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Hand Painted Wallpaper

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We have been having the most wonderful weather this past couple of weeks and it has me wondering if this is a trick or if this might be the beginning of an early summer.  One never knows in the Pacific N.W. but I’d be happy to leave the drizzle behind for a few months!
Today I’m sharing my latest completed project: Painted Wallpaper
The main floor of my home is open concept but laid out a little oddly with jogs in the walls.  I guess this was done to define the different areas of the room.  I think it is annoying when trying to place furniture!  Anyway, the area I painted is a little sitting area that sits directly behind the kitchen island. To the left of this the wall jogs and becomes the living room. To the right the wall jogs into the dining room.  When we moved into our house the walls were white and, since I wanted to warm things up to offset the many cloudy days we have here, I painted the walls with Valspar’s Weathered Sandstone. When we recently redid the kitchen (future post) I painted the kitchen and dining room in Valspar’s Field of Pines.  This color is not one I would’ve ended up with if one of my friends hadn’t asked me why I didn’t choose a color for my walls that I also like to wear.  So I gave it a try and I absolutely love it!
The only thing that kept nagging at me, with it being so open, was the abrupt change of color from one room to another.  I kept thinking about what I could do to make it feel right until one day, when I was watching The Nate Berkus Show, someone asked Nate about transitioning colors from room to room. His answer was to paint stripes in the two colors to tie the areas together.  When I thought about this a bit more I remembered a painted wallpaper tutorial that I saw at Jones Design Company and decided that it would be perfect with my style. 
So here is my sitting area before:
And this is my sitting area after!  Awhile back I did a blog post about garden houses. This wall treatment makes me think of lattice work . . . which reminds of a garden room . . . which makes me feel happy.  My mother’s antique chairs provide a perfect place to chat over a cup of tea!
I’ve also been talking about adding crown molding to our main living area for a long time and Mr. OTN surprised me by saying,”Let’s do it!”  This was something we decided to have help with since it was in our real house (not the guest cottage) and more important to have done really well!  To save on cost I painted it,
our great friend Rob cut and installed it (anyone need a good Contractor?),
and Mr. OTN helped a little by holding up some wood for a picture!
That was really all he HAD to do as he scored major points with me by giving up one of the projects he has been wanting to do for something that I wanted!
So back to my painted wallpaper: I printed off the Jones Design Company template and transferred it onto cardboard. Then I traced the pattern onto the wall in pencil using a level to keep things from going wonky! The template can be downloaded HERE.
 Since I wanted my pattern to be centered in the corner of the two walls, I made an extra template and cut it in half.
I also cut a template to go across the top of the walls.
I didn’t do a perfect tracing job but I kept a soft eraser on hand for removing smudges and any big errors!  The imperfections are hardly noticeable at all once you apply the paint.
See what I mean? Looks pretty good doesn’t it? I used a 1/4″ paintbrush and painted on the inside of all the lines that I drew.  I found that I needed to clean the paintbrush often so it didn’t build up paint and make my line too wide.
To get the double line look I traced the template, then moved it down and about 1/2″ away from the first traced outline, and traced it again. Jones Design Company has excellent and very detailed instructions on how to do this HERE.
Since I finished my walls I’ve had several people point out to me that they match my candles. The candles came first!  It is a pretty popular print right now.
It also matches the pattern in my living room rug.  This is the same rug that my parents had in the house I grew up in.  I guess it has been a popular pattern for ages!
It is pretty hard to see with the window glare (does anyone know how to fix that in photos?) but I also painted the inside of the window jams the blue green color to tie things together and frame the view of the lake.
The picture below shows where the two wall colors come together.
 I’m happy with the transition of colors and I’m really happy with the beautiful crown molding. Thank you Mr. OTN.  
We also had our doors wrapped and wider baseboard molding installed so I still have the painting of doors and windowsills ahead of me.
If you are considering a wall treatment, this application is a lot less expensive than wallpaper and it is a lot of fun to be able to say that it is hand painted!  It was very time consuming but I think it was worth it.
 What do you think? 
Have you ever used a template to paint walls or furniture? I’ve used stencils before but they tended to bleed through. Hand painting with a template makes a really nice sharp line.
 The picture below is looking directly out from my kitchen.
 So now that I’ve made my little sitting area into a mini “garden room” I had to invite a couple of my special friends over for a spot of tea 🙂
 Isn’t this tea set beautiful?  Sigh . . .It doesn’t belong to me.
A bone china teapot is definitely on my thrift store radar though!
 And here are my two beautiful friends being good sports while I take pictures for this post! 
Yesterday began with a little marine air fog but turned into a beautiful sunny day as we shared some tea, got a little crafty, went out for lunch, a little shopping, shared a few tears (that is what good friends do) and a lot of laughter!
   Blessings,
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!! Sunday:
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Comments

  1. I am so impressed with the handpainted wallpaper. How clever you are. Your post on hubby’s new bedside table fixed a problem for me as we also have a high bed and I’ve been searching for appropriately sized furniture. Have a great day.

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  4. Wow this is gorgeous! I can’t believe you did it all with a little brush too… I love the look of vintage and hand painted wallpaper… you really out did yourself!

    ~Chris

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  6. PATTI! That’s fantastic! I’m so excited to see it finished in person, it looked so good when it was only half done! 🙂 Way to go!!!

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  7. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Absolutely gorgeous! I can not believe you hand painted that! That must have taken forever! I don’t think I have the patience to do that! I am dying to see your house in person and your cottage! *Hint *hint. 🙂

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  8. This looks absolutely terrific. I did see that you painted the inside of the the window sills. That looks really good. I am so impressed with how everything is lining up – at the ceiling and in the corners. It looks just terrific!!

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  10. Hi
    I am so happy to have found your blog. It is really informative and my own Blog is about re-purposing many things and finding treasures all around. I think your dining room turned out just beautiful and I am so impressed that you made your own stencil. I did a stencil in my foyer and love how it turned out, I cheated and bought my stencil online at Stencil Eaze. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to visiting your lovely blog again.

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  12. Wow! What a time-consuming project, but so worth it! It’s beautiful. You are very talented to hand-paint the entire space AND stay in the lines! 😉 What a lovely room you have created.
    His blessings!
    Kim

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  15. We love your blog!! Thank you for linking to thet2women.com this week!! It was hard for us to choose which project of yours we wanted to feature, but decided on this because it’s so unusual and i think there’s a lot of us who would like to try it!! This post will be featured at One Sharendipity Place this Saturday!!

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  17. Simply fabulous! I love the pattern and the way this area transitions into the next. beautifully styled. thanks for sharing your experience. I may have to use this – I am looking for a way to transition from one hardwood area to another.

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  19. Stopping by from PJH Designs. This turned out beautifully! It really looks amazing and the transition between the two walls blends so well now. I so want to try this in my dining area but I have painting straight lines without tape issues so I’ll have to practice first. I must pin this and hopefully get the courage to try it one day!
    P.S. -I’m in the PNW too, and boy was that sunshine nice last week but today, sheesh, that wind/thunder/lighting was crazy stuff, wasn’t it. 🙂

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  29. This is fantastic! I know it had to be really hard work, but it was truly worth it!The two rooms work perfectly. The pattern adds height and makes the room warm and elegant. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  30. Your room looks absolutely gorgeous. You did a fantastic job. I can’t imagine how much work it must have been, but the result is incredible.

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  32. Wow, fantastic job. I wish I had the patience and skill for that. Might have to hire that out for when we redo some rooms in our house. Love the colors.

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  33. Wow–love that! I’ve been wavering between wallpaper and something more like this for a wall in my den…I think you might be winning me away from wallpaper–this looks great and is SO much cheaper!

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  34. Love this pattern and the colors you used! I used the same pattern to create a privacy glass door with contact paper =) It must have taken a lot of time, too!

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  37. Patti, this is amazing! I know the time it took. I thought you stenciled it, which would take time, but hand painting, WOW! Love how it ties the two together. Friends, tea, and laughter. Doesn’t get much better than that. I almost forgot, love the crown molding. And I have to tell you, your hubby looks just like a guy I went to school with. Could be his twin. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  38. It is amazing! I love how it came out, but I doubt I have the patience you did to pull it off so beautifully. The other thing I love is the green secretary desk. So gorgeous! What a pretty view and beautiful home you have~coming from Nitas.

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  39. Holy Flip! I think I’m on a Patti kick! This is amazing. You are one of the features today at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Hope to see your prettiness again at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  45. I don’t think I would have have the patience or stamina for stenciling and hand painting, but it looks beautiful Patti! You did a wonderful job.
    catching you!
    gail

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  56. Wow! Gorgeous! Hopping over from Blooming Homestead.
    I would love for you to share and link up at my weekly TGIF Link Party if you haven’t already this week. The party is open every Thursday night and closes Wednesday’s at midnight.
    http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/. AND starting Wednesday June 4th I will be hosting a Wordless Wednesday link party. Hope you will join us! Have a wonderful week!
    Hugs, Cathy

    Reply

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