DIY Trellis Wall

I ordered the Marrakech Trellis Stencil from Cutting Edge Stencil to stencil my bedroom wall. I was nervous to attempt this project but it was actually very easy and I love the result.

Before

What I used:

1) Marrakech Trellis Stencil

2) Benjamin Moore Latex paint in Pearl

3) Foam Roller/ Styrofoam plate

4) Blue Painters Tape

5) A wet wash cloth or paper towel

How To:

1st: Tape off your trim and ceiling with blue painters tape.

2nd: Using the blue painters tape, tape the stencil flat on the wall. (You can purchase a level that goes on the stencil but I didn't, I just matched up my lines as I went along and they came out perfect) 

3rd: Roll the foam roller in the paint and than roll the foam roller onto the Styrofoam plate to get rid of the excess paint. Your roller should not be wet. Remove the stencil while the paint is still wet. I used a blow dryer  to help the paint dry quicker. You can clean up your mistakes with a wet wash cloth or a paper towel.

4th: Match up the lines in your next section and continue steps 2-4.

That is it! It was so quick and easy!

AFTER

I love how subtle and classy it is. We also got rid of the ceiling fan and added a chandelier that I purchased from Overstock. (UGH THAT UGLY AIR CONDITIONER)

If I could...I would stencil every wall in my house. I will definitely be purchasing more stencils from Cutting Edge Stencil but first I need to finish my bedroom. Cant wait to buy curtains to hide that ugly air conditioner!!

Board & Batten Wall Part 2

This is the second part of my Board & Batten post where we added the crown molding under the pine board. If you don't want to add crown molding you can read Part 1 here.

We could have left the shelf exactly how it was but we wanted to add a piece of crown molding underneath to make it fancier. We bought 1 piece of crown molding from Lowe's and nailed it into place under the pine board. We had my cousin cut the corners for us because we were having NO luck doing it ourselves.

If you want to add the crown molding this is what it will look like from the side

After we added the crown molding we caulked again and gave it two coats of Ultra White Semi Gloss paint. I added the picture frames I purchased from Ikea on top of the shelf to try and figure out how I want to display them. It still needs one more coat and some finishing touches but I am loving how it is turning out. I hope to finish this project soon!

Board & Batten Wall Part 1

My upstairs hallway was so blah, I needed to add something! I've seen board and batten walls on Houzz and I wanted to try it...so we did.

What we needed was :

1) Two 4×8 sheets of MDF cut 1/2 inch thick (We got them cut in home depot $20.00 each)

2) Pine board for the shelf

3) Shoe Molding or Lattice for the lip of the shelf

4) Nail Gun

5) Caulking to fill in the nail holes

How to:

1st: We measured and outlined our wall with 4 pieces of MDF board and using the nail gun nailed them into place. Make sure you use a level so your boards are straight.

2nd: We measured and cut our boards to fit vertically in between our frame and nailed them into place. This is your preference depending on how many you want going across your wall. (We did ours around our light switch).

3rd: We measured in between the boards and cut the horizontal boards to fit in between each rectangle. This again is a preference with how big you want the upper box. You could do more than one box if you like.

4th: We filled in the nail holes, inner corners, and where all the boards met up with white caulking. I made sure to caulk as lightly as possible so that sanding wouldn't be too hard.

5th:  We added the pine board to the top of the MDF board to create the shelf. To secure the shelf we used "Tough as nails" and also nailed it into place with the nail gun.

6th: We added the shoe molding as the lip to the shelf. You could use whatever you prefer, I've seen a simple piece of lattice used. 

7th: Using 220 sandpaper sand all the spots that were caulked with a palm sander (or by hand) to make them smooth . Then prime it with one coat of Ultra White paint in semi gloss from Home Depot. (Or the color you choose to paint it)

Letting it dry for tonight!!!

Painting stripes in my entry way

 I was inspired by a picture I pinned on Pinterest before we even closed on the house. I knew I wanted to paint stripes on a wall in my house.

Picture Credit

I loved this and knew I had to try it...but I was intimidated. I didn't want to prep, paint, and than realize my lines were crooked and the paint had bled through. I read some blogs and got some great tips from Megan at "Honey We're Home". Thank you :)

1. I measured the height from the top of my wainscoting to the crown molding. I took that number and divided by an odd number (5,7,9) this way I didn't have to paint the bottom or top stripe ( it would be the original wall color). Once I got that measurement I used a level and tape measure to space my stripes and draw straight lines.
2. I taped my lines with blue painters tape and went over each piece with a credit card to make sure it had a good seal. I stuck blue tape in the spaces I was NOT supposed to paint. It helped a lot!

3. Using a foam roller I painted the wall color over the painters tape. This helps create a seal so you do not get any paint bleeding through.

4. Using a small foam roller I began painting my white stripe (2 coats). My wall color is Benjamin Moore "Edgecomb Gray" and my white stripe is Benjamin Moore "White Dove".

5. After the second coat while the paint is still wet peel back the tape to reveal a perfect stripe!!



Perfection!!