Topiary Tutorial

 

I have been wanting a double topiary for my new living room, but couldn't find one I loved within the price I wanted to pay.  So, I set off to purchase the stuff to create my own.

I started out with the Styrofoam topiary from Hobby Lobby and painted the branch part a dark brown.  Immediately after painting it, I wiped some off to give it a variation affect:

Next I got out my glue gun and clued this backed moss onto it:

And I glued, and I glued, and I glued...

I found this artificial willow leafed branch that I liked and wanted to incorporate it: 

 

I grabbed my needle nose pliers and started cutting and sticking in the pieces into the styrofoam:

And ended up with this:

I liked how it was a little different than others I had seen; however, quickly questioned my opinion after my husband said, "It looks like a mangled snowman from the spring."  (I think his opinion might be a little more positive if he had seen the price of the drool worthy ones I was admiring at Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs) :)  Still, he kind of burst my bubble!

For only $20 I think it might be staying for a while...

What do you guys think, mangled melting snowman or cute addition?

Board & Batten Accent Wall Tutorial

Our living room is rectangle shaped, and the main wall in the room houses two vertical windows.

Ever since we built this home 7 years ago, I have always had this one wall as an "accent" wall to break up the room a little.  Previously, it was just a different color than the rest of the room- 

However, I felt the need to leave the "colorful" paint tones behind and venture off into the soft, relaxing, refreshing, and soothing ones.

Since I am in l.o.v.e. with board and batten, I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to still keep my "accent" wall, soften the room, and continue the brown on the existing walls throughout. 

After seeing Watch Me Daddy's post on how they created theirs, I felt confident enough to give it a try.  I implemented most of their directions with a few exceptions.  Theirs turned out so beautiful, how could one not be inspired?! - 

I wanted the boards wide and chunky, but did not want to replace the traditional baseboards our builder put in throughout the room.  I also wanted the boards to flow and not look like I just threw random boards up on the wall to accomplish the look I was going for. 

I wanted my base to be tall and not have much board sticking out farther than the board below it.  So, I started by purchasing the same baseboards that I already had, and installed them upside down...right on top of the existing baseboards:

Next, I placed a 3/4" by 3 1/2" primed rounded edged piece on top of the upside down baseboard.  I also used 3 1/2" boards vertically and spaced them 13" apart.  Due to the windows there are a few spaces that are more than 13"; however, I tried to make them blend.  Hopefully, you cannot tell!

 I used 2 1/2" nails to nail all the boards to the walls.  Frustrating enough, the vertical boards hardly ever matched up with a stud.  I ended up using Liquid Nails to attach those boards with a few finishing nails to keep them lined up while the glue was drying.

After the vertical boards were added I placed a 3/4" x 2 1/2" primed rounded edge piece horizontally on top.  Next, I added a 5 1/4" base molding on top of that.  I also loved the look of the shelf; however, only wanted it for decoration purpose not functionality.  I laid the 3/4" x 2 1/2" rounded board flat on top of the baseboard and added a quarter round piece to fill some of the gap between the two boards:

And...after a TON of filling holes, gaps, sanding, and painting...it was complete!

Living Room Makeover Update

I bet you guys thought I jumped ship and quit blogging!  Nope!  Just spending some relaxing time here -

 and...busy making some major changes at home!

Do you ever make a change and look back and think, "what was I thinking?"...???

That is exactly what I said after I saw my before pictures below compared to changes I recently made.

Here is the BEFORE:

And here is the AFTER:

 Here's what I did:

- recovered the sofa (you can see that post here)

- new rug

- board and batten accent wall

-new roman shades

- repainted room

- new accent table

- new pillows

- new framed photos

- a few new room accessories

Stay tuned for more details on this room~!