Getting things on the walls

Moving stinks!

As exciting as it is to be in a beautiful new home, it is also frustrating to me. I want it to look beautiful, like yesterday. Do you know what I mean? Life goes on, I work, I take care of the kids and the household and get to do things in my spare time! Sometimes I am so tired that I want to do nothing, even though I have lots to do in the house. See my list (that has grown a lot) in this post.

So today I am going to share how I finally got some of my things on the wall. I have moved a bunch of items around but, finally I have found an arrangement I love, and I will share it with you.

I have a wall between the two windows in my family room. I found a dresser on Craigslist that I redid (you can catch a glimpse in a couple pictures) that fits perfectly between them. As soon as I find the right pulls, I will post about it. Anyways, it was the wall above this that I hung my pictures.

I love the look of a frame layered within a frame. The outside frame on the bottom is the old kind with the linen border on the interior. Just LOVE it! I have another one that is much larger that I have to figure out a perfect spot for.... Here are close ups of the frame and the lower print, which was a gift. It is a watercolor of Sedona. We traveled there with my sister and her husband and it was just stunning.

Thank you for reading, I hope you like my little arrangement. Baby steps........ I finally picked a color for the walls!!!

Like my Facebook page and you will see snippets of what is coming up (Billy built ins...) and also see post links there.


Linking up with these great blogs:
Savvy Southern Style
Green Willow Pond
The Dedicated House
Beyond the Picket Fence
The Pin Junkie
Craft Dictator

Board and Batten in entry

Like a lot of bloggers I got the board and batten bug and found a good spot to install it in my home; my entry way.


It is open to the dining room, which I installed picture frame molding in, so it blends nicely, while allowing it to be a separate space with the visual difference. The trim in both rooms is the same color, as is the wall color above the wainscoting. I installed it on the wall to the right as you enter my home. It is just over 10ft long and has a small jut out for a column that was the perfect ending point.

The vertical pieces are 3" wide and the top horizontal board is 4 1/2" wide (I used MDF). I capped it with a 1x2 (which is actually 3/4" x 1 1/2") and used a cove moulding piece where the intersect.

The blue painters tape mark my studs for nailing into the proper spot on the horizontal piece.

I cut a scrap piece to 13" to be the spacer for my vertical boards. Once I figured out the layout, I just used this to space them out. I still used a level to make certain the entire board was level vertically. TIP: Pay attention to things like light switches, alarm boxes or outlets. You don't want to start and then have a vertical slat land smack in the middle of one of those......that may or may not have happened to me......


I used finish nails and HAND hammered each and every one, then went back with a counter sink. The only problem I had was some "puffing up" of the MDF around the nail. I don't know how else to describe it. I filled the holes and sanded A LOT, but a few of the boards are not totally smooth. It really is only noticeable when the sun is shining in the front door. I don't know if anyone else has had this experience with MDF, or if I could have done something different. I do own a nail gun and compressor, so this may not be a problem in the future. Of course hubby got me the compressor for my nail gun 2 weeks AFTER this project. I'm thankful for the gift, but could have used it earlier!!

Here it is before adding the top cap and cove molding. You can just barely see the seam on the horizontal piece. I had 8 foot lengths and needed 10 feet of coverage. I actually planned ahead and strategically placed this seam behind where the mirror would hang.



The image below shows details of all the mouldings that I cut around the ginormous mirror. I only did this with the top cap and the cove. This was so the mirror would be flat on the wall and not have a funny angle to it. I made this frame about 8 years ago when we first moved in and I used the mirror that was the entire wall (builders grade) of the guest bath - I just cut it down some. I loved it then and I still love it.

One last image of the finished product. Our home faces West so we get really bright sun in the afternoon and evenings but it is dark during the morning. The white on the board and batten really brightened the space up. My motto is the more light the better. I like to add mirrors because they are cheaper than putting windows in!




Hope you enjoyed this post and good luck on your project!




I'm linking to:
Savy Southern Style

That DIY Party
http://sawdustgirl.com/2013/03/08/sawdust-throwdown-link-party/