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Thursday, February 23, 2012

The William Morris Project: Week 7

This sort of felt like the lost week.  As though it was never going to end, and when I reflect back on it, it will just seem like a giant void that leaves me wondering "What exactly did I get done that week?".  And then I look at J's room, and I KNOW.

BEFORE:

Cleveland Brown colors (even the fan blades!)
*this was how it was when we moved in.



It was truly awful.  It was both jarringly bright and depressingly dark.  There were uneven lines at the corners and blobs of paint on the ceiling.  The decals were peeling off.  



AFTER:



I originally planned to stripe this wall with orange, but the husband suggested I do a dashed line instead.  The orange was really bright, and I think a full, striped wall would have overwhelmed the space.  Much better.  

It did take a lot of time to measure off, tape off, and then paint the line.  I rolled on 2 coats of orange, then had to go back and smooth out almost every side of each rectangle.  Given that my college painting professor mocked my affinity for detail work, I was totally prepared for some delicate touch up.  


I also decided at the last minute to paint all the trim white to match the rest of the house.  
Yes!  Let's add another 4 hours of work to this already drawn out project!


The inspiration for the room was his robot sheets.  The blanket on the bed is not done yet, but I wanted to show that it will add another pop of orange. 


We picked up the lamp at IKEA this weekend.  


I painted the blades the same color as the walls, then tipped them with orange because it reminded the husband of a propeller on a plane.  


The frames are cheap-o's from WM.  They were black, but I painted them a dark grey semi-gloss that I already had.  I realized I couldn't remove the glass, so I shimmied some saran wrap between the glass & the frame - worked great!.  


All that's left to do is add the vinyl decals (I didn't realize I had to wait 2 weeks for the walls to cure), and a few more prints.  The walls look really bare right now (and huge!  His room is not that big!), but it will be better with a few more frames. 


Paint colors: 
Wall - Behr Subtle Touch
Dashed line, fan - Behr Electric Orange
Primer: Kilz and Zinsser Bulls-Eye

My boy loves his new room, and was so excited to get back in there & sleep in "My New Cool Room!".  I know.  He's 3.  
But I appreciate the enthusiasm.  



As always, this project is part of The William Morris Project started by Jules at Pancakes and French Fries.  She is awesome, and so is this project.  

PS - You'd think that by now I'd be almost done with my daughter's room.  No.  Not at all.  Haven't even started.  But I'll leave that story for next week.  

PPS: The nearest IKEA is 2.25 hours away in PA.  We made the drive on Saturday & it was totally worth it.  Mostly because of this: 


That my friends, is a Primanti Brothers sandwich.  
I can't wait to go back!

15 comments:

C.G. Koens said...

Our closest Ikea is 3+ hours away, and it's TOTALLY worth the drive. :-)

In other news, the room looks 100% better - well done! I love the fact that your 3 year old is in love with his room...makes all the work worth it, doesn't it? Can't wait to see your daughter's room!

Amy said...

Are you kidding me? I would totally be excited to sleep in that room and I'm . . . well . . . considerably older than three. :)

I do so love a good before and after--great work!

Kelly said...

AMAZING!!! His roomed turned out so cute. I love it.

May said...

Hubby has great ideas. I love the dash and the way you tipped the ends of the fan blades. Perfect.

Allison said...

It looks great! 100% improvement from how it was when you first moved in. Cant' wait to see your daughter's room! :)

Alana in Canada said...

Love the fan blades! What a wonderful room--well done.

pamelotta said...

What an improvement! The color is relaxing and it really does look like a big room. I'm excited for him. It's no fun when a kid doesn't like the only room in the house that they can call their own. Great job this week!

Melissa@Home Baked said...

Nice work! That's the kind of project that definitely sucks up the whole week, but the payoff is huge! The room is gorgeous now!

Kelly said...

It looks great & will last your little guy for a long while! Love the gray & orange combo.

And now I don't feel quite so bad that my Ikea is only an hour away!

April said...

i love the dresser...the different colors are a great POP!

Courtney said...

How creative! Love how you pulled it all together, and the white trim looks great.

Courtney said...

How creative! And the white trim looks great too.

Alice Almighty said...

What a great change! The whole room looks fun and bright...not dark and football creepy. The trim looks really nice too-even if it took longer, it was worth it!

Jules said...

Our closest IKEA is 30 minutes away, and if I could I would sleep there.

The room looks so big and open with the new colors! And those old colors!! I mean, !!!

You did a great job, and tacking on the job of painting out trim was both ambitious and awesome. I bet you feel good having crossed that off your list.

Anonymous said...

This room is so great, from the dotted orange line to the dipped fan blades (your prof was so wrong) - the attention to detail is fantastic. That is a huge item to cross off the to-do list. And to have your son love it, so totally worth the effort! Great job.