Stick a fork in my living room wall...

I've finally finished stenciling that confounded wall in the living room!

And it doesn't look bad, if I do say so myself...

And now for my disclaimer!

Do not perform this project if any of the following apply to you:

1. You have a short temper when it comes to math
2. You don't have a large chunk of time to waste (Thank you, inclement weather days...)
3. You don't have a pint of Ben & Jerry's to reward yourself when you come to a stopping point

DO perform this project if the following things apply to you:
1. You're a cheapskate (To the tune of under $5)
2. You are extremely patient
3. You have a lot of wall space and nothing to use it for

Here are the cutest dogs in the world admiring the stenciled wall.

I had honestly not even thought about this wall. Kennedy and I have commitment issues. As a result, we haven't really hung things on the walls in our house. Except for a few mirrors here and there, we have NO ARTWORK displayed. Anyway, the thought struck me after strolling through the blog-o-sphere and seeing some neat projects here and there.

I found a great tutorial from Centsational Girl's blog for a Painted Trellis Wall, and used that as my starting point.

Then I went to Wal-mart (ugh) and bought a poster board for 38 cents, and 3 small bottles of champagne colored acrylic paint.

I first decided which stencil I wanted and played around with how to draw it. I ended up using a ruler and a salad plate as guides. Here's where all that fuzzy math comes in with levels and rulers and such. It was a nightmare, but it's true what the Army says: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

I am the world's worst blogger, and don't want to show you step by step, so if you have any questions about this little project, just ask me! Right now, Kennedy is pressuring me into cleaning the house with him. He has bribed me with Jason's Deli for dinner. He knows my weaknesses and has exploited them. Quick, look at Elvis!

Don't try this at home...

Seriously, I can't wait to be done with this stencil wall. For one, it will look REALLY good when it's all done. For another, I can't wait to unload all of the complaints I have about this project!!!

For now, I will share with you a low-quality iPhone picture of the progress I made while watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Reunion Show Part 1 (which I had already watched once, so I could listen and know exactly what was going on!) Progress is actually further along than the photo depicts. Yay for me.

Meanwhile....

We're not quite into the thick of our bathroom renovation yet (in fact, we haven't done a single thing past talk out loud about it, and visit 2 tile stores...)

But I'm ITCHING to see some progress somewhere in this house. It's hit a plateau where there's not a lot we can do unless we have a good amount of time/money to spare. So I decided to take matters into my own cheap hands.

I'm thinking the way to make the biggest impact with the smallest amount of cash is to paint something. Therefore, I shall stencil an entire wall. The thing is, I am gonna make the stencil myself. I will end up adding a lot of time to my project, but in the end I'll get exactly what I want and can see immediate results. No buyers remorse either!

Where, you ask, is an appropriate place to stencil an entire wall? Well, why not the living room!? So far, the only thing Kennedy and I have hung on the walls in that room are his Bose speakers, and a mirror. And while they look great, I'm not so much a fan of entertainment components as art. Here's a shot of the wall that will be crowned in glory in the near future:

My plan is to purchase the same color the wall is already painted in, but in a high gloss finish. OR, I could go one shade lighter....I haven't decided how much subtlety I want yet.

Now for the patterns! Here are a few patterns that I'm leaning toward...They are all strikingly similar!

Source unknown

From Good Girl Gone Glad

Pottery Barn Moorish Tile Rugs

Wish me luck! If I pull this off, I'll be sure to give you a hint or two on how to do the same! If I don't pull it off, I will post embarrassing photos and then paint over it.

Mantle made easy!

I thought I'd share this easy little project that we did when we started re-doing the fireplace. Excuse me for any incomplete thoughts, as I've locked Elvis up in his kennel and he is steadily barking away in hopes of sudden freedom.

We had a very nice mantle to begin with. However, it just wasn't what we wanted.

It was too small, not the right color, blah-di-blah.

So Kennedy and I decided we would make our own. We like the look of reclaimed wood, but honestly, where can I find reclaimed railroad ties to build a mantle out of? I've scoured the internet for local reclaimed wood places, but couldn't find any that weren't selling it in bulk. Noooooo thanks!

All that to say, we decided to distress our own wood to make it look old. It was a fun process.

First, we got some 1x8 pieces of wood. We only needed two 6ft pieces (or was it 8ft?).

Then, we got some tools. Hammers, nails, screws, and some gravel.

Here is my darling dear husband with two hands full of gravel. We laid the wood pieces down on top of the gravel, then jumped around on it. The wood was soft enough that the gravel scratched and dented it up. We also scraped screws and hammers across the surface.

Next, we cut the wood down to size. In our case, we measured where the mantle could "wrap" around the fireplace brick to cover the sides.

Here it is in phase one. You can't tell in the picture, but the corners were cut at 45 degree angles so they could meet pretty seamlessly.

Then we added a top piece.

This took a couple of tries to get the wood cut to fit exactly. It involved putting it together, realizing the piece was a hair too long, taking it apart, cutting it, re-putting it together....

You get the idea. It was frustrating.

Then, we took some ebony stain, and stained that sucker.

We applied a few coats, then it was done! Ready to hang!

I won't bore you with details, but basically we attached a 1x1 piece of wood to the brick using masonry screws. Then we set the mantle on that piece of wood and screwed it in. Easy!

See? It was so easy, Kennedy yawned while screwing it in.

Hope that was helpful! Now go forth and build new fireplace mantles for yourselves!

Fireplace Reveal!

Kennedy and I (but mostly Kennedy) have been working tirelessly on this fireplace remodel. Really it isn't a remodel so much as a resurface, but it was hard nonetheless!

Yesterday, I counted how many times Kennedy said "nothing can be easy!" concerning the fireplace. 37.

Here's a picture of the room around Christmas.

Ignore all the Christmas decorations. Pay attention to the brick on the fireplace, and the mantle (hung too high, and much too small for the fireplace.)

Here it is, sans Christmas decor.

Kennedy adding on a support bracket for the mantle we built!

Aaaaand, here's the new mantle! But we're not done yet!

So, I hate to be completely lazy, but I just went ahead and skipped all the stuff in between. Let's just say, it was an ordeal, and I can't find the pictures from said incidences at the moment.

See how the fireplace changed the way the whole room looks? Amazing!

Don't fear, the room is not done. Missing are curtains, things on the walls, and perhaps a bright accent color. 

In other news, I simply cannot stop listening to Kari Jobe. If you get a chance, go to her myspace page and listen to the Revelation song at the bottom of the player. Or ANY of them. Obsessed, I am.