The Post You've All Been Waiting For!

I finally got my act together and made my bed juuuuuuuust enough to make it presentable to take pictures. You wanna know a secret though? Come in reeeeeeal close: There aren't sheets on the bed! Thus, our real pillows aren't on the bed (the pillow protecters are also in the laundry and our pillows are from a time before protecters). We also have 2 Euro shams, but no Euro-sized pillows. I have a birthday in March...just sayin'.

Anyway, enough talk. I've promised pictures and here they are, complete with step by step instructions in case you ever have 3 days to kill and some sanity to lose.

Step 1: Apply base coat. We decided on Valspar's Orient Blue and the base coat is in a flat finish.

Step 2: After base coat dries, mark stripe length. Our stripes are roughly 14 inches. Towards the end, I was going to have about 3 inches left over, so I just spread those out over the last 4 or 5 stripes. Now, the game is figure out which stripes are wider!

Step 3: Tape. I used an old-fashioned level (since the laser level tore up my wall in order for me to have both hands) to draw a line down the wall, but drawing marks at intervals and taping from mark to mark would work too. By the way, you have to alternate which side you put the tape on, otherwise you'll end up with pencil marks in the middle of each stripe! Left, right became my mantra.

Step 4: Go for coffee and lunch with the girls. But I didn't want the paint to dry (since I had a little time in the morning to work), so I wrapped my paint pan with Saran wrap and covered it all with a plastic tarp. This is a CRUCIAL step in the stripes as one could completely lose all sanity.

Step 5: Paint the "wider-LOOKING" stripes in eggshell finish (and mark touch up spots for the flat finish...you could save yourself that step and paint a second coat, but I was on a time crunch).

Step 6: Begin taking down tape. And curse Duck Tape brand painter's tape. The stuff adheres well...a little TOO well. My thumb is still hurting from scraping it with my fingernail. However, Shurline (at Lowe's) comes off magically easily, yet still provides a crisp line. And no, I am not being paid to say that.

Stripes are taking shape!

Step 7: After touching up necessary spots, move furniture back into place, wait about a week, and take lots of pictures!

Obviously the stripe is very subtle in these pictures, but it's a little more pronounced in person. It still totally depends on the light as to which is darker and how well you see it. This is one project that turned out EXACTLY like I had envisioned! That NEVER happens!

BONUS PICTURES!!!! No, no massive paint projects, but the guest room is beginning to look more like a second bedroom and less like a nursing home.

The picture was originally in the master, but the blue didn't quite work and the one originally in here worked better. So we pulled a switcheroo and I love it! The duvet cover and shams were a Christmas present (Thanks Mom and Dad!), but we now need a duvet and some pillows for the shams. A white bedskirt wouldn't hurt either. Again, my birthday is in March. Just kidding. Unless you really want to get us that stuff ;)

Another Christmas present: a quilt stand (Thanks Mel!). Now my grandmother's quilt can be properly displayed, without being USED.