Argyle accomplished!

It's done! The argyle wall is done!

Honestly, I'm still in a state of shock that I was able to finish it as quickly as I did. I started painting that wall white 3 weeks ago, and from there just worked on the wall off and on. Totally worth it:


Sorry, for the darkish photo. I finished all the touch-ups late last night – so this room was kind of on the dark side. I plan on taking new photos, once phase 2 of the wall is complete (but more on that later).

Here's how we made argyle happen.

1. Paint your wall your base color – this would be the color used the most. For the sack of your sanity, also have this color be the lightest color you're using.

2. Figure out how many diamonds you want (I wanted mine big, so I picked 5x8) and then make a grid. This goes super fast if you have one of those long levels. Brent measured/drew everything out in 5 minutes.

3. Now it's time to make some diamonds! Brent measured the size of one of the rectangles, and then divided the width and height in half. With those measurements he made a "mini rectangle template" on a sheet of computer paper, which was the fourth of the size of the ones on the wall. With that template, he was able to mark the halfway point in each rectangle (aka: where the diamond points go).

4. Start taping for color #2 (color #1 is your base color).

5. Paint color #2.

6. Peel tape and start taping for color #3.

7. Paint color #3.

8. Now it's time for some dashed line "fun." This was the part of the project I was dreading, but Brent and I found a way to cheat the system and make this task go by fast. Brent and I had some 6-foot edging for our closet project that was .75" in width. So, using the pencil intersections in the white diamonds as our guides – Brent held the piece of wood to the wall, while I taped everything off. For the length or each dashed line, I actually just used the length of a paint chip, that way I wouldn't have to measure anything.

9. Do touch-ups and then you're done!

I'm so happy with how it turned out. I'm especially happy that it's done, and I can move on to other projects like the nursery closet and turning the "door" on the argyle wall into a feature instead of an eyesore.

This weekend

Nesting is a funny thing. For me, it's like drinking a lot of Red Bull and having an extreme amount of focus on the tasks at hand. All I wanted to do this weekend was start getting things ready for Audrey, and that's exactly what we did.

What I worked on this weekend:
That's right, aside from touch ups – the argyle wall is now done. A lot of touch-up work will be needed (thanks to my husband making his pencil lines as dark as possible), but I hope to do all touch ups next weekend.

What Brent worked on this weekend:

Yep, what you're seeing is not only a super gross closet, but Brent's and my super gross closet. I'd been wanting an organizational system in our closet for awhile, and I figured this was the perfect time to make it happen. The paint finished drying over night, so hopefully our clothes will be back hanging tonight, and ready for a reveal soon!

In other Audrey news: We're buying our glider and finishing off our registry tonight. I'm so excited!

My paint experiment

When the 3 final paint choices for the man cave each happened to be made by someone different – I decided to make things interesting.

This is what I saw after one coat:

While I've heard some negative reviews on Martha Stewart paint – I was shocked by the lack of coverage. It took me 3 coats to even get my sample on the wall somewhat presentable.

As for the Behr and Glidden, while Glidden covered a bit better – I think it's a personal preference. I know some people swear by Behr, but I'll always swear by Glidden. And I'm thrilled this little experiment proved Glidden's awesome.

This experiment was done out of boredom and not because I'm being paid by Glidden (even though that'd be super cool).

So many choices

Brent and I may have gone a little crazy with our paint swatches options for the man cave.


But we narrowed it down rather quickly.


And while we narrowed it down it yet another cool color, I'm just proud of us for even entertaining the thought of something in the spice family.

The kitchen (phase 1 done)

Thank the lord, my kitchen cabinets are done.

Before:
After:

I know, it may not look like too much of a difference in the photos, but it lightens up the kitchen so much.

Here's a closer up photo to show you the difference with the new hardware:


So, what's next for the kitchen? Countertops and back splash. I'd love to say that's going to happen soon, but considering my kitchen fund only has $200 in it at the moment – I have a ways to go. I'm aiming for October or November. Or maybe, if we get an awesome refund, sometime sooner. :)

Meet my kitchen

I'd like to introduce you to my kitchen.


There's a reason I don't post pictures of my kitchen often. It's not that my kitchen is ugly, but it's just kind of there. The biggest problem is that the more modern and up-to-date the rest of the house looks, the more noticeable my blah kitchen becomes.

I'd like to tell you that I've decided to gut the whole thing, but that's definitely not my financial reality. So I've decided to take baby steps in achieving a kitchen I deem worthy – and I'm starting with the cabinets, trim and hardware.

So here's what I did over the weekend:

I'm still debating on hardware, but I am so happy with the white. That yellowy cabinet color had to go. Even Brent noticed the difference.

Front door facelift

Meet my embarrassingly dated front door:


Between the rust-red color and the brass hardware, this door was just begging for a makeover. Unfortunately, I'm cheap and $150 on new hardware was out of the question. Fortunately, spray technology is rather amazing...and cheap. So with that, and painting the door a dark gray to go with my shutters, my door got a facelift on the cheap.


Not bad for $10 and change, huh?

To achieve this look, I used RustOleum's Metallic Satin Nickel spray paint, and then I did 2 coats of Krylon's Make It Last Clear Sealer.

The wet bar project is almost done

Remember the ugly wet bar we had in the basement?


Well, it definitely got a facelift.

The most important task was replacing that dated green countertop with the matching countertop we got for the bar. Unfortunately, pre-made countertops are one of the few things hardware stores will not cut (because of possible splintering), so this was a project Brent got to freehand. Yes, freehand.

Brent did 3 practice cuts on the extra material before starting on the cut. To help prevent splintering, he placed masking tape down the center of the cut.

After:
I think it turned out great. And the best part? We only spent $60 on this update – and that was for the countertop. The mirror is one I bought on clearnace at TJ Maxx 4 years ago, and could never find a home for, and I already had the black paint.

We still have to get a mini fridge for underneath, since the former one was sacrificed for the kegorator. We have some Best Buy gift cards left over from the holidays, so hopefully we'll find something we like there.

And look how well it matches the bar:

It's Challenge Day!

I'll be honest, I totally pictured having my half bath completely done by now.

That was, until I realized the oh-so-perfect hand towel I bought in December clashes with the paint color...as does a piece of art I ordered online. Awesome.

So is my half bath done? Nope, but I'm okay with that. There are some projects you just can't rush. And at least, even unfinished, my half bath is no longer blah.

Before:

After:
What I did:
- Painted the doors and vanity white
- Painted the walls
- Spray painted the mirror
- Switched out hardware on the vanity
- Bought towel ring

Other half bath projects to do at some point:
- Put in a pedestal sink, which means adding tile where the current vanity is (this will be a next year project)
- Switch out the faucet
- Find a more modern light fixture
- Find a hand towel that works
- Art above the toilet

I can't wait to see what everyone did. Everyone's projects were so inspiring during the last challenge.

My wine cork dresser

Remember this guy I scored on Craigslist for $20 several weeks ago?


Well, it found a new home behind the bar as a buffet.
I'm not positive for many wine corks I used, but I would say it's in the 800+ range.


At first I started out using a hot glue gun, but I was having issues with all of the corks properly sticking – so at Brent's suggestion I switched to liquid nails and those suckers aren't going anywhere now. Once the glue was done, I did 2 coats of poly over everything.

For the birds

I just discovered that Michaels sells birdhouses, and let me just say I am in love. There are castles, 2-stories, churches, schools, rocketships, etc. all for the amazing price of $4.99. Brent quickly realized my excitement could lead to 20 birdhouses in the backyard, so even armed with a 40% coupon, he limited me to one.

It was a tough decision, but I picked this guy:
And once painted and polyed:
Not bad for a $3 project.

Color Swap

I made the painting above my fireplace in college.

I got bored while I was recovering from getting my tonsils out – so a painting was born. The original colors were pinks, oranges and yellow. Since then the painting has had many color transformations, and I thought it was time for another.

Before:

After:

Houndstooth – Check!

The houndstooth wall is done! Thank god.



Was it the most tedious process ever? Yes. Do I love it and find it totally worth it? Definitely.

When I won a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils thanks to DIY Showoff’s giveaway, I knew right away houndstooth was the only way for me to go. I was nervous that the stencil would be a single houndstooth, so I was thrilled to discover how large the stencil was when I got it in the mail.


My biggest issue with the stencil was there was no way to keep the middle part flat against the wall. The instructions said to paint with a sponge roller –but not only would that get messy but I would not get the crisp lines I was wanting.

So I decided to use the stencil to trace the pattern onto the wall and then tape everything off. Yep, the project I envisioned to take me a day took me 4 weeks.


Some readers wanted to know how I fly through so many audio books last month – paint a houndstooth wall and you’ll figure it out too. ☺

Honestly though, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, once I figured out a system. I got the majority of the project done over 3 Sundays, so I don’t feel as though I was slaving away or anything.

Considering the stencil was free, I only spent $18 and that was on painter’s tape. I used leftover paint from my office stripes.

Two things you may be wondering…
1. Yes, I still plan on doing an argyle wall.
2. I went through 2 ¼ things of Frog painter’s tape. (I’m a tape saver, and once each side once).

My painter tape props…
When I saw all the bleed-throughs that were happening with the Scotch painter’s tape, I made a trip to Lowes to try Frog. (Don’t waste your time going to Home Depot or True Value – they do not carry it…at least not in Kansas City). This was my first time using Frog painter’s tape, and I am a huge fan. While I still had to do a couple of touch ups where I used Frog, it was nothing compared to the area I used Scotch. Frog just earned themselves a new customer.