Sunday, February 27, 2011

Entry Way ReMixx

**** If you're here from a fabulous link party, please go HERE to see this post in its proper home!****

My house was boring me to death.   Not literally, but almost.  

 Blah.

 Blah.  

 Blah.

Taupe every where I looked.  I can't live in a taupe world.  I just can't.  At least not for more than 4 years and 10 months, apparently.  I'm on a bit of a re-decorating kick so here is the first submission to the "Landee De-Lame-ifies Her House Project 2011."  It's a bit of a mouthful.  Sorry.

So here is our entry way as it was last week.

Are you falling asleep yet?


Its only saving grace was the curvature of the wall.  Otherwise it was choking on neutrals, coughing them back up and then gagging on them again.   Sorry to put it so graphically but people, c'mon!  How boring can walls be?  Nary a color nor an accessory to be spotted anywhere.  


So I put a plan in place and set off to complete it.  

We had to rig our ladder to reach up to that right hand corner up there.  The left side of the ladder was resting on the railing at the top of the stairs and the bottom part was wedged between the spindles.   We then zip tied it to the railing on both ends, zip tied a board to the top flat part and away I went.  

And if you don't think that is scary up there then you are an idiot wrong.  It was the scariest thing I've done in a long while.  I could sit on the top of the ladder and be fine, but up on my knees and stretching up?  Yikes.  I would break out in a sweat and shake the entire time.  I could only be like that for about 3 minutes at a time so that top part took a while.  

But I persevered.


After it was painted (it's sort of a robin egg blue bordering on turquoise color), I went and downloaded a template from here, printed it and cut it out of cardboard and set to work on my "painted wallpaper."  When I came across this design/technique I knew it was the perfect marriage of funky & traditional I was looking for.  Plus, it saved me $50 for a stencil.  Free is always better than $50.



I had to get an action shot.  Had to.

I decided to use a metallic white paint for the design.  I love the shimmer it gives off.  Just a touch fancier than regular white paint would have been.  It's reflecting off the flash in the above pic so it looks taupe but it's not, just FYI.


This girl camped out under the ladder for the duration of the project.  She was busy making cards for people, asking me how to spell things, and talking my ear off.  Sometimes when I was freaking out reaching up to the tippy top I'd have to ask her to please stop talking for a few minutes so I could concentrate.  It was fun having a little "helper" though.  

After the kids were in bed was when I'd listen to my audio books and paint into the wee hours of the morning.  It was really quite enjoyable but it did take a while.



So here is the big AFTER reveal.  


I am so excited with how it turned out!!  After consulting with my long-distance design consultant, Memzy, I opted to not do the design down below.  She said it would be "too much" and I said "good cuz I'm lazy" and that was that.  

That table and the pillow are from the living room and that chair was from our guest room (I would prefer a cushy upholstered one there but I'll need to keep my eye out for one).  I got that mirror at Goodwill for $4.  It is plastic and was crazy shiny gold.  10 minutes and some spray paint later it was the perfect shade of white.  I also painted a picture frame for that small table with the same metallic paint.

Here are the before & afters side by side.  


I now smile when I go up & down the stairs rather than get sleepy.  Not bad for 1 gallon of paint, a couple of small craft paint bottles of "metallic white" acrylic paint and a $4 mirror, huh?

Success. 












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51 comments:

danandcami said...

LOVE it!!! You are VERY brave to get to the tippy top like that! Well done on your successful remixx. I think it looks fantastic!

Carol said...

Soooo Beautiful. Your talents/perseverence/creativity amaze me. You totally nailed the "edgy, modern, not my gramma's vibe". Kudos girl, Kudos.

Memzy said...

Yes. Yes. And yes. Nailed it! <<sing song voice. And the pillow is perf. The whole thing is perf. I only wish you lived here so your "redecorating and creativity phase" could rub off on me.

RLN said...

What the? That is amazing! Dying to get there so I can see it in person. I loved the idea and it turned out even better than I could imagine. Now on to phase two? Better get my end in the mail... LOVES!

RLN said...

RLN is Shelly...remember. Reid was logged in already. My luck!

Morgan's Visual Idea journal said...

Holy crap! You should be charging money for that kind of work. Very impressive. I love it! And I rarely give compliments cuz it makes me uncomfortable but it looks so good. Most impressive part is that you finished. If I attempted that, it would only be a 1/4 of the way done before I said "Eh, good enough".

Morgan's Visual Idea journal said...

Obviously that was me, Eek and not Morgan.

michelangelo said...

i'm not worthy to comment on this blog post. that's how inferior you have just made me feel.

nice going!

Hot Pants said...

It looks awesome! I hate my house now though. Jenny needs to borrow your ladder and zip ties. She has a small corner of her wall that she needs to finish.

Glo said...

LOOKS FABULOUS. Your endurance impresses me. Too bad you arent here to take an upholstery class with me and continue the DIY rampage.

Krissy said...

What a good little girl B is. If I tried to do this with my kids around they would be shaking the ladder, trying to climb up, begging to paint with me, and spilling over buckets of paint.

I love it! Thx for the after pics, I have been waiting for this post! I totally want to do this now...without my kids.

Elder Jack Anderson said...

You guys are the best!

Annalisa said...

Only a Jeppson could have the patience and skill to pull this off. Some others have channeled the inner talent toward toll painting and you to walls. It looks great. I just don't know how you can top this. What are you going to do next? I know that isn't want you want to hear when you just finished probably the most annoying project you've ever done. Are you changing the other wall colors too? Just asking.

Jenny said...

Seriously cute. I really like the white chair and pillow.

Kelli said...

So, so, so great!! I love it! I think it's such a fun color...not boring in the slightest!

I really love that chair. Good idea to pull it out of the guest bedroom. I'll bet almost no one saw it in there.

My house is bore, bore, boring me these days, too.

Kelli said...

Did you ever finish the frame on the mirror? I loved that inspiration, too.

Oh, and I made a crepe paper rose wreath last week and thought of you. Almost had to track your number down to give you a call for advice. But, I managed.

Elder Jack Anderson said...

I actually have finished framing out the mirror in the bathroom! I'm working on a post right now. Totally easy and made a huge difference.

I don't know about painting some other walls. Maybe in the dining room. The other walls are just too dang tall! I'd have to rent some scaffolding or something. Super annoying.

Cristin said...

OM MY GOSH!!! Love it!!!!

E said...

It looks so good!!! I'm so jealous!!! I suck at picking color combos. My house is ugly. Now I'm sad, thanks a lot!

Ange said...

Looks great! I just did that same design and a very similiar color in my cloffice! You are much braver than I getting on that ladder!

Emily said...

You did such an amazing job! I can't believe you stenciled that whole wall...darling!!!
-emily
www.nestnestingnested.blogspot.com

brokeintrovert said...

Love the transformation! Great color!

BargainFun said...

Love it ! Great curved stairway !www.bargainfun.net

How Sweet It Is-A lifestyle blog said...

Hi there! Stopping by from TDC Before and After. It looks GORGEOUS! What an undertaking but I love the color!

Laree said...

This one makes me happy! Way to be bold with some BEAUTIFUL color!

(hahahaha! my word verification is "metacky" I had no idea they could see my bedroom decor right now!)

Channa said...

Absolutely gorgeous! Do you mind sharing the color paint you used? It's exactly what I'm looking for to go in our bathroom. :)

Jennifer said...

Oh my goodness, this is amazing! You are so lucky to have such a beautiful staircase! Your new paint job is amazing also. Some scary ladder angles! Found you over at Thrifty Decor Chic.
Jen

Elder Jack Anderson said...

Thanks for all the comments you TDC people!

Oh right, the color... duh! It's a Valspar color (got it at Lowe's) called Bird Song Blue. I love, love, love it.

Vintage Culler said...

Wow! You are one ambitious girl! I love the color, the design...everything about it. Beautiful job. It has me re-thinking my stairway that is awaiting a facelift.

DIYbyDesign said...

That really looks amazing. You are so brave to get up on the high ladder. Nice job. I want to redo our entryway which looks similar to yours. You've inspired me. I am hosting a blog link party. Hope you stop by and link up this awesome post.

kara@elements-interiors.net said...

I LOVE this!! I would love for you to share it at my Linky Party!

*ENTER LINKY PAR-TAY Here! *

xoxokara

Christine said...

That is beautiful! I love it!! And did you seriously just use cardboard to make that stencil? Your newest follower,

Christine

Stephanie said...

Well that's just fantastic! I don't like ladders either...luckily we live in a one story house right now :)

At The Picket Fence said...

Hi! First of all, I've been reading through some of your other posts and you are hilarious and I totally can't believe I'm just now finding you! Now that I have that out of the way let me just say that I absolutely love what you did to your entry and it is over the top fabulous! We host a linky party every week (Inspiration Friday) and would love to have you join in the fun sometime. Hop over and pay us a visit if you get a chance!
Vanessa

Memzy said...

I hope this party doesn't involve the "Linky" I'm thinking of.

DIYbyDesign said...

So glad you stopped by and joined the party with this inspiring post. Hope to see you again next week.

Lindy@Itsy Bitsy Paper said...

Wowsers! That is alot of work but BEAUTiful!! you did a fabulous job.
http://itsybitsypaper.blogspot.com

cami said...

That is soooo very impressive!!! Love the action shot! The stencil is gorgeous! It does really make that room pop!! Great job!!!! xoxoCAMI
www.shropshirestreetgirl@blogspot.com

foreverdecorating said...

This is amazing. You should be so proud of yourself. I painted and stenciled my stairwell and it was scary until my daughter pinned a sheet from one rail to the other. That helped with my depth perception and I didn't feel as high. Come see me at my blog sometime.

Jori said...

I really want to cry, it is SO gorgeous!!! It's the best entryway I have ever seen. I want to do this to mine. Did I see in your comments you are a Jeppson? My last name is Jeppson. My husband always says if it is spelled the same we are usually related. If we are related, does that mean you will come help me stencil? heehee :)

Nicole@thiscreativeadventure said...

It turned out great. I did the same Jones Design Company stencil on a wall in my house and it took a lot of time and hand cramps. I love the blue in your entry. Makes a great statement when you enter now. Definitely not blah!

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

Holy cow! It looks amazing! I can't believe you were up on that teetering ladder. :) The before and after are really striking. Great job!

Claudia said...

Wow! What a great job! I hate heights so I admire you for doing that for 3 mins at a time! lol. It looks GREAT. (I hate the taupe look everywhere, too)
Claudia @http://faithfamilyhopeandlove.blogspot.com/

Elder Jack Anderson said...

Yes, Jori I am a Jeppson! Does your husband's line go back to Jeppa H. Jeppsson of Sweden? Then Jeppa Lorenzo Jeppson? Why haven't you been coming to our family reunions?

And thank you everyone for pointing out my bravery! For how much I talk about how brave I was they will probably be talking about it at my funeral someday.

Rachel // Maybe Matilda said...

Wow, that looks incredible! You did a beautiful job! This makes me even MORE excited (if possible!) to stop renting already and buy a house so I can do fun things like this! I'm choking to death on neutrals, too--I need some color :-) I love it!

Rachel

Jori said...

Yes! We are from Jeppa H. Jeppson line! Whoohoo! now for sure you will come help me stencil right??? I live in Vegas so you could come catch a show, and then get to work.;)
I have linked your project on my blog. It is amazing.. Thank you for the inspiration

Emily Carter said...

I am in awe! What a great turn-out! You are amazing. Thanks for linking up!

kiki comin said...

it looks amazing. wow!

Jena @ Involving Color and Home said...

I LOVE how this turned out! The color is so pretty, and the stencil looks great. Just came across your blog and I'm a new follower.

Simply Sara said...

Wow,very pretty, inspires me to try something like that!!

http://www.simplysara83@gmail.com

Jack RMQ said...

Terrific job! Awesome stencil work! Great color choice! Incredible courage! Your trepidation at the top of the ladder reminded me of my painting the second floor outside walls of the house last fall. I think I left some skin on the ladder I was hugging so hard! Looks like I don't need to return to Denver for you to get some serious remodeling done... Love, Dad