Swirly wall goes bye bye!

So remember the blog from way back... Where I painted my wall with this crazy swirly swirl... I even made a how-to video of it... 

Well, I got tired of looking at it! You don't even understand, it made me feel like the house was chaotic. So I HAD to changed it. Thank goodness.

It was one of my TO-DO's for the summer, and it was completed.

I'm still working on what I want displayed but over-all I'm relieved that I don't have to look at that swirl on my wall anymore.

The swirly madness.

The dining room is almost done, I'm still trying to find the perfect mirror to go opposite this wall, and a nice "buffet" table to go right under it, but with the purchase of my awesome dining table, the swirl just wasn't cutting it anymore.

I had to cover up the swirls first in case a 2nd or 3rd coat was needed.

Lowe's Valspar Eggshell finish in Tawny. Totally perfect.

First Shelf with two tikis  hand-carved from Hawaii.

2nd shelf. The boys putting it up.

3rd & DONE!

I've always wanted to use these IKEA wall ledges.

Really inexpensive, RIBBA picture ledges. 

Taken tonight as I finished up this entry.

I  can display some of my most coveted shells & souvenirs from the beach & beach-side trips. 

But! This just reminds me that I really need to get in gear and put some pictures up. Most of the picture frames I have in the house are blank!



shen

My attempt to make a beach sign...

I recently redecorated a wall in my house, and I'm hoping that I'll have an entry up soon to show off what I've done. In the meantime, here is my attempt to make my very own beach sign decor...

I've had a stack of these pictures in the garage for a while. I bought them at Home Goods...

I actually had to visit a few lunchtime visits over at the Mercado shopping center by my work (which reminds me, I've got to go again!)  but got lucky each time. 70 cents?!?! 
WIN! 

Front of sign says: He who plants a garden, plants happiness.

Moving on.....

I:

1) Taped off the ends so I would have a clean edge.I wanted to keep the solid black "frame".

2) Played with the word "BEACH" on MS word. (After a while, playing w/ fonts, "beach" started playing mind games with me, and I actually had to do a spell check because it looked so wrong!) Printed it out & made sure the size fit "just right" on the sign.

Then I taped the printed letters onto contact paper. I cut around each letter carefully using a exacto knife to get the small details in the letter. Make sure you secure the letters onto the contact paper as needed, to retain the shape of the letters. If you have a cricut/ die cut machine, you could also use a cricut to cut out the letters for you on the contact paper if you want to skip this part. I actually got this contact paper use idea from this "how to make subway art" blog .... 




3) I painted the sign with extra house paint I had left over from an old project... I loved the color, and had to use it over again. It's Ralph Lauren's Iced Mint in a satin finish. 

I let the paint dry, and then I peeled the backing off the contact paper and stuck my letters on... Use a ruler to make sure your letters a straight... Trust me.  You'll soon see why..

  

Contact letters on.. and ready to go.

4) Then to get that white-washed look, I took some cream acrylic paint and a paint brush, and a paper towel. Dipped the brush in paint, then wiped the excess on the paper towel and dragged the semi-wet brush across the surface... Later I took the paper towel and dabbed and wiped areas where the cream color seemed "too thick". It's important that the color behind the white wash show through... 

See the streaking action?!?! 

 

5) After the paint dried, I peeled off the contact paper. It came off very easily...

I think I got a little too excited about finishing, and rushed this project... My sign is a little crooked. Like I said use a ruler... But it was so fast & easy that I will be correcting it over the weekend... 


Updated: June 20th. It really REALLY bugged me. I had to fix it....

I took this picture in the evening. I'll post a pic with natural sunlight as soon as I get a chance.



shen