Damask Stencil Wall for Daughters Bedroom

Just recently I redecorated my daughter’s bedroom from its prior hot pink princess look and feel to a more serene setting with shades of blue, green and rose.

As blogged here, I’ve finished most of the redesign, I now just have a couple of finishing touches.



First task on my list, the accent wall that just seemed a little bland. With a little bit of internet searching, I decided to stencil the back light blue wall with a silver damask to spruce it up a bit.

I ordered one from Cutting Edge Stencils, a source I found online, and chose the Verde Damask. This stencil measures 17 inches wide and 22 inches tall, just the perfect size to cover her 10x10ft back wall.



I bought some silver acrylic paint from Michaels on clearance for $2.99 and watered it down a bit to it would have a translucent effect. I purchased a large sponge brush from Lowe’s (only $6) to apply the paint. You can actually use a roller brush, but I just felt like I had more control with something handheld.



I practiced my technique on a sample board first which I highly suggest to get your color combination right and to get comfortable with the stencil. Once I was content with my sample board, I started with the left hand side of the wall, about 2/3 of the way up (I decided on this strategy since I knew I had shadow boxes that would be placed on the wall at a certain height). I taped the stencil with blue painter’s tape and applied my first coat with a stencil sponge.



I peeled up the stencil every so often just to check that I was using the right pressure. I wanted a subtle effect, but needed to make sure it was even across the stencil.

When I was finished with the first round, I let it dry for a couple of minutes then I slowly peeled up the painter’s tape. The stencil has built in guides to lay the next piece so you can’t mess up the alignment.



The whole process when very smoothly! It only took me about 4 hours to complete the entire room, but mostly because this was my first time stenciling and I was going quite slow to make sure I wouldn’t mess up! I let the paint dry for 2 hours then moved back the furniture. It looks great! And I love how the light reflects off the metallic silver from the window and ceiling lights.



So the total cost of this project: $46 for the wall stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils with shipping (get 20% off when you use the promo code SPRING), $6 for the paint and $6 for the paintbrush. Under $60 total!

A New Bedroom Fit for a Princess

I’m currently in the process of trying to redecorate my daughter’s bedroom. It’s been a long overhaul to say the least! Before the remodel my three year old had a hot pink accent wall which really overpowered the entire room. I thought it was a good idea to paint the wall this color when I decorated the room with Disney princesses, but it really limited any future designs.

So there’s the before... and after! Here’s how I transformed the room (thus far).

So with a new plain white comforter from Target that I got on sale for $79.99 in January, I got the bug to re-vamp the rest of her room to match! I purchased a green, blue and rose argyle rug from www.capeldealers.com for $138. Yeah, it’s kind of a stretch for me to spend this much on one piece, but I knew I really wanted to base the room these colors so I splurged!

I finally got around to painting the hot pink wall light blue to match the other three walls. I have plans to do a damask stencil design but the overall blue walls is a big change thus far! I put a green glider from her old nursery in the corner with a pink accent pillow to bring out the rose color in the new rug. I’d really like to find a desk to refurbish for that area, but until then this is a perfect place to read her favorite books!

I also purchased a mirror from Pier 1 Imports on clearance for $20. It was an off white so I painted it green to match the chair, then sanded it down to give it a rustic feel. While I was there, I picked up a green damask pillow on clearance for $17 for her bed.

Next I found some silver shadow boxes on clearance from Michaels ($32 for 4 total) and lined them with scrapbooking paper to match the decor in her room (only $8 for the paper!). I also used multi-colored scrapbook paper to cover the wall letters from her former nursery and give them an up-to-date look.

Ah, the transformation is almost complete. I know her light and breezy color scheme doesn’t really go with the rest of my house, but I love it! Just waiting to get my large damask wall stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils to get delivered so I can finish her walls. Keep checking back to see how it turns out!

Laundry Room Makeover

One of my favorite DIY websites is www.centsationalgirl.com. Recently she featured a bare wall transformation creating an instant mud room. I loved this idea and decided to use it for my laundry room since it’s right off the garage.

I started with painting my white walls to a desaturated olive green that matches my kitchen (which is located right next to my laundry room). Luckily I had enough paint leftover from that project and the paint was in good shape. Also, I knew that I only had to paint the top half of my laundry room since I would be adding some bead board to the bottom half of the room.

I purchased the 4x8’ panel of bead board from the paneling section of Lowe’s for $19.98 and it almost fit perfectly! Just a smidge off the side and we were in business. I finished the top of the bead board with a wide baseboard trim for $8.50 from Lowe’s. I chose baseboards because I needed at least 5 inches to screw in some hooks for hanging coats and jackets.

Luckily I had some finishing nails, caulk and putty from recent projects to get the bead board in place. First I measured the placement of the wall outlet in my laundry room. I cut a square out of the bead board to extend the outlet. Once I knew the board would fit properly around the outlet, I spread Liquid Nails across the board and positioned it into place. I double checked that the paneling was level, and then secured it in place with finishing nails. Just some caulk for the edges and putty to fill in the nail holes which I later sanded down.

I painted the bead board with an Antique White finish by Zinnser that I purchased at Lowe’s a while back for another project.



Next I bought some white hooks from Walmart for $5.97 each (5 total) along with some red baskets that I can easily label for organization ($20 for 4) and a plain runner rug on clearance for $5. I also purchased some bulletin boards from Michaels for $24 total with the help of a coupon.

I needed some additional storage for odds and ends. I found the plastic drawers down in my basement when I used to keep it in my daughter’s closet with burp cloths, blankets, etc.

So it cost me about $105 plus some change to complete my transformation. What do you think? I’m loving it so far!

Also, you can get the full story for the Centsational Girl mud room here.

Faux Finish Wallpaper in the Master Suite

About three years ago I wanted to wallpaper my hall bathroom, but I was very nervous since I had never wallpapered anything in my life. I was very lucky to bring wandering through the aisles at Lowe’s and happened to find Paper Illusion, a wallpaper that you tear and overlap. The sales man swore there was no way we could mess it up so we decided to give it a whirl.

We picked out the shade Tuscan Red. My house has a red theme throughout, so this color fit in perfectly! It was extremely easy to use. The Paper Illusion comes in a roll large roll like normal wallpaper with a pre-treated glue back side. All we had to do was tear the wallpaper into random sized pieces, dip in water for a couple of seconds, stick it to the wall, smooth it out with a flat edge and wipe away the access glue.



It took me about 4 hours to finish my entire hall bath. The time consuming part was tearing the paper. I didn’t know at the time, but it really doesn’t matter what size you tear the pieces into really; it’s the homeowner’s preference. I ended up doing mostly 8x8” pieces with some smaller ones to fill in the gaps. I also tried to make sure that I covered all of the flat edges from the side of the paper with the torn edges (it makes a cooler effect).

The cost was $39 per roll and I needed two rolls to complete the hall bath (I do have leftovers as well). I also bought a new shower curtain on clearance from JC Penney’s for $19.99. I love completely changing the feeling of a room for less than $100!

So the wallpaper in the hall bath worked out so perfectly that this year I decided to re-vamp my master bathroom and also one accent wall in my master bedroom using this product. This time we chose Marble Earth and I LOVE it...mainly because it adds texture to my bland walls, plus I can switch out my bedspread and bath accessories to anything in the future and it will match!



This project took a little longer to finish, split between a couple of days. Probably around 10 hours total since there was a lot of weird angles in the bathroom.While the wallpaper is no longer in stock at Lowe’s, you can check out www.wallpaperillusions.com for all of their products and colors. They actually have quite an assortment, plus some nice before & after shots.

The price was $39 per roll for this round as well and I needed two rolls for the bathroom and two for my master bedroom wall (I have some leftovers too just in case). Not too bad to completely transform a bedroom and bathroom for $160!



The current red accessories in my master bath are completely yack. At the time I purchased them, I wanted something red to match my bedspread, but I am just NOT digging it these days. Once I find a new comforter, I’ll get some modern accessories for my fab new bathroom. Until then, these will just have to do!