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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.





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.

And don't forget Google Reader is donezo on July 1. Have no fear though, you can continue to follow my sparkling personality and quick wit on Bloglovin. Find out how to import your list from Google Reader here.

Happy Day!

The big day has finally arrived - reveal day! Six weeks, 20 bloggers and one room later, my girls' have a new bedroom and I have a new manicure coming my way (catch up on weeks 1-6 of work on the ORC here).

So in the words of Jennifer Grey in Ferris Bueller, 'let's not ruin this with a lot of talk.' Let's get right to the good stuff.

If you follow me on instagram, then you've been getting little sneak peeks for the past few days. Here is where we started.


And six weeks later, here is where we are today.








Learn more about the silhouettes here.





Learn more about the heart artwork here.


Watercolor by Mai Autumn.




Learn more about the vanity here.




Learn more about the dresser here.




And with that I am spent. Happy but spent.

I want to thank all of you for following along and for your encouraging comments and support. I accept this Oscar on behalf of all the....oh wait, that's a different speech.


And a big thanks to my friend Linda for including me. My first two cocktails tonight will be in your honor my dear.

Make sure to check out my fellow ORC ladies to see their beautiful spaces as well. It's like Christmas morning I tell ya.

Now about that cocktail...

We have arrived at week 4 of the One Room Challenge (you can catch up on weeks 1 - 3 here) and this week has been all about fumes. Paint, floor wax and stripping chemicals. Ahh the smell of progress.

Thanks to a well timed play date and some quality grandparent time, the hubs and I took advantage of an empty house and got painting.


Btw, I shared my progress on Instagram, and am now officially addicted. I know I'm late to the party but that sucker is just fun.

Now for those of you who are new, I'm a color girl. I need it the same way I need anything that Andy Cohen will put on TV. So I went with quite a radical choice for the walls. White.

I can hear the sarcasm in your voice, 'White?! That is soo daring.' Well, for me it is. This is only the second time...ever that I've painted a room white. (the kitchen being the other instance)

But you may have noticed from my board, that there is also another paint color listed. I can't go without color somewhere on the walls, so I went for the fifth wall - the ceiling. I took a cue from all of my Pinterest ceiling inspiration and gave the girls what they wanted. Pink.

Not bubblegum pink, or baby pink. We are going for Big Girl Pink.

My 5-year-old Amelia picked out this fabric (she's good, I know) and I used that pink/purple color as our Big Girl inspiration.


I matched up a swatch (BM Springtime Bloom) and slapped that sucker up on the wall.


I knew as soon as I started trimming out the ceiling that I loved it.

These girls' are not wallflowers and neither is their room. It is a really great color that looks different thru out the day. It is a great contrast against the white and it makes the room feel bigger. Win win.


Beautiful ceiling and walls, now on to the floor. I took advantage of the emptyness to get on my hands and knees and clean the crap out of that floor. Soap and hot water, elbow grease and then a coat of wax. I'll do another coat of wax and then buff it. (my mom is very proud at this moment)

The crib was then taken down (sad) and Eve's 'new' bed was brought up from the basement. The girls' have the same beds that were used by my sister and I, which I love.  With both beds in the room, we were able to move things around and I've nailed down where all the little puzzle pieces will fit. Sweet progress.


The paint fumes must have made us giddy because we also went ahead and put up the new light fixture. And in my final burst of weekend energy I took those drawers out of the dresser and started to strip. The drawers. I stripped the drawers.


As of this morning all the drawers are stripped and the base is half way there. More on that next week.

With all of that, I'm pooped. Let's check in on the list, shall we?

1. Come up with functional floor plan
2. Paint walls/ceiling/trim
3. Paint dresser (new hardware?) Progress
4. Update vanity (maybe some fun color or hardware) Progress
5. Find curtains and add trim
6. Add a rug and new bedding Progress
7. Hang art and create some personalized pieces Progress
8. Find/Install new light fixture (buh bye ceiling fan)
9. Reupholster chair and possibly add comfy floor cushions 
10. Find/Make lampshade(s)