Earning Our Stripes

"There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to brighten up a room."

That's what the liars hosts of HGTV keep telling their faithful followers as a surefire, cheap way to turn a room into a beautiful living space.

With our growing collection of art, we decided that the office would be the best place to showcase our eclectic array of screen prints, concert posters and framed infographics.

After taking down the hat lamps and covering our office with a fresh coat of white paint, we realized that the room felt like a doctors office. Sterile. Uninviting. Panic inducing.

Seriously, who would want to work or do ANYTHING in here?

Rather than repaint the entire room (something I was absolutely against- I don't want to look at another paintbrush or roller for at least six months), Josh had this horrible cool idea to paint some horizontal stripes to give the walls some visual interest.

A warning to anyone that believes this is a good idea: you WILL hate yourself halfway through the project.

At first, we simply measured from the floor and ceiling and marked where the stripes would go. But as we started taping the lines, we were reminded of the joys of owning a house that is over 70 years old. Houses, like any structure, start to settle. And not evenly. Sure enough, the room isn't level.

Awesome.

So, what happens when you can't use a tape measure to create stripes? You are forced to use a laser level.

I wish you could have seen us that quiet Sunday afternoon. Me, holding the level as my arms are shaking trying to keep it straight and Josh, hurriedly trying to tape a straight line using this microscopic laser that kept disappearing if your finger got in the way.

Three freaking hours just to TAPE those stupid lines. There were tears. Angry words. Feelings of defeat as we made our way around the room with a step ladder and pure grit.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

And just when you've finished taping you realize you're only HALF DONE. You still have to paint it.

(face palm)

Fortunately, the painting was quite easy for me (Josh, on the other hand, was once again forced to edge because I am too sloppy with a brush and get it all over the trim).

Another helpful hint: if you don't want the paint to peel off, spend the extra money and purchase the professional grade masking tape at Sherwin Williams (not the blue tape by 3M). I promise, you will thank me later.

Ta Da!!!

We're actually REALLY happy with how it turned out! Hopefully by the end of April we can get all our artwork on the walls and put the finishing touches on the room.

PS- with spring finally making an appearance, we can start working on some new projects. We have some exciting plans in the works and hope you'll stay tuned for the results!