Thursday, January 19, 2012

dot to dot

Today I am sharing how I painted the polka dots in my children's bathroom.


I used a piece of heavy scrapbook paper to make my stencil or you could also use construction paper. I then used my scrapbooking circle cutter to cut out the size of polka dot I wanted. If you don't have one of these you could trace a small bowl or other object onto your paper and then carefully cut it out with scissors.

 I used clear packaging tape on the sides of my stencil to hold it to the wall.

I used a small foam brush to paint around the edges of the stencil. The trick is to go easy on the paint (too much paint and it will leak under the stencil). When going around the outside of the circle I just dabbed the foam brush up and down (no brushing back and forth). Then I used a small paintbrush to fill in the inside of the polka dot (this I did brush). Then I gently peeled off the tape and moved on to the next one!




Very simple to do and FREE (one of my favorite words)!

I almost forgot, when making your stencils make more than one. In this small area I used two paper stencils just because when one gets too much paint on it it doesn't work as well. If you were going to do a large wall or even a whole room you should probably make several stencils.

Did I mention how much I love paint! It is such an inexpensive way to change a room.

You probably noticed I also painted the bathroom vanity. I was able to complete this in just one afternoon.

Painting oak cabinets is such an easy fix and makes a huge difference.
  • remove all doors, drawers, and hinges
  • give everything a light sanding with sandpaper
  • I used one coat of primer (let dry completely)
  • one coat of paint (let dry completely)
  • another coat of paint
  • put hinges and doors back on

wall paint color Valspar khaki flat
vanity and polka dots paint color Behr rocky mountain sky semi-gloss

As always I do appreciate you stopping by!!!


                                                                                     Amy

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

my children's bathroom reveal

Today I am sharing what I have accomplished in my children's bathroom so far.

For the life of me I cannot find a before pic of this room. When we toured our house I took lots of photos, but my digital photo organization needs some work.

I mentioned yesterday that I started decorating this room over the summer, but got sidetracked by other things. I decided I finally need to finish this room for good! So here is what the room looks like today!




I am loving all the changes and it suits my children as well. When they were little we did the traditional kiddy bathroom (you know the one's fish, monkey). Now they are older (I have two in middle school) and they need something a little more grown up. I also have one boy and two girls so it had to be a bit gender neutral.

I was at a loss as to what to do with the blank wall over the bathtub until yesterday. I came across Desiree's craft room at the 36th avenue and fell in love with her polka dot wall. I knew this would be perfect in the bathroom. It adds just a hint of whimsy and fun to the room!

Tomorrow I will be sharing how I made my polka dots without using a store bought stencil. Super easy and FREE!

Before I go I must share photos of my daughter's bathroom drawer.





I lined the vanity drawer's with woven place mats I found at Michael's in the dollar section! They were the perfect length I just had to trim about an inch off the width. It then became the perfect place to organize all the girls hair pieces.

Hope you will join me tomorrow!

                                                                                 Amy