UPDATE: Houndstooth Hallway

I've gotten a couple questions about the subtlety of my Houndstooth Hallway.  

Is it too subtle?  

Are you thinking of doing something to make it pop more?

Do you think you need to re-do it?

The quick answers are no, no, and no. It is perfect for the space! 

Let me explain, because it is white on white it is really subtle, and there are times that you don't even notice it, but that is fine. My downstairs is "Palm Leaf" green, "Almost Charcoal" dark gray and "polished silver" light gray, these colors are pretty bold and another bold color would have made my head spin, I think. 

The pattern is where the "boldness" comes in. It is pretty big and graphic. 

Here are a couple pictures I took today at lunch. With the green and the dark gray the white on white houndstooth works perfect! 

E

p.s. if you like those penguins on the wall check out Penguin Attack! 

Houndstooth Hallway

You all know how much I LOVE to do projects in my house. Well the latest project that I've done and not shared with you is my houndstooth hallway.

(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.

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.

The first level and square "tooth".

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. 

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!

about 1/2 way done

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.)

Looking down

Looking Down

Looking Up

The darker "teeth" are high gloss, the lighter, eggshell.

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!

E

Bathroom Makeover

So, the long awaited blog post of my bathroom makeover is here! -- OK, so maybe you really haven't been waiting on it, but here it is any way...

When I painted my bedroom I decided to paint my bathroom a much much much lighter shade of the dark purple that is on the ceiling in my bedroom... If you missed that post, you can check it out here.

After living with this light purple bathroom for a couple of weeks, I had had enough. It was the perfect color for a 5 year old, princess, purple bedroom. I could NOT stand it. I had thought about using other colors, but just couldn't find the right one... But something had to change, and change in a big way.

After doing the "insane" wall I had a bit more confidence in my painting skills, and a little inspiration from a Kleenex box mom sent me a picture of, I thought I might give painted wall paper another try.

This time... BIG FLOWERS...

(On a side note -- I will say that I typically am not one for liking faux finishes, or stenciled anything...but for some reason this is different and I've been so pleased with the way things turned out.)

I did this much the same way I did the "insane" wall, however this time I made my own pattern.

First, I found a picture of a flower graphic that I really liked, and used the bro's projector to project the image onto some poster board. Then I traced, and cut out the pattern.

Second, I traced the flower on to the wall, making sure to overlap the petals and shift the pattern so the flowers were not all going the same direction.

Third, I determined which colors each of the flowers were going to be, before I started painting (I would not have looked right if two flowers of the same color were overlapping). Then I started to paint. It was just like a coloring book... Stay with in the lines.

I did all the same color at once, then moved on to the next color. The purple needs 3 coats (between you and me, I still have one more coat to do), the dark gray needed two coats, and the light gray should just be fine with one!

Now, these colors may look a little familiar...And you would be right if you said the light gray looks like the gray that is in the living room and bedroom...same with the dark gray. I say when you find a gray that you like and works in you house, stick with it! (However, if I tell my mom that I am going to paint yet another room gray, she might think I've officially gone crazy, he he he) Andy yes, that purple is the very same dark purple that is on the ceiling in my bedroom. Two reasons for this: 1 - I didn't want to go out and buy more paint, I had plenty left over from doing my bedroom, so why not use it AND 2 - I really wanted it to be cohesive with the bedroom colors.

However, I will give you a bit of warning about these colors...There is no natural light in this bathroom, and with the walls being a light purple base, the grays look a bit green. I decided after finishing that it wasn't bad enough for me to go back an repaint.

I am not going to lie I was a bit worried that the insane wall pattern and the bathroom wall pattern would fight each other, but I was please when I stepped back and saw how well the complemented each other!

So there you have it!

E

Bedroom: Headboard

While I was on the cruise there was dark stained wood everywhere -- doors, table tops, even on the walls and knew that was my inspiration for my headboard!

And, really... It was Casey who did most of the work and thought behind the project So I have to give him the credit for my headboard!

I like to be thrifty when I can, so I knew that I didn't want to go to West Elm and buy a massive headboard... I just wasn't in my budegt... and I couldn't justify spending that kind of money when I knew it was possible to do it for much less with a trip to Lowe's. In total, the headboard cost just about $100.

On trip #1 to Lowe's we picked up two hollow doors...Here are the really cool things:
- The holes for the door knobs are not drilled in them
- No sanding needed
- $26 each
I also picked up some stain and rub on polyurethane... which was another $15 bucks.

My "dining room" was then turned into a shop and we stained the doors....

I think we ended up doing 2 or 3 coats of the stain, and one coat of the polyurethane.

Next there was another trip to Lowe's to get fasteners ($10) and a trip to big lots to get rope light ($20)... Yep this sucker is back lit!

Casey worked his magic, and I stayed out of his hair... but did manage to get this picture in the process..


And here is the final product!


I am so excited with the way that it turned out!

THANK YOU CASEY!!!

E

Neighbors!

I am sure that you might be a little bit tired of hearing how great things are going with the new house, the neighborhood, and well my neighbors! But they are and I LOVE where I live.

I have been truly blessed to find such an awesome place to live AND have super cool neighbors...

We go from house to house to hang out, have dinner, play a game, watch a movie, or just enjoy each others company!

What a good lookin' crew ;)


Here are some of the latest pics of the bunch, at Kelly's Housewarming party!





I really couldn't ask for anything better!
E

my neighbors!

Not only do I have a super cool house, and live in a super cool neighborhood, but I also have super cool neighbors!


We had an awesome block party last week...

Here are some pictures of the madness we all call FUN!



I can't wait til the next one!

E

Contemporary in a Country Town

Hi guys!

I know that it has been AGES since I have blogged...there is so much to catch you up on. I will do it soon I promise!

In the mean time...I entered my townhouse into a CB2 contest and would love it if you voted for my place, here.

THANK YOU!

E

One productive 4th of July weekend!

I've had one PRODUCTIVE weekend! It was one of the best Independence Day weekends.

It all started on Friday when my boss kindly us start the party early but leaving work at 2:00! I did exciting stuff, you know like getting the alignment fixed on my car...With that task done it was off to start the painting!

My new couch is arriving Wednesday morning, (Oh gosh that is tomorrow already, EXCITING!!!) and I wanted to make sure that First was

painted before the new sofa arrived. The last thing I want to do is get paint all over the new sofa.

I want to do a big reveal of what the room looks like all put together, but I love the way the paint turned out so I must give you a sneak peak...

Durring one of my many runs to Lowes I saw these cute little American flags and thought they would look super cute and patriotic, so I got them!

I also had serious issues trying to attach my flag holder thing to my

house, so I did the next best thing, I stuck it in the plant for the day! He He... I need to get that problem resolved before football season!

Here are some other cute pictures from the weekend's festivities!

Now those are some good lookin' girls ;)

Look how SHORT I look compared to Will... He has always been tall, but I guess I didn't think I was THAT short!

FIREWORKS TIME!!!

I hope you had a great weekend too!

E

First, Second and Third

I have found myself referring to my house in the same way I referred to the sorority house in college...

I'm on first...

My room is on second...

I'm going up to third...

See at the Tri Delta house at Nebraska we had 4 floors, the basement where the kitchen and dining room was. We had "First" which was the living area and where our house mom lived, "Second" and "Third" were all of our rooms. I lived on both 2nd and 3rd through out my years in the house.

Now that I have a 3 level townhome I have found my self saying "I'm on First," The first floor is my living area with the kitchen and dining room... Or I've said, "It is in one of the boxes on Third" (the spare bedroom that is full of boxes still)... or "I'm going to go clean Second."

It just makes me chuckle...

E

I LOVE the view from my house!

One of the thinks I love about my house is the view!

Casey and I have followed in Mom and Dad's tradition of sitting outside with a cocktail and taking in the early evening. (Nashville has been SO HOT lately that is the only time of day that it is bearable to be outside.) One of the views I love the most is watching the sun set, we get to see some of the most spectacular sunsets... (The pictures don't do them justice)

There also some sweet views of downtown, from the 2nd floor nook, and Casey's room...We arn't sure how long we will have the view, we will have it as long as they only build a 2 level townhouse in front of mine... :) It is so hazy in these pictures it is hard to see downtown, I am determined to get a good picture of it on a clear day.

The way my house sits on top of the hill we also have some spectacular views of storms as they pass over and around us. Here are some pictures from the Thursdays crazy storm!

E

Birthday Weekend!

It is official I am a homeowner! Things have been absolutely crazy these past four days so I have not had a chance to update you with all the exciting news. Well that and I don't have internet at home yet. (Not having it does help with productivity, however)

My 27th birthday was the best birthday ever!

The morning started off with finishing up the packing, a little relaxing, and waiting to sign my life away ;)

Closing was set for 2pm, but things were pushed back to 3pm, great for my nerves, right? After closing I went to pick Casey up and get the keys and head to the house...how exciting MY house!

By the way, my phone was exploding all day, beeping, ding

ing, buzzing and curplinking... Thank you everyone for all the Birthday and Happy House wishes...

We went over to the house and the sold sign was in the front yard, and there was a Happy Birthday banner on the front of the house... How sweet of the builders, right?!

Three of the houses in my building closed on Friday, mine, my next door neighbors, and the other end unit. And both sets of neighbors were there too so we got to meet them and say hi! I think they are going to be awesome neighbors!

So we go in and take a look around the first floor, and it looks awesome!

The next thing I know, my door bell is ringing... I go and answer the door, thinking that it was my new neighbors, and I got the biggest surprise of the weekend...

MOM AND DAD!

I was just saying that I wish they were going to be out here this weekend, I wanted to share it with them. My wish came true! They came with flowers, a cake and ballons (they were also the ones that put the sign out front!)

What a wonderful weekend, full of surprises... and the best birthday ever!

I will make sure to post before and after pictures as the decorating begins...so keep checking in!

E

1 more day!

All I have to do is get through today, and tomorrow I will be a home owner AND will turn 27! eek!

Wish me luck, I can't seem to focus on anything, especially work. I am just ready to move in!

E

With 2 days to go!

So, ONLY two days left! Then I will be officially be 27 and a home owner...And well there is still a lot to get done!

Here are some pictures from around noon today! They still need to paint the pergola and the front door, and there is still a lot of clean up that needs to happen. I am sure that it will get done! Crossing my fingers!

The landscaping looks nice, hopefully the plants don't die from all the heat we have been having...At least the HOA takes care of the landscaping so I shouldn't have to worry about that!

E