This summer was a busy one, and it isn't even over yet. It started in May, with a couple of painting projects (the half bath and the toilet room in our bath that I never did 2 years ago) Then I decided I was ready to take on the biggie project. To finally make our house unique and not be a cookie cutter. Most of the houses on my street are this same model as ours and honestly, when we do have to move because as some point we probably will have to for Matt's job. I want my house to stand out from the rest. AND I want to enjoy it too! No more of this... What if we have to move soon, delaying project after project. So...Project No More Cookie Cutter, Commenced.
June 21 installation began on our extra tall Board and Batten Wainscoting. The before isn't that bad. It's a nice open foyer and entry way.
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| Before |
Our amazing woodwork contractor was a genius about how he built these. It was unlike anything I saw on any tutorial. He built each section AT HOME, then brought it here and installed it in one giant piece. That way the installation was actually secured into studs. Also, no glue or individual nailing of each board into the wall. And it is solid as a rock! So if, for whatever reason, the next people don't like the trim work, it can easily be removed without massive damage to the drywall behind.
Next came the painting of the boards in the foyer. It was a paint to paint and I thought at first that it was actually coming out blue because the white was so white, it played tricks on my eyes. And to mimic that it was all wood and not just wood trim and drywall, I dry brushed over the top with a paint brush to give it the same look as the wood pieces.
The same weekend that I painted the white trim work, I also decided to paint the boy's bathrooms. With Collin potty training soon, I figured it was time to get some scrubbable paint behind the toilet since it will be more than one "hose" aiming...and probably missing. I used leftover paint I had from other projects and didn't have to buy any new paint to complete this. The color is
Benjamin Moore's Buxton Blue.
I also got the prints on
Etsy from 7 Wonders Design. Aren't they so cute!?! She was amazing to work with by the way. I ordered the more subdued colors at first and noticed I picked the wrong ones. Sent her a message and she changed up the order for me! Highly recommend her and she has AMAZING stuff for all over the house! Frames are from Target.
Next was phase 2. The stairwell. I already had chair rail in the stairwell, and thought it would be a nice touch to extend the board and batten up the stairs. Little did I know it would be a bit of a pain in the butt. Figuring out how to do the angle and get it to line up with the top landing and bottom landing. Yeah, gotta love geometry and such! Since we have a U shaped stairwell it was a little difficult but got it figured out. Our contractor did the same thing. He built the pieces at home and installed them when he got here. Yeah, he is that good!
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| You can see the lighting difference between the entry way and the family room at the back. Our old lights cast more of a yellow tone, the new lights don't! |
Phase 3...PAINTING! Since our contractor was already here, I asked if he could paint the hard to reach areas for me. So he painted the upstairs stairwell, and the downstairs stairwell, and also above my cabinets in the kitchen (I will be finishing that and the adjacent family room sometime next month) then I painted the rest. The upstairs hallway, the entryway, foyer and garage entry area. It was a multi-day project but I got it done. I used
Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter for the color. It is a "greige" grey/beige. In some ways it looks beige and in others it looks grey. I love it! Very cool color.
I still need to decorate, debating on using the rug still or not. I will probably get a small bench to put in the area for my students to leave their shoes at when they are here for lessons (no more standing and balancing to get shoes on), and thought about putting little 3M hooks on the wall for a drop zone after school. I need to pick up more frames, because I have plenty of family pictures to put up on that rail. Love my new display area! The quilt that was hanging there before is still my favorite and will still be displayed but down in the basement adding more color down there in the kids area!
Check out this before and after of the painting and board and batten. Plus I got new lighting in our house. Splurged for the GE HD REVIVE LED lights on the main level and upstairs hallway. (and half bath and boys bathroom) Gives a truer color and I think it will help better with my videos. What do you think?
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