London/Paris Calendar Art

As most of you know, my mom and I are headed to London and Paris in September. We are both REALLY excited about our trip and have been talking about it nonstop. So when I saw this famous cities/travel-inspired art project at Young House Love I immediately decided that I wanted to hang the same prints in my own home.

(source)

Luckily I saw their post right away, so I was able to order the same calendar before they were sold out. The calendar features 12 different cities, but I really only needed two for this project. I decided to go with London and Paris in celebration of our upcoming trip. Although not featured in this post, I do still want to hang the Tokyo print – I’ve been there plus my dad is from Japan.

Anyway, I had the calendar so now I just needed the frames. An 8x10 opening fits the prints almost perfectly - it does cut off a tiny bit of the London picture, but not enough to justify cutting custom mats. I had originally planned on using IKEA frames like John and Sherry, but I decided that they would have been too small for my space. Luckily Michael’s had all of their frames on sale for 40%-off plus there was a coupon for an additional 25%-off! The frames I bought were originally $29.99/each, but after discounts I only paid $13.50/each. This is what they originally looked like:

After I painted the frames white (Krylon Paint + Primer White Satin) and removed the black part of the mat I added the pages from the calendar and voilà:  

I got almost an additional half inch of space from removing the black part of the mat, so less of the London print ended up getting cut off. Yay!

I absolutely love my new art and now I’m even more excited to see these places in person.

Thanks YHL for the inspiration!

Navy-White Chevron Curtains

They’re finally done! The curtains are up in the office and I’m crossing another project off my to-do list!

Let’s go back about a month, back when I ordered 5 ½ yards of this navy/white chevron fabric:

It’s from fabric.com and was $7.48/yard (after coupon code, I paid $37.28 for my yardage). I was so excited about the fabric, but once it arrived it just sat in the box while I took my sweet time painting stripes. Once I finally finished the stripes, it was time to move on to the curtains.

I used iron-on hem tape (Heat n Bond Ultra-Hold) to “sew” the sides instead of actually sewing. I did sew the rod pocket though!

Then I hung the curtains to see how long I wanted them…and I ended up just cutting the bottom instead of hemming them! I know, super lazy…but the sleeper sofa is going to go in front of the window, so no one will see the bottom. Plus I cut them nice and straight, so you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you were really looking.

And with that, the curtains are up and the office is one project closer to being complete!  

As for the curtain rod, it’s the same one that was already in here. It’s originally from Hobby Lobby. I ended up mounting it a few inches higher than before since my new curtains are longer than the previous ones. It’s a great trick to make the window look larger.

And with that, I can officially cross “Sew curtains” off my to-do list:

Sell current desk on Craigslist

Clean out room

Paint stripes

Replace outlets and switches with white ones

Build desk

Buy 2 chairs

Buy pair of desk lamps

Buy and paint file cabinet

Mount TV on the wall

Create a gallery wall around the TV

Build pallet artwork

Sew curtains

Buy sleeper sofa

Buy/build end table

Buy dresser

Paint dresser

Sew pillows

Add accessories

Guest Post - Simple and Colorful Dining

Today guest blogger Eva Stephen is stopping by The Junk House to share her tips for using lace and spray paint to create a simple and colorful dining experience.

Hello Junk House readers. I am Eva Stephen and many thanks to Sam for letting me be a part of her wonderful blog. Today I am sharing a very easy DIY - spray painting a dining set using lace to make your meal more pleasant and colorful. I hope you like it. I am looking forward to your opinions in the comments section. You may also see me at Facebook and can follow me at Twitter.

Here it goes:

Hosting friends for a home-cooked meal is a treat life affords hosts and guests alike. But oftentimes after arranging the schedule, cleaning the house, researching recipes, shopping, and preparing dinner, finally sitting down and enjoying the meal lacks the ambiance you envisioned. The good news is that lovely ambiance complimenting your hard work can be accented simply and elegantly with just a few colorful touches. No need to spend a fortune on dinner settings. I set out to craft a beautiful dinner set with your schedule and budget in mind. Join me!

The Goods

1 can spray paint - Color of your choice, I chose Deep Purple

2-8 30 x 42cm thick-ish paper – Must be big enough for a placemat

Lace strips/old clothing with lace elements – Both can be found at thrift stores/DIY shops

2-8 sets old silverware

2 candles/holders

Old wine bottle

2 pieces cardboard with straight edges

Sticks/masking tape

Old towel/newspapers to paint on

Optional

Old wallet

Envelopes and blank paper fitting inside, folded

Steps

1. First I’ll make the placemats to use on the dining table I recently bought. Lay the paper on a towel or newspapers on your table in a well-ventilated area. Spread your lace over the area you wish to decorate.

Place two straight cardboard edges on either side of your intended area to reduce excess spray. I experimented with a middle stripe as well as a criss-crossing pattern that required drying time in between stripes.

2. Spray evenly while holding down edges of the cardboard.

3. Carefully remove the cardboard edges and pull the lace off smoothly to leave the cleanest pattern possible.

4. Next lay out your silverware and create an edge with a sticker or cardboard. I decided to spray most of the handle for a smooth look. You can also use lace if your silverware lacks a pattern on the handle. Obviously, don’t spray the parts people will be putting in their mouths.

5. Now the candles are a bit tricky, and decoration is certainly open to your whim and fancy. I cut stickers lengthwise and wrapped them up the candles to create negative-space spirals. Be warned, let the paint dry thoroughly on the candles. It doesn’t adhere as well as other materials like glass, paper, etc. Leave plenty of sticker left at the top so you can hang the candles while they dry.  

6. I think the flower arrangements are even lovelier when placed in an old wine bottle as a vase. The homemade vase was enhanced even further when I wrapped a sticker at the top and sprayed the rest, creating a neat little window to see the contents of the vase and plenty of color for the table to boot! Just make sure the bottom is dry before setting it down on the table.

7. Now that you have all the elements for a gorgeous table setting decorated and ready to go, consider adding a few extra touches to other items lying around. I found an old wallet that certainly benefited from a lace enhancement:

I also fashioned some new stationary for sending letters to friends and family. I just lay the lace down on the edges of the envelopes/letters and let my heart guide me:

And voila, it’s just that easy to add a little extra color and elegance to your dinner table and everyday items. Enjoy!

Epic Mother’s Day Giveaway!

Yes, you read that right! You could win a Cricut Expression 2 (a $249 value) AND your CHOICE of a Canon Rebel T3 or a Kitchen Aid Artisan 5 Quart mixer!

AND!!! The same prize package for your mom (or whomever you’d like to give it to)!

Isn’t that awesome?!

You can enter to win through the Rafflecopter widget below. This is a big group giveaway, so there are a lot of entries to be had! Contest runs from now until Thursday, May 9^th.

And because this is Mother’s Day themed, I have to share this picture of my mom and me…from 25 years ago!

You can see where I get my blonde hair from!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The participating bloggers were not compensated for this post.

No purchase is necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law. The odds of winning are based on the number of entries received.** This promotion is no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.** To qualify to win, you must fill out the Entry. See Rafflecopter for complete rules. This giveaway is compliant with Facebook Promotions Guidelines. Must be aged 18+ to enter & win. Valid only in the United States. Void where prohibited by state or national law.

 

6 Tips for Painting Perfect Stripes

I’m not going to write a full tutorial on painting stripes because there are already plenty of those out there. Today I just want to share 6 tips that helped me create straight, level, crisp stripes around my office. See the full room here.

Make life easier by picking an odd number. By choosing to paint an odd number of stripes you can leave the top and bottom stripes the original wall color. That means not cutting in at the ceiling or the baseboards! I went with nine stripes that were about 10.5 inches wide.

If you are going to paint stripes around the entire room, start with the simplest wall. Start with a wall without windows or doors, if you have one. That way you’ll have one full wall of stripes to help line up the stripes around the rest of the room. This will make more sense in the last tip.

Buy a level/straight edge/ruler in one. I bought this Stanley one at Wal-Mart for $5.88 and it was worth all 588 pennies. Seriously, this will save you so much time and (potential) heartache. Pretty much all of the stripes in the room are based off the very first one you measure out, so it needs to be perfect. Just line it up with the ceiling, make sure it’s level, and make your mark. Do this across the wall and then use the straight edge to mark your line and the level to make sure it’s straight.

Mark the stripes you aren’t painting with tape. This might seem stupid, but just a few chunks of tape every couple of feet will help you avoid any confusion or mistakes.

Use the original wall color to seal the edges of the tape. This is my number one tip for crisp lines! After you tape your stripes, use a brush and paint the original wall color over the edges. Trust me, it works! Remember the blonde moment I mentioned? Well, my blonde moment was accidently painting the new stripe color to seal the edges. Once I realized my mistake and pulled off the tape, I saw that the paint had bled under the tape in some spots. Using the original wall color really does help keep the lines clean.

Oh, and here’s half a tip…once you are all done painting, pull the tape off. Don’t wait for it to dry! I pulled the tape off after I finished every two stripes.

And finally, use your first wall as a “guide” to measure the remaining walls. Instead of measuring from the ceiling down, measure from the corner of your “guide” wall. Your ceilings might be higher/lower on each wall, so this will ensure the stripes all meet at the corners.

And those are my 6 tips for perfect stripes! Who’s ready to start painting?! If you decide to paint stripes in your own home, feel free to ask any questions. I’m certainly not an expert, but after painting four walls I feel like I made enough mistakes/good decisions to help answer most questions. Or if you have any tips of your own, leave them in the comments!
 

 

Striped Office!

The stripes are finally done! It took longer than planned, but it looks amazing! I’m so happy with how the room turned out!

Before I get started with the after pictures, I should mention paint colors. The room was already painted White Clay by Behr and I ended up using Sandstone Cove for the other stripes. It was the next color on the paint card.

OK, now let’s look at pretty stripe pictures!

As you saw a couple weeks ago, I finished 2 walls the first weekend.

I had planned to finish the rest of the room the following weekend, but I had a blonde moment (started painting the wrong color), so I only finished this wall and half of the window wall.

And finally, I re-taped the rest of the window wall and finished up painting the stripes on Saturday.

And that’s the 360-degree tour of the striped office! But to fully appreciate how far this room has come, let’s look at a before and after. When I bought the house, the room was bright purple with a Winnie the Pooh border:

I quickly painted over the purple with White Clay by Behr.

The room already looked 100x better with the fresh paint job, but I’d planned to paint stripes in here before I even officially owned the house. 2 years later…

STRIPES!

As for the $ breakdown, the whole project only cost about $50 for the paint, two rolls of Frog Tape, a level, and paint trays/rollers. Obviously the major commitment for this project is time and patience. For anyone wanting to paint stripes at home, I’ll be back later this week to share my tips for perfect striped walls. It won’t be a full tutorial (there’s plenty of those already around), but just a few tips/tricks that helped me keep my lines straight and crisp.  

**Edited: You can see my 6 Tips for Painting Perfect Stripes here

And with that, here’s my office to-do list now:

Sell current desk on Craigslist

Clean out room

Paint stripes

Replace outlets and switches with white ones

Find table to use as desk

Buy 2 chairs

Buy pair of desk lamps

Buy and paint file cabinet

Mount TV on the wall

Create a gallery wall around the TV

Build pallet artwork

Sew curtains

Buy sleeper sofa

Buy/build end table

Buy dresser

Paint dresser

Sew pillows

Add accessories
 

Half Way There!

I was hoping to have a full stripe reveal this week, but I seriously underestimated how time consuming this project would be. So much measuring and taping – at least Abby kept me company!

I’m planning to finish the last two walls this weekend, so hopefully I’ll have a full striped room reveal next week! I love how it looks so far and I can’t wait to finish up.

Next week I’ll also share paint colors, tips for straight lines with no bleeding, and the one tool you must buy for this project!