Monday, May 13, 2013

The Handbuilt Bedroom, pt. 2: The Walls

So the goal is to build all the furniture for my son’s bedroom, as explained in Part 1

Here’s a reminder of where we started:

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom before2

I listed all his bedroom furniture on Craigslist:  headboard, frame, mattress, bedding (including the pirate quilt I made—that was hard to part with!), dresser, desk, and chair.  It sold all as a set, so he ended up with a bare room pretty much overnight!

That was OK by me, though; it’s much easier to paint an empty room!

My boy wanted stripes, and this was the quilt we were able to agree on for the basis for his room.

Jacob's room colors

The first thing to get painted, though, was the CEILING!  In this house the walls AND ceilings are all the same beige.  I am NOT a fan of beige ceilings, so someday they will ALL be painted!

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom ceiling

It’s amazing how much a just changing the ceiling color lightened up the room (I used Sherwin Williams Eminence Ceiling Paint in Creamy).

We decided to pull the green out of the quilt for the wall color.  Again, we were trying to lighten things up a little (color is Sherwin Williams Super Paint in Rice Paddy).  Sorry for the cell phone picture here!

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom walls1

Next step was the give the walls a little character.  I taped off a wide stripe and painted it the same white as the room trim…

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom walls2

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom walls3

…the I used MORE tape to divide that large white stripe into some smaller stripes.  I looked really good climbing around the room with three rolls of tape on my arm, like bracelets!

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom walls4

And this is how it turned out!  I have to tell you that the paint bled LIKE CRAZY on the red and blue stripes, and I have no one to blame but myself.  You can get good results if you really seal the edges of the tape well with a plastic scraper or credit card.  You get GREAT results if you do that AND paint over the edges of the tape with your base color.  You get lousy results if you skip step one, even if you do step two.  Ugh.  I had a lot of touching up to do…

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom wall collage 2

…but you can’t tell now!

Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom walls7Red Hen Home Handbuilt Bedroom walls8

Next step….I promise I actually BUILD something!

15 comments:

Jennifer said...

What a great way to add a stripe detail to a room! My husband and I are currently planning how to decorate the rooms for two new kiddos coming into our home soon. I may give this stripe idea a try. I love the finished result! Thanks for sharing.

- Jennifer @ From House to Home

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

The stripes add some nice interest to the walls, Korrie! Love the colors you chose, too.

Miss Charming said...

Loving the stripes! Looking forward to the rest of the reveal!

Gypsy Heart said...

Love the stripes! I also love that you painted the ceiling. That alone brightened the room. Can't wait to see what you built!

xo
Pat

Gypsy Heart said...

Love the stripes! I also love that you painted the ceiling. That alone brightened the room. Can't wait to see what you built!

xo
Pat

Homeroad said...


Great Stripes! I'm loving it already and I haven't even seen the rest!
Susan

Gillian Layne said...

I can't imagine what it takes to keep those lines both evenly spaced and level, but wow is it cool! I love it!--and I bet your son does, too. :)

Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. said...

Oh cool, those stripes are awesome!

Debbie @ MeandMyDIY said...

Wow! I'm so impressed with the stripes, they look great. The white ceiling really does lighten it up. I love that you're building everything for this room yourself. Can't wait to see what's up next, as I'm working my son's room as well!

Debbie

Unknown said...

That looks really great - what a lot of work on the stripes though! LOL

Rachel said...

Okay, since I am venturing to paint my house this summer, here is my question for you. When you remove the tape, how do you get it to not pull off some of the paint? That is what I've had problems with unless I take a blade to it. That works around door frames and such but obviously won't work on a flat wall...........

Love your color choice and striping btw. :D

Unknown said...

I chuckled at the typical "I'm-too-tough-on-myself" comment at the end about 'actually building' something!!! Are you kidding me???!!! You have been busting your can lady. Give yourself a PAT ON THE BACK for all you have accomplished!! No really....stop right now and pat yourself. lol

Awesome job on the room so far. Hugs.

Suzanne@Meridian Road said...

That looks pretty perfect to me! I love that green!

thistlewoodfarm said...

Love the paint, can't wait to see the next steps!!

Have a great weekend!!

Chris at Red Gate Farm said...

LOVE the stripes and the colors! And I've heard that tip about painting over the edges with the base color... great reminder!

~Chris