Pepper Design Blog

Hallway Makeover: Painter’s Tape Stenciling Project + Pinterest Challenge

I’m excited to share with you my Pinterest Challenge project! As mentioned last week, this quarterly challenge is all about tackling a project that’s been inspired by a pinned image or idea.

On Thursday I announced my hallway makeover plan and how I wanted to create a neat accent wall on the large and blank surface that greets us when we head back to the bedrooms.

I actually had a hard time nailing down just one project so I’ve got two more to share (this cool painter’s tape gold chevron cloth napkin design from yesterday and the other a surprise for later this week ).

Of the three projects, the biggest to tackle was by far the hallway.

Since taking the above photo, we’ve actually patched and painted that wall of the kitchen (on the outside of the hallway) and have added molding where you can clearly tell it’s missing. It’s a nice update, too.

The wall originally hosted two closet doors and the entire space started as a tan color, but when we built that new middle bathroom the wall came down to help with electrical and plumbing, and went back up as a solid white blank canvas.

But today? She’s not empty anymore.

I created the block print design out of painter’s tape, scissors and two contrasting colors of paint. I attempted to stick with shapes of tape that were pretty easy to assemble (in front of the TV, while on the computer, etc) so that I could whip out a whole bunch of the same shape at the same time.

My inspiration for the project developed out of this Pinterest board:

I had started with the idea that I’d wallpaper that upper section above the chair rail and then I moved on to stenciling. But after hunting for just the right pattern for a bit I decided to try something creative by making my own. Check out this project for a different sort of hand painted (and very awesome) set of walls, too.

When it came to prepping the actual wall and hallway for this project, we first patched, plastered and painted with a primer. Three of the hallway walls were painted “Feeling Blue” from the Valspar paint deck but that last accent wall was left white.

I’m really happy with the blue that we ended up using in the space. I was searching for that perfect gray/blue and this one is close to fitting the bill. It looks very grayish at certain times of the day but over all feels fresh and blue.

After painting the hallway, we measured out the bottom chalkboard portion of the wall and gave that several good coats of chalkboard paint (that little portion used up an entire quart!) until the section was a rich black.

Kevin lined the top and bottom of the black with baseboard and a chair rail painted the same white as the ceiling and trim (that we’re slowly cleaning up).

Then came the fun part!

I slowly began filling in the space with my painter’s tape shapes until the wall was completely covered. Instead of sticking to a strict pattern or design, I sort of just filled in the gaps to create a fun block print that wasn’t too overly detailed.

The design consisted of little bunches of leaves in twos or threes, a five sided round flower, a hycinth-esq flower on a curvy stem (the hardest shape to create) and then filler shapes in various sizes as needed.

When all of my taped shapes were up, I painted over the shapes with the same Feeling Blue as the rest of the hallway and let dry. The next day I began slowwwly peeling my paint off.

If I were to do this project again, I’d first paint over the wall in my same base coat of white to really help seal those edges, just like I did when painting stripes in the nursery, then I’d top that with my blue.

The first snafu that I actually ran into is that I had left the tape up for too long! And had probably taped too closely after the primer had been applied (maybe a day) because as I pulled tape I also began to pull up chunks of the paint from underneath.

Oh so devastating! To fix, I used a sanding bar to break up the rough edges of the peeled paint and then repainted in white. Thankfully this wall has a slight Spanish texture (as do all walls in our bungalow) so this last-minute fix wasn’t too noticeable.

I also found myself retracing all of the shape edges with a small angled brush and more white paint to keep from the blurry bleed lines that appeared around the edges.

A late night photo! I ended up tackling the wall section by section, first pulling up tape and then touching up with white paint before moving on to the next section.

I used a dropcloth for the big paint jobs but for my minor touch ups just relied on a straight edge raiser to pull dried paint right up off of the hardwood floors. A nifty trick!

My set backs meant that this was not an overnight project by any means, but I really love the results so I’m definitely happy I put in the time and late night motivational pep talks to get ‘er done.

I love the idea of using the space as a drop zone for bags and coats, and a comfy place to slip shoes on and off. We don’t have an entry or mudroom and an easy spot to set your purse/diaper bag on the way in is a must. This particular bench might be too big for the area but we’ll see how it goes.

I also want to make sure Liv has plenty of access to her new huge drawing board! And while she can’t scribble now (yes, I did those stick figure drawings in the ‘after’ shot *sigh/wink*) I know she’ll dig it in a few months.

I’m thinking maybe a picture wall above the chair rail? That plus the rest of the doors and trim are screaming for a fresh coat of white! I had hoped to finish the entire hallway but that just wasn’t in the cards.

What do you think? I hope you love it as much as I do! Did you participate in the challenge? Would love to know what you worked on.

PS You can check out my DIY capiz pendant from the Fall Pinterest Challange right here!

DIY Chevron Painter’s Tape Cloth Napkins

Hi all! Quick update – be sure you use a fabric paint for this project! My spray paint idea lasted just a few washes . Though I love how EASY it was! Another option might be line drying, but who has time for that?

Here’s another little project that I finished up this week:

I was inspired to DIY my own cloth napkins after checking out these awesome gold chevron shelf liners (which I’m now dying to try out) that I came across on Pinterest. Aren’t they perty?

I thought something for the dining room table would be equally cool and considered placemats before finally settling on cloth napkins.

It’s all in an effort to finally start creating out of those great big pin boards I have over on Pinterest! And to participate in this challenge.

When it came to narrowing down which project to tackle this week I had a hard time choosing just one, so I actually attempted three that I plan on sharing with ya’ll – this being the first!

And I’m really thrilled with the results so far.

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Chevron Painter’s Tape Cloth Napkins
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Materials: Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint (or fabric paint), cloth napkins (though you could use placemats or the like), painter’s tape, scissors

1. I began this project by marking off my chevron design with painter’s tape. I ended up eye balling the design making is a super simple process, though you could measure for more accuracy with a very light pencil mark to keep you on track (I would be nervous about pencil lines showing through the paint, so I’d recommend just little dots here and there if you opt for this route).

My drop cloth was also white so I apologize for the white-on-white effect, but you can see the thin edge of the napkin if you look really close. It was helpful to let the strips of the tape from the chevron design overlap onto the drop cloth to keep my napkin nice and taut for painting, too.

Here’s a close up of the painter’s tape application, you want to essentially be sure that the straight edge of the tape is in contact with the fabric with no ripped or squiggly lines.

Scissors were useful for cleaning up some of those edges where two strips of painter’s tape connected.

Another tip worth noting is that I found it really helpful to go over each line where the tape met the fabric to press down and really create a sealed off stick. You won’t want any gold bleeding through!

2. Next up was applying a thin coat of gold spray paint over the entire design (keeping the can about a foot above the napkin is the best way to create an even application without any drips – be sure that you’re spraying in wide, even motions too).

At this point in the process I was just really digging how the painter’s tape looked when spray painted – so shiny and bright! But alas a cloth napkin covered in shimmery tape would not be a useful napkin at all…

3. I let the paint dry for 20-30 minutes and then slowly began pulling up tape. It’s amazing how fast spray paint dries – no need to wait overnight which is always helpful in that instant gratification moment.

The Rust-Oleum website suggests not using a clear top coat on its metallic line so as not to dull the finish, but if you were using another paint color you could apply a final coat before pealing the tape.

I also attempted to research the ‘food safety’ of the Rust-Oleum metallic line of paint but without much luck – it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t use this cloth napkin as a lining in a bread basket and I’d definitely wipe my mouth with the other side . Same goes for babies, thankfully Liv’s not an everything-must-go-in-mouth kind of baby, but I won’t be giving her the opportunity to chew on these spray painted napkins either!

Here’s a little example of what happens if the edges of the strips of tape don’t meet just right at each intersection.

Other than a few hardly noticeable boo boos, we’re all done! So pretty.

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I’m really digging the results! I haven’t tried washing yet so TBD if there’s any bleeding involved.

This was a very fast, easy project with just three basic steps, it could easily be replicated for a BIG party without a problem (so, so fast!) and I think that a set of these would look just stunning at a shower or even small wedding. Would also make a neat gift for Mother’s Day or as a housewarming present! Sort of like when I stenciled my winter cloth napkins.

One Pinterest project down and two more to share with you this week!

PS My hallway wall is Finished! and I’m so so happy with how it all turned out – I’ll be sharing all of the details manana.

Living Room Update: Butterfly Shadow Box Art

Hope you had a great Valentine’s Day!

I have a funny story… Kevin took me to a really lovely restaurant last night in La Jolla (just north of San Diego) called Whisk n Ladle. It’s a place that I’ve wanted to check out for some time and it was delicious! I’m not sure you can call us ‘foodies’ but we’re big on locavore-style restaurants full of unique flavor. If a menu mentions anything with the words ‘fig compote’, ‘breaded goat cheese’ or ‘lavender infused anything’ I start to salivate immediately. It’s the unique pairings that you can’t always accomplish in your own kitchen that I like most about eating out.

Well, this menu was everything and more and I was so excited to try it all. We narrowed our choices down to two specialty cocktails to start, braised pork shoulder with dates and roasted brussel sprouts as well as seared local halibut for our main courses — and to start us off delicious pan fried sweetbreads with onion confit in an au jus sauce. Are you salivating yet? But this is where things got a little crazy. What do you think of when you hear ‘sweetbreads’? (this is officially why we’re not foodies), I was picturing a most delectable french-toast style of handmade bread with an onion confit for dipping. Nope! Sweetbreads are a friendly word for the throat, glands, stomach and intestines of a lamb or calf. We were half way through the appetizer when I decided to Google it because it just didn’t taste like I was expecting… ha! Kevin happily finished off the rest. So maybe he’s the foodie in the family.

Okay, back to a fun little laser cut butterfly art project that brought a little more Spring to our living room.

There’s just something about these natural beauties that is so lovely to look at! And such an easy way to add color and bring nature into a space.

More lovely inspiration:

Lots of folks are not fans of taxidermy butterflies. It doesn’t bother me so much if I’m purchasing from a humane seller who harvests butterflies after they have naturally passed (since many live only 3-4 weeks) but if you’re looking for an alternative (or you don’t want to spend $50-100 for a shadow box) plastic laser cut butterflies are the way to go.

Krista of Kiki’s List (who I learned about from this favorite site) turned me on to Etsy seller Clear Cut Crafts that creates just that – beautiful, natural looking thin plastic butterflies that can be used for cake decor, weddings, you name it.

I placed an order for 2 dozen Monarch colored butterflies (love that orange! and thought they were the most realistic – plus I grew up near Monarch groves which are just beautiful when full of butterflies). To hang them, I found a cheap Ikea frame in silver that I altered just a bit to function as a shadow box.

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Butterfly Art (and converting a Ribba frame to a shadow box)
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Materials: laser cut butterflies (or the like), Ikea Ribba frame, white construction paper, scissors, pliers, 1″ tack nails, hammer, glue

Using the back of the frame as a guide, I cut out a piece of white construction paper to match. My butterflies came pre-cut (huge time saver! hence the laser cut) and so I gently folded the wings and laid them out on my paper to get an idea of how I wanted the finished display to look.

Once I had settled on a layout I used a white glue (so that I could adjust placing as I went) to hold them in place.

I let this dry over night and began working on the frame. Apparently there is a shadow box frame that Ikea makes – and I thought that I had picked up that version when I found my $4.99 find. But later after arriving back home I realized that while it’s deep for a frame (as most Ikea frames are) the photograph mounting was smooshed right up against the glass.

To create a shadow box out of the Ribba frame, I popped out the glass and mat and pulled out each mounting clasp (is there a more accurate term for those little metal clips?) with pliers.

Then I added small tack nails between the edge of the glass and the frame. Just a gentle bump with the hammer and a little glue held these guys in place. I also let the glue dry overnight.

Now the back of the frame would sit atop the nails and the nails would bridge the distance between the glass and artwork — making the frame a shadow box (and perhaps the cheapest I’ve ever bought).

Since I pulled out the little clasps that keep the back in place (because they were in the wrong location for a shadow box) I simply glued my back to the frame edge. Since it’s a tacky white glue that I used it will hold my artwork in place for as long as I’d like but will allow me to easily pull the back off (maybe with the help of a utility knife) later down the line to update the contents. A glue gun here would be equally useful but might not allow the versatility to easily replace the artwork inside. Let dry overnight if using white glue.

Finally, flip over and hang!

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The finished frame fits in well with my Spring update for the living room with the bright colors playing off of the new throw pillows.

And another shot of the corner of the room with the new butterfly artwork:

Do you have any funny stories to share from Valentine’s Day? Or any new DIY artwork projects? What are your thoughts on butterflies – fake or taxidermied?

More living room posts right here.