Don't you just love the difference paint makes!?!
From pink walls and girly-girl cutesy . . .
. . . to something a bit simpler, bolder, and "teen-ager-y"
Slightly off-white walls and squares in her school colors.
Slightly off-white walls and squares in her school colors.
Oops! I still have to do something about those super pink baskets!
Well, we didn't make all the kid stuff go away!
Condensed version of all the steps!
I think this is the most important!
I cut and taped poster board squares to the wall in a way that I thought looked balanced and not too busy. The squares were too small the first time (top photo) and looked "too cute-sy" so even though I didn't want to - I cut more and bigger squares and re-did it (bottom photo)!
I think this is the most important!
I cut and taped poster board squares to the wall in a way that I thought looked balanced and not too busy. The squares were too small the first time (top photo) and looked "too cute-sy" so even though I didn't want to - I cut more and bigger squares and re-did it (bottom photo)!
For the next step I called my husband in to help!
I penciled around the corners of the squares so I knew where I wanted them to be and then my sweetie used a level and drew the squares all perfect (and square!) for me - I hate measuring!
I managed to tape around the lines pretty evenly - I learned to tape slightly on the outside of the pencil marks.
After having the paint bleed and look awful I read online about taping, then paint the original wall color over the tape, letting it dry, and then painting the new color. This worked amazingly well! I only had a few places that I touched up with a tiny artist brush.
I did all of the red first - it took 4-5 coats!
Then the black. The taping was a bit trickier - I had to cut the tape and make sure it was perfectly straight where it met the red. And I had to paint over the tape in 2 different colors (original wall and red) to make sure there was no black bleeding onto the red or the white. The black paint was only 1 1/2 coats and went on super fast.
I penciled around the corners of the squares so I knew where I wanted them to be and then my sweetie used a level and drew the squares all perfect (and square!) for me - I hate measuring!
I managed to tape around the lines pretty evenly - I learned to tape slightly on the outside of the pencil marks.
After having the paint bleed and look awful I read online about taping, then paint the original wall color over the tape, letting it dry, and then painting the new color. This worked amazingly well! I only had a few places that I touched up with a tiny artist brush.
I did all of the red first - it took 4-5 coats!
Then the black. The taping was a bit trickier - I had to cut the tape and make sure it was perfectly straight where it met the red. And I had to paint over the tape in 2 different colors (original wall and red) to make sure there was no black bleeding onto the red or the white. The black paint was only 1 1/2 coats and went on super fast.
Done!
Now I just need to find the time for new curtains and bedding . . .
Now I just need to find the time for new curtains and bedding . . .
And the best part - I did this in 3 days while she was away at cheer camp (I used an oscillating fan to help it dry faster) - she was totally surprised AND loved it!
