Wednesday, November 16, 2016

DIY Shiplap Wall

The husband is working late, the kids are off to bed, so there are no excuses to NOT put this tutorial up! Although I will admit, my bed, gourmet hot chocolate, and tv is calling my name! 
Its been ONE. OF. THOSE. DAYS !!

I have wanted to do a shiplap or planked wall FOR-EV-ER!!! The hubs wasn't sold on the idea since we had just built and "we paid good money to paint these walls just to cover them up" haha! Bless his heart! I finally convinced him! We bought our supplies and I was so excited to get some walls done. Then life happened, you all know Mr Life. He likes to come in and ruin your plans from time to time. Needless to say it didn't happen and got put on the back burner.  Then we had this crazy idea to sell our new house and pay off our old house, that we had been renting out, and move back. Yep! There goes Mr Life once again! 

The good news about living in an older home is there are A LOT of updates and remodeling that can (ahem... NEED) to be done. Right up my alley! AND the hubs is not attached to the newly painted walls lol! It didn't take long for him to say.... "get ready we are planking the walls!" I was thrilled and a little surprised! We have a few bigger remodeling things that need to get done before we can do a lot of the cosmetic things. Those bigger items will take a little time, which is hard for me, because I am a little impatient and want it all done, like yesterday! Anyone else like that??? So to plank the walls was what my heart needed to hear! 

Isn't this room so lovely! I hope you sense the sarcasm there. It is so dark in there! It doesn't help that there is NO LIGHT in that room!? Who does that?? That is on our to do list. About 8 yrs ago it was painted in brown tones, which I loved then, but now...... its too dark and we need to lighten it up and add some design!


I forgot to take pics of the boards we used, BUT we used floor underlayment for our planks. It is about 1/4 in thick which was perfect! I didn't want it to hang over the edge or be flush with our baseboards which were 1/2 in. Plus with it being so thin, it doesn't take much to attach it to the wall. A lot of tutorials used thin plywood and a lot seemed to have problems with boards warping and we didn't want that!

The underlayment boards came in 4x8 foot boards. We used about 6-7 boards total for all 4 walls. We got it at Lowe and had them cut it in 6 in strips. We had a 5 in plank left over from each board, we used those on the bottom and our baseboards covered up that 1 inch difference. Now one thing to note is that you have to make it really clear that you want someone who knows what they are doing and that you want the cuts as straight as possible! The first set of boards we had cut had wavy cuts which was a pain when hanging. I made sure to stress those 2 points on the next set of boards and they were cut straight. ALSO the underlayment at Home Depot is cheaper and I believe better quality, HOWEVER our Home Depot would NOT cut anything smaller then 12 inches and we don't have a table saw to cut our own, yet.... ;)  so we had to go to Lowes. 

We lightly sanded all the edges of each plank as well as the side that would be facing out, so that they were smooth. After that we were ready to start! The first thing you want to do is decide how you want your planks to be arranged, staggered  or not. I wanted our planks to look like one continual board across and not staggered. I wanted a more authentic look, as well as it looking more simple/classic and clean lined. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the staggered look, but this seemed to fit my style better. If you want a staggered look there are several ways to do that. Google is very helpful when deciding how to stagger your planks. 

Now we are at the point where the hubs comes in, leaving me to supervise ;) He checked for studs (for some reason I could only find one in the room *wink *wink ;) ) and then using his level, drew vertical lines down the wall to mark where the studs were so he knew where to nail.



Now comes the part of deciding your spacing. Really, that is a personal preference! Most everything I read and saw seemed to be about 1/8 of an inch spacing. You can use nickels as your spacers or eyeball it. Remember when I said the guy cut our boards all wavy? Well now is when that little oops comes into play. When we spaced our planks with a nickel, there were several spots that the boards touched and I didn't want that. But I also didn't want wider spacing either. The hubs and I had different ideas on the spacing so this took up a good 30-45 mins trying to decide (he wanted a wider spacing and I wanted as thin as possible). We finally agreed on using a cardboard box cut into strips which was a compromise to both of our spacing desires lol! It actually worked really well! And I love how it looked after it was painted.  I forgot to take a pic of that during the process, so here is one after the fact, but you get the idea!



We decided to hang our planks, starting at the top. The reason is because we were putting in new baseboards so if there was less then 5 inches left, our baseboards could cover it and we wouldn't have to cut the boards down smaller. If there was more then 5-6 inches then we would have a couple inches left on the bottom and again, our baseboards could cover it. Even if we were not putting up new baseboards, I would rather have any smaller boards at the bottom then at the top where it would be less noticeable. 

To hang the planks we simply used our finishing nail gun and nailed 2 nails on each board where the studs were and then at each end. We used 1 1/4 inch nails for that. Again because our planks were so thin, a few nails held the planks beautifully!  To make sure that the planks were level, we used the level on the first board and then every other board or so after that. You could probably just do every couple boards. You just want to make sure that it is level so you don't have a leaning wall :)

The process of hanging the boards went rather quickly and we got in a good groove! We ran out of boards and had to get more so that dragged the process out. If we had all the boards we needed, or it wasn't 10pm at night so we couldn't get more right away, hanging the planks would have easily been an after work or Sat project.

You will want to have a jig saw handy so that you can cut around where your outlets are. We made sure to cut just around the hole in the wall so that our outlet covers would cover the boards. I know our outlets look like a hot mess, thank goodness we replaced them to a nice bright white with no paint on them ;) 


I am loving how it is coming along! I even love it unpainted! The final look is getting so close! For the corners (eek I don't have a pic for that! What was I thinking!?) We lined the boards up on the main walls, where we didn't want to see where the boards connected, with an overhang. On the opposite wall from the main wall, we held a scrap piece up in place so that when we did the overhang and the board on the adjoining wall would match up flush. I hope that makes sense. Hopefully you can kinda see that in the pics below. 



Once you have all your planks hung, you will want to putty all your nail holes. Also if you remember, I wanted my planks to look like one solid plank. There was only one wall that was longer then the planks, as you can see in the above pic. I used Bondo to fill those seams. I also used some to fill the nail holes and after the fact I would recommend sticking with wood putty for the nail holes. You need to get the spots with Bondo really smooth so you don't see the spots after it is painted and it took more effort to smooth the little nail holes with Bondo then wood putty. 


You are in the final stretch now! To add the finishing touch, I calked the seams of all the walls. That really made a difference and took no time at all. You can also add trim to all your edges. We opted not to, however, I would like to add some at the top where the wall meets the ceiling, but that is a project for another day ;)  

After that, all that was left to do was PAINT! I used my Home Right Finish Max sprayer to paint my shiplaped walls.  It made painting all 4 walls a breeze. If you choose to use a paint sprayer, make sure to tape off about 3 feet around where you are spraying. Look how easy it is to spray! I have used a paint sprayer when I do furniture for the last 6+ yrs but using it to paint your walls take it to a whole other level, a level that I LOVE!



We used Sherwin Williams Cotton White for our newly Shiplaped wall.  It was our trim color in our other house and I loved it! It was the perfect soft white that went with about any color. Since we decided to stick with it for our trip in our new house it was perfect to use on our walls as well. That way we knew the colors would go well! As a bonus, I didn't have to worry if a little paint got on the trim cause it was the same color! 



So what do you think? BIG difference right!? It is amazing how much it changed the look of our sitting room! Every time I walk in the door, I can't help but smile! And look at those "one long plank" rows! Ahhhhh it makes me so happy!



We still have a few things to do in this room to be able to say it is completely done, like painting the piano, but this was a BIG start! So what do you think? Pretty easy right!? Will you shiplap a wall in your home? 

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Laundry Room Makeover

I realize I haven't blogged about my Laundry Room Makeover. To be honest, it wasn't *EXACTLY* finished BUT we moved so, ya, it is what it is ;) I still loved the results and thought they were worth sharing, so here we are! Good news is that I will have a NEW Laundry Room to makeover! I can't wait for that GLORIOUS day! 

OK, So lets talk the old Laundry Room Makeover! We have a dark espresso finish on all our cabinets in our home. While I liked the contrast that the dark cabinets gave, I also love white cabinets and how they brighten up a room. Our Laundry Room was more like a laundry closet. It was dark and felt like it would swallow you up. Like I always say, "There is nothing a little paint can't fix!" So off to Home Depot for, you guessed it, PAINT!


For the walls I did a mix of Sherwin Williams "Watery" and "Tidal". I had Tidal's coloring reduced and then I mixed the 2 colors at 2 parts Tidal and 1 part Watery. Unfortunately I don't remember how much I reduced Tidal, I want to say it was about 50%. The first thing I did was paint the walls and I LOVE how the color turned out! It was the perfect shade! 


I admit I was temped to leave the cabinets dark because I really liked the contrast between the calming blue on the walls and the dark espresso on the cabinets. But I wanted to paint SOME cabinets so why not continue on with the plan! 

No mater what paint type or brand I am using, I always sand a little. I like to sand a little just to rough up the surface and removes some of the collected dirt and oil. My cabinets were fairly new and still had the factory finish on them which made them shiney and slippery so sanding gave me the extra tooth I needed. I sanded by hand with an 80 grit sand paper. You can see how it roughed up the surface and knocked down the sheen. Don't mind my awkward hand lol! Good thing I am NOT a hand model ;) 


Once I had every thing sanded, I wiped it all down with Clorox wipes. I like to use the Clorox wipes because they really get any gunk left over after sanding and they dry FAST! Of course you can use hot soapy water, TSP, degreaser, etc. You just want to make sure all those oils and dirt are removed so that your paint will adhere and that your piece is fully dry before you start to paint.



Normally with cabinets, I would remove the doors and spray them.  However with how small these cabinets were, I didn't want to worry about that so I just left the doors attached and brushed them. You want to make sure that you tape anything off that needs to be taped off before you start painting. Unless you have a super powers that allow you to brush insanely straight lines and keep the paint exactly where it is supposed to be ;) then you might be able to skip the taping part. I however, do NOT possess such super powers.


For my cabinet paint color, I chose the same color as my trim so that there wouldn't be any clashing going on. That color was Sherwin Williams "Cotton White". I used chalk paint on my cabinets because I wanted good adhesion, self leveling (I was brushing and not spraying) and butter like distressing. I chose my FAVORITE chalk paint brand, BB Frosch  Chalk Paint Powder. I LOVE BB Frosch because I can use any color I want and since I was color matching my trim, it was the only way to go! 

*TIP : when painting with white, I like to prime first because white has very little pigment and so you 
have to do more coats then with other colors. ESP when you are starting with a dark base like my cabinets! By priming you cut out some of those extra paint coats.

This is one coat of BB Frosch  chalk paint compared to the original.  Not too bad! 


Now I am going to admit something to you..... are you ready?........ I used cheap paint! eeeeeek! Let me tell you, when doing cabinets like this DONT USE CHEAP PAINT! I was 3 coats in and I wasn't getting the coverage I wanted and it was COMPLETELY because of the cheap paint :( I ended up going back to the store and getting a higher quality paint and primer paint, and it made a big difference! NEVER again will I use a cheaper paint when painting white! I also did a coat of primer because my cheap paint wasnt cutting it. After the primer and higher quality of paint, all it took was ONE COAT and I had amazing coverage! So learn from my sleep deprived mistake and get yo self some good paint and primer when painting white over a dark color! 

Now are you ready to see the final results!!!???

Lets start with all the little details, shall we?

I LOVE the blue/green crystal knobs! They really tied it all together! I also did a little distressing on the edges of the cabinets. It made a BIG difference with very little effort. Sometimes less distressing is more.  


I also made a 'Laundry" sign. I used BB Frosch on the entire sign. 


I wanted something to contain the little things like laundry scents, money, and fabric softeners. My kids are working on doing their own laundry, so I needed things where they can reach but still have it look nice. I made this little box from some scrap wood, rope, and fabric. I did a faux stain on it using, you guessed it again, BB Frosch Chalk Paint Powder! Seriously, this stuff is one stop shopping when it comes to paint! 


And now for the WHOLE look! 

TA DAAAAA!!!!

What do you think?


Isn't it such a difference!

               BEFORE                                                                                                 AFTER                                                   


I finished off the cabinets with BB Frosch Premium Finishing Wax in clear. It is vital that when you use chalk paint, that you SEAL IT with something whether it is wax or poly or something else. I love the soft look the wax gave, it was the PERFECT finish!

The best part of this make over is that it cost me less then $60 for EVERYTHING!!!!! All the paint, knobs, decor, EVERYTHING! Not bad! It does help that I had some of the items already on hand, But if you didn't, this Laundry Room Makeover still would have come in UNDER $100! 

I love how bight and open it feels now! I kinda makes me WANT to do laundry! I mean how can you not in such a happy little room! 

What room are YOU going to make over? 

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Monday, May 9, 2016

Using Clear Wax with a Stencil

HEY Everyone! If you follow me on FB or IG (ummm if you are not, well you really should ;) ) then you  have heard me say all the reasons why I LOVE BB Frosch products! ONE of the many reasons is that they have a simple product line. No one likes to have to buy a ton of products for a specific project or to get a certain look. With BB Frosch you don't have to! They have streamlined their products in such a way that you have UNLIMITED options! without having to buy a ton of stuff!  From the way you use each product to color options, and I LOVE that! I can just let the creativity FLY and not have to break the bank to do that! Can I get an AMEN for that one! 

So lets talk about their Clear Wax. I LOVE to use it in many ways from straight out of the jar, to melted in its liquid state, from the as is color to tinting, so many possibilities! 


As I thought about what to get the moms in my life for mothers day, well, lets just say it is tricky! They both have about everything, so what do you get for that woman who has everything? Well a custom sign of course! 

As I started to put together all the different components the background just looked, well too plain for this particular project. 


I wanted to do some sort of pattern on the back but I wanted it to be very subtle. I could use chalk paint but didn't want a full coverage. I could distress it, but it wasn't quit the look I wanted either.  If I watered it down so it was more transparent, it would bleed under my stencil... what to do.....  TINTED WAX! (go HERE to see our tinted wax tutorial)  I thought why not, lets see what happens! As I always tell customers, the worst thing that could happen is you have to re-paint so I had nothing to loose! 

Time to gather the supplies :

*BB Frosch clear wax
*chalk paint (mixed with BB Frosch Chalk Paint Powder of course!) 
*container for mixing wax
*Small BB Frosch wax brush
*Stencil 
*BB Frosch lint free wax cloth
*wax wand


You will want to tape your stencil down with painters tape to keep it in place. You will apply just a SMALL amount of wax on your brush with a wax wand.


Now you will stipple the wax onto your piece. you don't want to push the wax under your stencil. It will look like this :



Work in sections. If you want a smoother look, LIGHTLY brush over your wax to smooth it out, being careful NOT to again, brush your wax under your stencil. The nice thing about wax vs chalk paint is that the wax stays where you put it and doesn't "run" so you don't have to be to terribly careful.

Once you are done remove your stencil and lightly buff, then sit back and admire your awesomeness! There were some areas that had more wax then other places and it appeared "darker" then I would have liked. To solve that problem OR if you want a little "distressed" look,  simple take a little bit of clear wax on your wax cloth and lightly rub those areas. Pretty cool huh! 


Subtly and soft pattern! I LOVE how this turned out and can't wait to do it again! I think I have the perfect piece of furniture that might get a loving dose of this technique ;) 




What do you think? Will you be trying this on your next project? Tag us if you do because we love to celebrate your awesomeness! 

HAPPY PAINTING! 

*to purchase any of the products used or to attend a workshop contact us on FBIG, or email us!

-Michelle






Monday, April 25, 2016

How to tint BB Frosch Premium Clear Wax

Am I the only one who waxes a piece and thinks..... hmmmmm..... I wish I had a top notch white wax to get that beachy driftwood look or a light brown wax instead of a dark brown wax, etc....???
 
SURE you could do a lime/color wash or a faux glaze to get a similar look. I mean, if you have been to one of my BB Frosch Chalk Paint Workshops, you have heard me say a million times that a faux glaze is my absolute FAVORITE technique/look ever! I mean I REEEALY love it!
BUT sometimes it just doesn't achieve that look that you are going after, at least not the way a wax would.
 
The solution!?!? TINTED WAX! What is tinted wax, you ask? Well I am about to tell you!
Did you know that you can take your BB Frosch Premium Finishing Clear Wax and mix in some BB Frosch Chalk Paint and WALAAAAAA, TINTED WAX!
 
Shall we get started?
 


 
STEP 1 : Gather your supplies. You will need:
 
*high quality clear wax
 
*chalk paint in the color you want your tinted wax to be
(mix BB  Frosch chalk paint powder with flat water based paint in your choice of color to get your highend chalk paint)
 
*lint free wax cloths
 
*wax wand
 
*wax brush
 
*something to mix your wax in - a small container or plastic plate
 
 
STEP 2 :
Scoop out a small amount of wax onto either your plate or container. For the purposes of this tutorial, I only did a vey small amount of wax. If you were doing a piece of furniture then I would do more wax. No remember, it is better to mix up more then have a bunch of left overs. We are all about only mixing up what you need.
 
 
 
STEP 3 :
Add your mixed chalk paint. You don't need a whole lot of paint to tint your wax. I would say about a 1:5 to 1:4 ratio of paint to wax, But use your best judgement, again you can always add more paint if needed, its easier to add more then take away.
 
 
 
STEP 4 :
 
MIX! Super easy right!?
 
 
 
STEP 5 :
 
Well this really isn't much of a step as much as it is to show you that our wax  and chalk paint is now all mixed thoroughly together. Now you are ready to apply your wax!
 
Brush on your wax using your BB Frosch wax brush. Make sure to wipe off the excess wax with your lint free wax clothes. BB Frosch Premium Finishing Wax dries like, REALLY FAST! So make sure to work in small sections and wipe off the excess right after you apply. After it is all dry buff with your lint free wax cloth to your desired sheen.
 
 
Here are some of the wax colors I have tried :
 
1-fuschia with black wax



2- navy with grey wax
 
 
3-turquiose with tan wax
 
4- tan with light green wax
 
 
 
Like with other BB Frosch products, the possibilities are ENDLESS! What color of wax do YOU want to try!?
 
 
 
 
To purchase any of the BB Frosch products I used or to sign up for a workshop, msg me on FB
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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Faux Glaze Frame

My dear sweet loving husband has asked me for MONTHS (ok it has realistically been like a yr...) to put a specific verse of scripture in my kids bathroom, right above the toilet. He grew up with this same verse in his bathroom and knew it would be beneficial for our children. Of course I couldn't just print it out and stick it on the wall. It HAD to be done in a cute, home decorish, Delila Mae Designs kinda way......which means it may never get done because I have SO. MANY. OTHER. projects that needed my attention.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (to know what my beliefs are or what Mormons are all about click here) we had our semi-annual General Conference this past weekend. One of the talks spoke to my heart (as it did to many other members of our church!) The speaker talked about "PONDERIZING" which is 80% pondering and 20% memorizations of scriptures. The idea is to fill our hearts and minds with good uplifting things. What great council for all of us! Fill ourselves with GOODNESS!

Well that was the motivation I needed to FINALLY complete this ever so simple, easy, quick project! I shopped in my LARGE supply of frames and found the PERFECT size! It was an ugly, brown, PLASTIC frame but it also had beautiful details.

 

Because BB Frosch Chalk Paint Powder will adhere to about any surface AND I can pick ANY color I want, it was the perfect solution for this project! I picked one of my FAVORITE milk paint colors that I had color matched at Home Depot because I knew it would go well in my bathroom. Thanks to  my trusty BB Frosch squeeze bottle it was already mixed up with my BB Frosch Chalk Paint Powder and ready to go!


Because chalk paint covers SO WELL I did one coat and then touched up just a few spots. I wasn't too worried about having COMPLETE coverage because I knew I was going to distress just a little.
 
 
It distressed so easily, another great perk with using chalk paint! Now I am ready to do my FAUX GLAZE! I have come to realize that glazing with chalk paint is a little tricky! Because chalk paint is more porous then latex, the glaze REALLY soaks in making it harder to manipulate. Typically I need to do at least 2 coats of poly before I can glaze, yep it is a process! And honestly sometimes I just don't want the look that using a dark wax will give me, and I will also admit, I am not the best at dark wax. My solution to these problems..... FAUX GLAZE! Basically we are taking the technique of a faux stain/color wash/lime wash and using it in a glazing fashion.
 
Here are the 6 EASY steps to a Faux Glaze :
 
Step 1 - Mix your choice of brown (or any color for that mater!) with your BB Frosh Chalk Paint Powder. I am using Dark Truffle by Behr
 
 
Step 2 - Lightly wet your brush. I every so slightly dip my brush in water then press it on my huck cloth.
 

Step 3 - Lightly dip your wet brush in your chalk paint. As you can see, I don't have a ton of paint on my brush. I just have a little because as you know, a little goes a long way!
 
 
Step 4 - Brush your piece! I mushed and swirled my brush in all the details to make sure I get in all those little nooks and crannies. This isn't a "make it pretty and perfect" process, its a "smoosh and slap the paint on"  kind of process.
 

 
 
Step 5 - Take your huck cloth or any LINT free cloth, and start wiping off the excess! Now here is where is gets FUN! There is no right or wrong amount to wipe off.... I REPEAT! There is NO right or wrong way to do this! Just wipe off as little or as much as you want until you get a look that you love!
 
 
Step 6 - Finish with whatever you like to finish your projects with! I used BB Frosch Premium Finishing Clear Wax on this piece. And BAM! That is all there is to it!! What are YOU going to FAUX GLAZE?
 


I backed this frame with some old barn wood from the family farm. I love having these little pieces of family history in my home. It makes these little projects that much more special!



I love how the Faux Glaze makes those gorgeous details just POP!
 

 
 
 
Want to try BB Frosch for yourself? You can purchase it here.
 
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