Blog - Decor Fix

DIY: Stenciled Wall

This very well could be my biggest DIY to date. That, my friends, is not wallpaper. It is several hours worth of work using a paint pen and a piece of cardboard. It’s not for everyone, but this project only cost me $15!

My Unrequited Wallpaper Love

After realizing the cost, I regretfully kissed my dreams of a gorgeous embossed wallpaper goodbye and set out to try stenciling my dining room. (My husband almost passed out when I told him how much papering just one wall would be. I could see this was a problem…) In hindsight, there are so many reasons why I’m glad I went with a stencil over wallpaper. Just to name a few…

1. The total cost was a mere 5% the price of the wallpaper I had picked out. Seriously.
2. If I tire of the pattern (which is inevitable at some point), I can simply paint over it.
3. I discovered that trying something that once intimidated the life out of me could pay off.

My Inspiration
Like many blogoholics, I too have been enamored by the amazing stenciled wall projects out there. Here are just a few of my favorites that nudged me over the edge to try it myself.

This amazing room from Hello Gorgeous

Kate’s bedroom from Centsational Girl

Above is Emily’s office (Jones Design Company). I decided to imitate her stencil. She was inspired by these curtains from Ballard Design that I had been admiring for a while.

My Process

1. I tried to use Emily’s stencil, but the scale wasn’t quite right for my wall. I basically recreated the same shape with poster board in the dimensions I needed. I spent quite a while testing it to get it perfectly symmetrical. (This could have been avoided had I downloaded or purchased pre-made stencils, BUT mine was free.)

Please forgive the dreadful pics…This was pre-Cannon 60D.

2. Next I traced the stencil on my entire wall in pencil. I started at the top and traced vertically down the wall. If I had to do it over again, I would start on one side and trace horizontally across the wall first. This would have saved me a lot of erasing and repainting. (I did admit to the trial and error at the beginning, remember?) This was the hardest part.

3. Then I used white paint pens to go over the penciled tracing. It is by no means perfect up close, but from a distance the pattern looks mostly uniform.

Dining Room BEFORE

All my friends who saw the project wanted to know how long it took me. Honestly, I don’t know exactly, but would guesstimate between 12-15 hours. I came home from work each day, turned on music, and worked until bed time for four days. That’s where the patience comes in.

If you’ve been contemplating stenciling, just go for it. You need to be precise and patient, but the end result is completely worth it. If you fail miserably (which you won’t) all you have to do is paint over your attempt and no one ever has to know. If only high school year book photos were that easy to erase…

Be sure to “stop by” next week. I’m going to share three DIY art ideas to solve the “BLANK WALLS” dilemma.

Console Tables

| by Heather Freeman

One of the only places in my home that I am totally content with is my entryway console table. For some reason the stars aligned, and I wouldn’t change a thing to the set up or accessories. This doesn’t happen often, as I almost always change my mind about a space or have a plan for improvement. (If my husband were reading this, there would be an audible , “Amen”.) The first set of images is my home. Followed by that are foyers and console tables that I’m pretty fond of.

I’m a sucker for symmetry. I started with two lamps I loved and two of the centerpieces from our wedding. From there I just picked small items in my house that I wanted to showcase.

The mirrored table was purchased from Pier 1. The “pinwheel frame” was a Christmas project that became a permanent fixture post holidays. I had trouble finding something I liked better for the space.

Most of the images below, I feel, tend toward fashion rather than function. In truth, mine does too. Our back entry is where all the keys are thrown, bags dropped, and mail collects. I’m still on the hunt for pictures of tables that are equally functionally and still fashion forward.

entrances/foyers - Jonathan Adler Bond Desk black striped walls lucite console table horse lamp Lonny Mag: Lee Kleinhelter of PIECES! modern,

via Lonny Magazine

Windsor Smith

Two of my favs from Domino

So what do you think takes the rump card, function or fashion?

Little Mister: A Bow Tie Baby Shower

| by Heather Freeman

Whenever I’m throwing a shower, I have a tendency to “throw” myself into it Much to my husband’s dismay, I morph from the girl he married into crazed party planner, ignoring the budget and rearranging the furniture with or without help. I lose sleep, forget to eat, and make more trips to Hobby Lobby than any sane person should in a week’s time.

Ironically, I love this process.

I love it more when I’m throwing it for someone who can only be described as my “kindred”. My best friend Tanya is expecting her first baby and couldn’t more excited. When we sat down to plan the shower, immediately we had flashbacks of wedding planning. (We were both each other’s maid of honor and decided to get married within a month of each other…What were we thinking?”)

We even planned the date around when our dear friend Laura (Lark Photography) wasn’t traveling the globe and could shoot the shower. Tanya has impeccable taste, and I knew this shower had to stand out. We based our theme around this adorable invite we found on Etsy.

I got a little ambitious with the favors and made mixed berry pies in mini mason jars for the guests to take home with them. I snagged this great idea from Paiges of Style.

Other than an actual newborn baby (or a boatload of puppies), what in the world is cuter than baby pies?

I got desperate at 2am and decided my only option for getting the ribbon up was hot gluing it to the trim. That was a snap decision that I’d pay for later. Clean up involved repainting the trim…