freshening the foyer - part 2

Previously, on Freshening the Foyer...

We were left with a blank space

and a can of this.

Specifically, Lucky Shamrock by Benjamin Moore. I have a lot of blue in my house and I really do love blue. But I didn't want to become one big blue house. So what goes with blue? What's welcoming and cheery? What would I want to see when I walk in the house everyday? 

Green.

And you all know how I like a good lookin' ceiling (like here and here) so I took that paint up north. Happy green ceiling - complete. Now for the walls.

My ultimate dream would be some Anna Spiro wallpaper but for now that isn't in the budget. So I went with this stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils thanks to a Sadie + Stella discount code a while back. (Thanks Lindsay)

And here is where this little spruce up went off the tracks a bit. I got the stencil, I was excited to use it and the walls were painted and ready. The hubs and I skimmed thru the directions (first mistake) and got to work.

And ended up with this. Ruh roh.

How's this for real life DIY? They don't always go so smoothly, am I right? I blame the little dots in the stencil. They threw us off some how. To be honest, I don't know what happened. The whole process went so fast (which I was rather surprised about) we didn't realize it until we stepped back to admire our finished work.

Major let down.

This all happened right before the party, of course, so it was a good lesson in letting things go. There was no time to fix it and I just didn't have the mental fortitude to make it happen.

So this is how it looked for a few weeks. And it drove me bonkers. The stencil is on crack, the mirror doesn't play well with the bench and its hung too high. And the trim still needs to be painted. Calgon, take me away.

Finally I psyched myself up to try this again. I repainted the whole space (thank god it is small) and after playing with the stencil BEFORE painting, revolutionary I know, I figured out what I needed to do.

So learn from my mistakes.

This is not something you can rush thru, even if it may seem straightforward. You will need to do one sheet and step back to check your work. Then place the sheet in the next spot and step back and check your work. Then roll the next sheet and, you guessed it, step back and check your work.

You will want to go over the stencil several times with your roller. Don't. It just makes a mess. And always roll in the one direction. Never back and forth or you will just end up with a big smeared blob.

Play with the amount of paint on your roller a bit before starting. The key is to find the perfect combo of the right amount of paint and the right amount of pressure so you can get the stencil on in one roll.

Much better.

Now all that is left is some styling, finding some sconces and figuring out a solution for the mirror. The round one that was there originally just didn't work.

This mirror is from the family room and I like it's size but I don't like the pine with the bench. But this mirror is from my parents and it is certainly a 'paint it and die' piece.

So my best girl Linda is helping me to scour Craigslist and I've already got a few options. With her mad skills, I bet I'll find something in no time. What kind of mirror would you add?

Look forward to the next installment of Freshening the Foyer to find out how this all ends. Will I get the trim painted? Will I find a mirror? Will I ever clean that floor properly? Too much excitement, I know.

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Happy Day!