Thursday, February 21, 2013

The need to brighten things up

My family and close friends know that I've always got some project going on.
And by going on I mean sometimes my ADD issues cause the "on" to be on and on and on.
There's my confession.
So when we bought this house almost 7 years ago, there were certian things about it I just had to change.  Our entry way drove me bananas.
In 1971 the rod iron and clay tile flooring was hip.
And often these vintage items still look good 30 plus years later.
We've got an open entry way with THIS going on...


And let me point out a few things..
Yes, there are bulbs out in the light (classy)
The white patch in the wall next to the stairs going down, is where a hole is where a railing used to be.  I think it was busted out with in a month of being here!
I wish I would have taken a video of one of the kids shaking the railing, it's a wonder no one fell over the side, it was hanging on by a thread! And I think it was under "legal" height by like 12 inches. (ok maybe not 12, but alot)
And yes, the 75% off rug from IKEA there has a "water" stain on it.  Lovely.
Check out the grout on that tile! WOW!
But what is really lovely is the "ragged" effect all over the wall.
Soooooo....
I think at some point I just need to blame Pinterest, it's all her fault (it's a her... come'on, recipes, clothes, crafts, home decor ideas...it's a her)
And then poor Nate got involved, soon after he heard me banging the 10 ft ladder around the chandelier (maybe he would change the light bulbs now)

Yep,it worked!
So we painted the whole thing a very light khaki
Then started marking out the stripes.
The laser level was stinkn' awesome, that is until I lost the tack in the back of it. Not so awesome after that. Oh, and having a wall that bows, that's not awesome either.
And the people that say that PAINTERS TAPE DOESN'T BLEED...
big fat liars!!
So we spend the big bucks and got the frog tape stuff most of the way through...ughhh.
And mid way through the stripes we had the railing replaced.
Let's pause for a minute with all this fun stuff and let me tell you about the painting for real...
Painting stripes will be something
I
Will
NEVER
Do
Again.
EVER!!
IT IS TORTURE!!!
Let me make this clear...
NEVER AGAIN!!!
But look at this pro!
All of a sudden he wanted to make sure the edges were PERFECT.
Well ok
I'm not going to stop you.
Because after HE completed this...
he is now the pro at stripes!
SO here's the finished entry...

And thank you dearest daughter for bombing my pic

Ignore the random socks on the basement floor.
We loved the look of wood on the floor, but wanted tile, so we found this at Lowes and LOVE IT!
 
Carpet still needs replaced, but when we decided to pursue our daughter in China,
the carpet didn't seem to matter anymore. 
So that will be a "after China" project.
 
More project posts to come soon...
 
 
~Amber

 
 
 


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great job! I have striped MANY times and love the look of it. I would do it again, so if you want to do it again and want help, let me know! Elli saw a commercial about frog tape and when we went to get the supplies to paint her room, with a stripe around it, she said, "Hey mommy. Frog tape is the best and no paint leaks through." She was right:)