Artwork

If you remember, many of the frames in the frame wall I created were empty. I wanted to get some artwork for a few of the larger frames to balance out the number of pictures in the smaller frames. I did a little shopping on etsy over the weekend and after getting Justin’s approval we decided on these two prints:

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The heart in the SC print will be over Columbia instead of in the upstate. We both loved the print with the two birds, but the state print was a small compromise. I LOVE maps. Especially old world maps. I’ve always loved to look at them and daydream about the places I had visited and want to visit. I really wanted some sort of vintage map print, but Justin doesn’t share my same obsession with maps, and I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for anyway. The state still gave me a map but in a more subdued way. The background of the map will be a lighter blue, and I can’t wait to see how the wall looks with most of the larger frames full.

Spray Paint Progress

I’ve slowly been working my way through spray painting the frames for the frame wall, and have 15 of the 21 frames done and hanging on the wall. It took me some time to get the hang of the spray paint. The first can I had was really hard to spray, so after that one was empty I picked up a few cans of Valspar flat white spray paint which made my job a lot easier. These didn’t require nearly as much force to get the paint out. I gave each frame two thin coats, spraying 6-8 inches away from the frame. Then, I’d go back and spray the outside of the frame in the same way.

Of course I had a few frames that I messed up. Having the can too close to the frame caused this

It’s a little hard to see, but there was some major paint build up around that corner. I also had a problem with some of the paint ‘cracking’ on the frames.

I used some 320 grit sand paper to sand down any frames like that before I applied another coat of paint. Each frame took less than 5 minutes to sand down and the results made the frames look pretty flawless. Here are the 15 frames on the wall. I need to do a coat of paint over the frames that were already white. Since not all white paint is the same I wanted to make sure all of the frames were fairly uniform.

Spray Paint

I’ll admit I don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to spray paint. I think a few years ago we used some to make our Halloween costumes and I haven’t touched the stuff since. Paint from a can that needs a brush? I’m there. The spray intimidates me though, and it makes me even more nervous since the frame wall is all my project. While Justin works on the trim and molding in the kitchen/dining room I have taken on this project as my own. If you remember my frame wall I said that I wanted all the frames to be white and was planning on spray painting them so that they would all match. Well this weekend I finally got started on this.

First, I made a diagram of where all the pictures were placed on the wall so that I could easily re-hang them. I also added 4 more frames to the right side of the wall before I started this, but then I forgot to take a picture of them, whoops. Under the picture I wrote a short description of the frame and what if anything was currently in it. Ignore the neon orange paper, it was all I could find. Why we have neon paper, I have no idea.

I disassembled all the frames and then wrote the number of the frame on the back of each frame to make my life even easier once they are painted.

I set up my spray paint area in the yard and propped up the frames on a small piece of wood so that I could easily move them without having to touch any of the painted sides. I did one coat on 13 frames before I ran out of paint, and I can see this is going to take much longer than I thought. After the first can was gone the frames looked like this:

And at that point I decided I’d rather bake strawberry muffins with the berries I had picked earlier that day at a local strawberry farm. So I did, and I’ll return to this this weekend if there’s time. The lack of progress with one coat was not making thrilled about the number of coats this may take. By the way, the only reason the frame on the left looks so good is because it was already white.

Dining Room Paint

Last week we finished painting the kitchen and dining room and now just need to put up the baseboards and molding. The color went on really well over the red and there are not any spots that we had to go over more than the two coats we applied to the walls.

I picked up this clock from World Market to go in the room as well.

(image from worldmarket.com)

I have a small(ok large) obsession with maps and as soon as I saw this clock I had to have it. I’m pretty excited to see how this room will come together, and to buy some curtains as well as make some pillows once the sectional is delivered.

Frame Wall

I’ve been wanting to hang some frames in the hallway, but I had been holding off hoping Justin would let me paint the hallway first. Last week I asked what he thought about me painting the hallway because I hadn’t done a house project in a while and it had been months since I painted something. That question was met with a quick no along with all the reasons why I need to wait, including that the ceiling in the hallway needs to be fixed both because someone stepped through it a few years ago and we need to remove the attic fan and patch that space. He suggested I hang the frames now and worry about painting later. I knew I wanted to hang a wall of mismatched frames by our front door, so I started with this space.

That is the opening from our living room to the hallway. To the left is the front door, and to the right is the hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom, as well as an opening into the new dining room. The last time we hung frames we used a kit from Michaels and started by putting the paper outlines on the floor to see how we wanted to arrange things. I started with the same idea, except this time I folded a blanket into the dimensions I needed, and got to work arranging the frames. I had the idea of using all white frames, but since I couldn’t find frames in white in all sizes I wanted I also picked up a can of white spray paint. I purchased all these frames last week at Michaels. They were all 40% off and I had a coupon for an additional 25% off so the total cost was $70 for the frames and the can of paint.

The next step was going to be to paint the frames, but with  20 mph winds over the weekend that didn’t happen. Hopefully it will be calmer this week or weekend so that I can get that done.

In order to see what the frames would look like on the wall, I used a trick I saw on Young House Love . I traced each frame on craft paper and taped the paper to the wall to get a better idea of how the frames would look, and then I stepped back to the other end of the living room to see how most people would view them. After moving them to the left a few inches and swapping a few frames, I was happy with the layout.

Since I had marked on each sheet where the nail needed to go, all I had to do was hammer through the paper and then remove the paper. Simple. There were two frames that I wasn’t happy with and had to move, meaning there are two extra holes in the wall. But they are covered by frames so I think it’s fine for now at least.

 

 

Looking at it more, I think two of the frames need to be moved slightly, but otherwise I just need to find some art and pictures to fill up the frames. I love the way it transformed the feel of that empty space in the hallway, all for less than $100 and a few hours of work!