(I know that I live in SEC territory so this question is bound to come up, Nope, I am NOT an Alabama fan. ;) )
There was one weekend this fall that I didn't have something going on. Nebraska must have had a bye week, because I would not have attempted this with only one day to work on it.
I had been debating for a long time about what to do with my stairway. I thought it would be really really cool to put reclaimed barn wood paneling on the wall. Then I thought of the sheer size of the wall, and the amount of sanding I would have to do and tossed that idea right out the window. So, my next thought was paint. And a pattern. Some how I landed on houndstooth.
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| Before |
The next big decision was what color to paint the walls.
Two different shades of bright blue?
How about a cream and camel color?
Or two shades of slate blue?
Grey? (Like there isn't enough of that in my house already)
What about doing the same color with different sheens...
White?
What color white? (There are about 1,000,000)
In the end I tried to find a white that was different from the white that was on the walls before (it was far too yellow, and clashed with the baseboards) and complemented the baseboards.
Once those decisions were made it was time to get to work.
I had Casey help me with a template, he was able to make one out of scraps from work. Then I painted the wall with the white that I got in the egg shell sheen. Once that was dry and ready for me to tape off I whipped out my template and got to work.
There was a lot of leveling, taping, re taping, headaches, ibuprofen, beer, frustration, and work!
*side note: These pictures don't do the wall justice.
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| The first level and square "tooth". |
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| This is the template that my bro made for me. |
I taped around this template, I also made one out of wrapping paper that would be easily bendable for corners and the tight areas.
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| 8 down 35 to go |
Since this is a graphic pattern that builds on itself, you can't just trace the pattern for every "tooth". (I know that this is going to be so confusing, this is about the time Advil was needed.)
Every other "tooth" is going to be painted with high gloss, you only need to outline the "tooth" that is going to be painted with high gloss. The next "tooth"(the one that is not being painted) should be the exact same size as the pattern.
Every other tooth is going to be bigger in the taping process, but they all come out the same size in the end. I found it helpful to mark the "teeth" that were not going to be painted with some painters tape. It helped me keep track of where I was.
It makes a lot more sense when you are doing it! PROMISE!
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| about 1/2 way done |
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| all taped off |
Once the patter was completely taped off, there was some detail work to be done. Since I can't tear tape in the straightest of lines, there was overlap that needed to be cut out with an exacto knife.
This is about the time that I lost it and was about to rip it all down.
Thankfully Casey was there to help with the detail work. It isn't too much different from what he does with his paintings he made quick work of it. He went around to every intersecting point and made sure the points were pointy, instead of squared off.
Then it was time to paint! This was the quickest and easiest part of the whole process. Because I had already painted a quality base coat, and that base coat was the same color, just a different sheen, there was no need for multiple coats!
I got to see the fruit of my labor that night! By the time I finished painting everything, and sat down for a beer, the paint was dry enough to take the tape off.
This is how it turned out! (Again the pictures don't do it justice.)
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| Looking down |
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| Looking Down |
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| Looking Up |
Looking back on this process, I will say that it was a lot of work for subtle. Don't get me wrong I LOVE it and wouldn't changed it because it is perfect for this spot in my house. However, if I were to do it again, in a different house, I would make sure that it is more of a focal point. That much work needs to be shown off!
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