…can even the most
type A of us make lemonade??
Many times when I discuss renovating a room or making a home
décor change with a friend who is not as addicted to DIY as I am, the conversation
sets course for the concept of visualizing a final product. “You are so lucky–I just can’t picture how it
will look” or something similar is a phrase I have often heard. Some people are a whiz with numbers (I won’t
be doing our family taxes any time soon), or have a photographic memory (did I
mention the “forgot password?” function on every website was probably created
because of me?), but my minor superpower is that I can take a look at a piece
of fabric and a couple of paint samples and picture in my head how it is all
going to come together. This skill isn’t
going to cure any diseases or create world peace, unless the United Nations needs
a makeover of course, but it does come in handy when decorating a room. Most of the time, that is.
The point of contention with such a characteristic is
sometimes when you have a picture in your mind of the fabulous magazine layout
your room is about to become, it is difficult to switch gears when your plan
goes woefully awry. Being highly
invested in the outcome in your head takes commitment, but what if you
committed to the wrong thing? Can you
divorce your original plan in favor of a new one without regrets or a need for
therapy?
With that in mind, when we last left our fireplace makeover
the brassy firebox and nasty brick had been replaced with a classic black box
and a crisp white painted brick front, which had gone a long way to turning
this eyesore into a positive focal point in our living room. Painting the brick felt huge, so I thought
the tough stuff on this project had been tackled, and the beautiful Carrera marble
subway tiles and metallic accent wallpaper would be the easy icing on this
design cake. I started with the
wallpaper, the one material of the two that I had previous experience with, and
was sure it would be a two-hour task that would result in something fabulous. It was four pieces of wallpaper…how hard
could it be?
Wallpaper makes a lot of people nervous, and I can
understand why. It can be a bit pricey
and tricky, but the projects I had done in the past had taught me that as long
as you took wallpapering step-by-step and didn’t panic, you usually ended up with a great looking
final product. Bubbles can be smoothed,
seams can be flattened, and there is quite a bit of play once you get a piece
up on the wall, so it has been my experience that it can be more forgiving than
it appears. This time I underestimated
one facet of my material though that I thought would be an asset, but instead
became its downfall–the shiny factor.
Flat finish paint exists because the less shiny a surface
is, the harder it is to see all the imperfections. The reflectiveness of a surface can even
change the color of an object depending on the lighting in the room as
well. These facts created the perfect
storm with my exciting accent paper–not only did every seam and ripple stand
out like a sore thumb, but the fact that the lighting in the room was shining
upward at the surface, the beautiful design I had been so attracted to was
completely washed out. It didn’t matter
whether the sunlight was coming in the windows on one side, or the lamps in the
room were giving off a warm glow at a lower level…the results I had so etched
as a success in my brain were disastrous in real life.
So what’s a girl to do when her wallpaper fails her? Although the thought made me a bit sick to my
stomach, I knew what had to happen–the offending element had to come down. Luckily, my lovely children thought ripping
wallpaper off a wall sounded like an awesome afternoon task, so in no time it
all, my lovely metallic medallion paper sat in a damp heap on the living room
floor.
I still wanted a little Liberace above the hearth though, so
it was time to dust myself off, put on my big girl panties and search for another
solution. So I bought myself a latte and spent an hour up at the Wilton Home
Depot in the paint aisle, ending up where I always do when a truly challenging
design dilemma presents itself…in front of the Martha Stewart section. As I have said before, she may have served
time, but she knows her home décor. I
settled on two different elements to create the look I was hoping for–a quart
of flat slate gray paint, and a small jar of metallic accent paint that would
normally be used for a piece of furniture, etc.
The combination of the two colors and a vertical dry-brush technique
(essentially painting the flat base coat, then using a large brush with a small
amount of metallic accent paint on it that I dragged in straight lines from top
to bottom) resulted in the look of distressed metal, which gives me the shine I
was hoping for, as well as an interesting texture that gives whatever is
displayed on the mantel a significant presence it didn’t have before when the
plaster wall was simply white. Also, it
feels a tad bit modern compared to the wood built-ins on either side and the
coffered ceiling up above, creating that eclectic combination of old and new that
is our style throughout the house.
And what about those lovely Carrera tiles? Compared to the wallpaper they ended up being
an easy embellishment to add, although I will say that picking a vertical
tiling project as my first foray into floaters and grout may have been a bit
ambitious. Luckily it was a small space
to cover and the sheets of tile I used required very little cutting, so with
the help of online instructions and my very patient neighborhood mason friend,
I ended up with just the touch of tile I was looking for, and with the hints of
gray throughout, they tied the decorative metallic paint into a completed
project I am now very proud to have as part of our home.
So is change hard?
Definitely. Worthwhile? Absolutely.
And in the end, after all that was involved with this fireplace
makeover, did I stay true to the character of the house, the needs of our
family, and the flavor of the vision I had at the very beginning of this
makeover? I’d like to think so. Or maybe, in the end, when you take the time
to analyze what works and what definitely doesn’t, you might end up with
something even better than you could have imagined. J
