
4 framed New York black & white photos $0 (we've had those for 3 years, and hadn't hung them before!
TOTAL: $28

Anyone done any awesome paint treatments?  What about stripes of various colors, sizes, or orientations?  Do tell!

Excited Over That?

I'm standing at my laptop, jumping up and down, stupidly excited this evening!  WHY?  Take a look:

These are the ceilings only a crafter/hobbyist/home improvement guru could love.

What are you looking at, you might ask?  What is that horrible mess (and that smell)?  That's ugly, right?!  Well, my dear friends, this is stage 1 complete of our POPCORN REMOVAL!  Woop woop!  Be glad right now that they have not yet perfected smell-o-vision through the internet.  These are 30 year old ceilings, that are wet, and dank right now.  EW.

This is only a sneak peak, because I want to do a full post after I get the rest done.

Stay tuned!

Sewing with a tube: Table Runner

I'm not handy with a sewing machine.  Actually, I'm even less than handy... I've never used one.  Tear.  I do want to learn, and I have a mother that sews, knits, and could make a blanket out of pine cones (read: she's amazing when it comes to that stuff)...

So when I found this table runner at Living with Lindsay, I decided I wanted one!  I was lucky to find 54" fabric on sale for $6 a yard, and then 50% off at Joann's Fabrics, so I scooped up 2 yards.  The goal was to make a very similar runner, but with my crafty touch.  My tabletop measured 66" in length, and I wanted an 8" overhang.   (Don't you love the color on her walls?!  Gorgeous!)

The only modifications I made were to make the corners pointed, because I want to add a monogram to the ends later.  And, since I didn't get enough length of fabric to not have seams (I knew this when purchasing) I had to account for the 3 pieces I'd need to make the proper length.  My main, center piece measures 38" L x 13" W.  The two end pieces, from seam to point, measure 22" L x 13" wide each- FINISHED.  Remember, you need to account for the fold-over, of at least 1" on all sides, so add that to each measured piece, and that's the size to cut your fabric for a similar size table.

My Version:

Here's how I did it:

First steps: measure a store bought runner for width.  mine was 13" wide finished, so I added 2" to each side because I wasn't sure how well the Fabric Tac glue was going to hold (Note: it holds really, really well.  AND, 24 hours after drying, it can be washed.  SCORE.)

I didn't even iron the fabric.  Really!  And, even more rudimentary?  I used a metal tape meausre, like a contractor-I'm-building-a-house tape measure to cut.  Wow, good thing my mom didn't watch me make this!  :)

I cut the edges off to true up the rectangles I cut, and to remove the frayed edges from the fabric when it was on the roll.  (check out the texture on the fabric!)

I pinned, the edges up so that the width would be 13", then ironed them down.  I took the runner back to the dining room table, (my current craft area), and *gasp* tried my hand at "sewing with a tube."  It worked!  I added glue right at the ironed edge, and pressed together.

 

Next with the two smaller ends, that I'd use as the remainder of the table length, and the hang over length, I measured the same as for the middle main peice, and ironed, and glued the edges.

 

After those were dry (ok, lets be real, I didn't wait for the glue to dry, and no one would ever have known if I didn't tell you!  I'm impatient.  Get used to it...) I pinned the corners right to the center, and pinned down.  I didn't even iron!  I glued one flap down, then the next side.  Times two.

Once both end peices had their points, I matched up the flat edges to the middle main piece, and did iron these edges again, to ensure it laid flat on the table.  I pinned.  I glued.  I did the happy dance!

I let it dry for 24 hours minutes and then cleaned up and flipped over!  I love it!  Only problem?  I didn't cut enough length so that it hangs over enough for monogramming the ends, but it may have turned out for the better.  At this length, whoever sits at the end of the table won't have to worry about the runner encroaching on their bubble.

Don't you like it?  I do realize a sewing machine would have made this a super easy project, but a bottle of glue worked just fine.  :)

TOTAL: $6
Breakdown:
Fabric $6  (I didn't even use it all, but we'll call it $6.  I've got leftovers for covering some frame mats... a project coming up soon.)
Glue: $0 (already had...)

Inexpensive, and I love it!

Check out my current tablescape here, where there are more photos.

 
Good luck, and if you try this, let me know!  I'm looking for ideas on how to finish this project off with a monogram, embellishments, or, or...?

Fall Colorful Decor

With all of the great design ideas online, I was starting to get disappointed that none of these ideas were in my house.  I bought gourds for the first time ever this season, for $3.49 a bag at Trader Joes.  (Don't you remember those things looking gross and warty when you were little?  I do, and I never thought I'd put them in my house... but the colors, oh the colors...)

So, I sucked it up, got up the courage, or just stopped being lazy, and finally got some of those great fall colors out for my tabletop this evening.

Here's my Tablescape for the next few weeks for Fall (before the awesome Christmas decor comes out!)

I painted these candlesticks off white (they were $5/ea on clearance at HomeGoods, but were blue, which just wasn't going to work) and added glorious orange tapers

I bought 3 bags of Gourds from Trader Joes this weekend ($10.50 total).  Love the texture and color.

 

I had extra marbles from this wreath project, and they added some bling to the table against the burlappy type table runner, and woven placemats (should I take the place mats off the table while the runner is on?  Is it too much of the same color?)

Here's a close up of the tapers, gourds, crystal bling, and orange candles!

Here's the whole room!  You can see the fun green sideboard/buffet project here, and the grey frame project here.  I love how it's coming together!

I hope you like it!  I'm probably most proud of this table-scape than any other I've put together.  I love the color, plus my new table runner, which I'll show you how to make soon.  (Hint:  I didn't sew a stitch!)  *UPDATE*: Check out the table runner no-sew project here!

Plus, I'm participating in "Between Naps on the Porch" Tablescape Thursday by Susan!  Yay, my first McLinky party!

Painted Furniture- destination post

As I was on the flight to Denver this morning, I started going through many of the craft room, decor, and craft project ideas to give them keywords to easily find them later.  In the midst of this, I saw a common theme with my pictures- Painted Furniture!  Love the use of color to add a noticeable pop, and also the way dark, very black furniture looks.

So, in order to test out my new keyword searchy here on my lil mac-booky... I give you some of my favorite pieces of painted furniture.  I've collected them since 2006 (yikes, one of the pictures I'm posting was "last modified" in 2006?!)

Whites

I love these rustic looking chairs, and their placement at the stairs.

Oh how I love chocolate brown paint and sturdy white furniture!  (why don't I have any of this in my house???)

This bathroom is so tranquil- I actually have a medicine cabinet in my bathroom almost identical to this one.  I love that there's no mirror.

Isn't this a beauty?  Check out one of my favorite blogs, "Painting the Roses White" for more info.  Thanks Rebecca!

Oh, and check out Life In The Fun Lane, where Holly paints everything a shade of slight off white:

Colors

This green Pottery Barn dining set makes me so happy!  It's sitting in an otherwise bland room, yet really looks all pulled together with the great pop of color!

(this is probably the main inspiration for my first painted furniture piece.  Check that buffet out here)

This small table really catches my eye in the great cheery color, even though the table isn't really my style.

This grid pattern of multicolored squares really livens up a room.  How cute for a nursery or place space...  Notice the little painted tables and chairs.

Cool blue, what else can I say?  I think you're my favorite color right now...

 

How fantastic red is- so easy to dress up and down!  Accessorize with fruits, and you're good to go!

 

 

Doesn't red just make you think of Christmas?  I think I would like some hot chocolate, umkaythanks.

 

ooooh, blue, I lurve you...

 

And just to say neener neener to tradition, look at this classic piece in a great modern color- lime/yellow!

 

Blacks

Look at that smooth finish... ahh.  brings joy to my heart.  Check out the Just-A-Girl blog to see this post, and the rest of Chris's projects!

Black is timeless.  These chairs below fit perfectly in the overwhelming ecclectic room.

And, the coveted Pedestal table.  I'll have you as a one nightstand some day!

What do you think about painted furniture?  Have any pieces to share?

:)

Empty Frame displays

One of the more modern displays I've come to enjoy lately are collections of large scale, mismatched picture frames.  Typically painted, but not a necessity, these frame collages look great empty where you can really see the details.

I've loved looking for photos of different displays of this type, and came up with these.

Enjoy!

 

For the Holidays, I love these frames with a wreath in them:

Some are painted:

 

 

 (from Painting The Roses White :) for the two photos above.  Thanks Rebecca!)

And, amazing!  An empty frame within an EMPTY frame:

I love the use of the color in the apples in this one, and the textures in the two wooden frames...  Hmmm, I think I'll do this soon!

I think a lot of these frames could be found inexpensively at thrift stores, etc...

Do you have a display or other inspirations like these?  Please share!