ALL DIY Projects

20 Hours and Counting…

Design + Build

Crafty Projects

Business + Life

Holidays

The Weekender Series

As Seen on TV

Room Makeovers

All DIY Projects

Search...

blog Categories

hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

So… how’s it going getting everything done in time for Thanksgiving you ask?  Well, I’ll just tell you that it’s 12:14AM as I start writing this post and there is a pile of laundry approximately 8 loads high waiting for some folding action (not.gonna.happen.)  Anyhow, all things considered I think we’re in good shape with all the madness.  The one awesome and tricky thing is that my family is all arriving a day early from Boston.  I’m SO thrilled!! I just need to finish my dining room (oh and clean the whole house) by about 7pm Tuesday… yikes, technically that’s today already!
All that aside, I’m excited to give you a peek into our progress!!
This weekend was a wallpaper party!! (Actually, it was nothing like a party.  My father-in-law and I just wallpapered.  He sort of hates doing it, but he’s good at it, and was nice enough not to say no when I asked.  Calling it a party just makes it sound more fun and exciting!)  You probably remember that I had ordered Graham and Brown’s Frames wallpaper.
The paper was a dream to work with because the repeat didn’t matter (I wanted a random look) and the pattern didn’t go off the roll.  Seriously, this saved us hours!
If you haven’t wallpapered before, you should totally try it.  It’s not as hard as people make it seem.  Seriously, some people make it sound worse than a root canal without Novocaine!
Here were some of my supplies.
I’m not going to give a wallpaper tutorial because there are about a million online, but I’ll tell you my one must-have item… a folding table.  I use this to do all the pasting (this paper wasn’t pre-pasted, but even if it was I usually add extra paste).
 You just slap the paste on with a brush, then I went over it with a mini roller.  Just to be sure it was nice and pasty (reminds me of a certain vampire I love!)
So wanna see what it looks like??
Here you go…  Drum roll please…
I REALLY, REALLY love it.  Not just a little, a whole lot.
Once the paper was up it was time for moulding! Remember I mentioned some cool idea using PVC pipe? Well, here are a few ideas we toyed with…
 Single row of PVC between some shoe moulding…
Double row of PVC sort of Olympic-style…
In the end it was time for a hubby to DIYer heart to heart.  Eric was willing to do the PVC if I was in love with it.  He admitted he thought it was a cool concept etc, but he talked me out of fantasy DIY land and back into mom of four kids with less than 72 hours before company arrives land.  We calculated that it would take approximately 7 Billion PVC circles and would probably end up being a detriment to our marriage, so…
Very simple, plain Jane, clean lined moulding it was.  In the end I think we made a very wise choice and I will just plan to use my PVC moulding elsewhere (soon!)  Oh, and BTW… if you didn’t know already, I’m a dork sometimes.  I totally didn’t think ahead and look where I divided the wallpaper and paint…
Hellooo light switch!
Sweet huh?  Oh well, it is what it is.  A tad quirky, just like us 🙂
Ok, so this novel of a post is almost over, but I have one more thing to share… We needed to paint over the navy stripe in the crown moulding.  It matched perfectly for The Nate Show, but now looked pretty out of place.  So what color??  Hmm??  Let’s try ’em all!
Thought the yellow might be fun… Nope, made the wall seem all choppy.  White to look like monsterous moulding… Nope, made the paper seem too off white.  Grey, because can you ever go wrong with grey… Perfect!
We’re almost done! Tomorrow we need to touch up the trim where it was nailed, add the enormous mirror I repainted and repurposed for over the buffet, and then accessorize! I can’t wait to see the finished product!!
Here’s where it’s at right now…
You’d never guess I have tons of family arriving in less than (Oh.my.word.) 20 hours! It’s okay, we’re good under pressure.  I’ll be revealing the finished product on Turkey day, so be sure to check back between football and food!

The comments +

  1. Mae says:

    Looks amazing!!!! I love it!!! Can’t wait to see the grand reveal on Thursday 🙂

  2. Kayla says:

    I’d love to know the color grey your table and chairs are – I need to refinish mine – cool ideas! Thnks!

  3. That looks incredible. You are waaay braver than me. I’m such a perfectionist, I know I would mess something up and it would drive me crazy. Though you do make it look easy… 😉

    ~Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One

  4. love that wallpaper! so pretty. and can’t wait to see what you use the PVC idea on, such a cool idea!!!!!!!!!

  5. IK’ve been stalking this wallpaper every since I saw it in a Brit magazine a couple of years ago. Love, love, love.

    I’m laughing away at your post as your dining room looks just like mine before 12 people from work came for dinner last week. Nothing like a bit of pressure to get you going quickly. 🙂

  6. It is looking simply gorgeous! I cannot wait to see the finished project!

  7. Krista says:

    This is AWESOME!!! Just found your blog…good stuff! 🙂

Leave a Reply to Rebecca (Indecisive Baker) Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Make a Kid's Mud Kitchen and Produce Stand

DIY PROJECT

Work From Home Corner Office Makeover

VIDEO MAKEOVER

Yard Game Ideas ASO Live! with Kelly + Ryan

DIY IDEAS ON TV

Today Show Nursery Makeover

MAKEOVER

Outdoor Living Space Makeover : Home Becomes

VIDEO MAKEOVER

Must Reads

Get updated on what we're working on

Follow along!