DIY Stencil {Painted Wallpaper}

 Happy Hump Day, y'all!

Don't fret about the awesome weather we've been having here in the pnw. I'm here today to tell you it's overcast and dreary looking in my parts today... sun come on back here ya hear!

Well today I'm sharing a project I pinned on Pinterest and actually accomplished in my home! What what! Yeah, I actually did one that I pinned. That's a big step for me. I don't know if I've ever really done anything inspired off of Pinterest before.

So here's the story, I've been obsessed with Moroccan tile print since before it was even popular on the shelf at tar-jay and everything. It always just spoke to me... It said... "You will love me and won't be able to get me off yer mind." And it's been suffocating me with love ever since.

So when I was on Pinterest some long time ago... I found these painted wallpaper pins, which led to these blogs, here and here.
Which led to the original tutorial here. for the template I used for painted wallpaper.

Source: littlenannygoat.blogspot.com via Kaara on Pinterest

Now knowing me and the instant gratification I sometimes need, I knew I just couldn't handle painting a whole wall, and not sure my really bad right wrist and hand could handle it either. So I decided to just paint a few of these with a small stenciling paintbrush in between the two mirrors in my guest bathroom. And. I. Love. It!

Here's the simple painted stencil I did in our guest bath:

I know it's not the whole wall, but I think it gives a fun little vibe to my bathroom. I thought about making it perfectly centered between the two mirrors, but I kinda like it off centered best. This honestly took me an hour to do. So you can imagine how long it takes to do an entire wall... ouch.

So to do this project you will need to do these steps:
1. To go print out the original template from the link I provided above.
2. Scissors, a box cutter-style knife, a pencil, a stenciling paintbrush, you could pick one as thin or thick as you want, i would err on the side of thinner, you can always go over your lines, but its not as easy to take away a thick painting line! And A sturdy, solid piece of cardboard
3. Cut out your template and place in on your cardboard and trace it onto the cardboard
4. Cut the stencil out of the cardboard
5. Find where you want to place the stencil in your space or on your wall. Tape it with painters tape if you need, and grab a level if you don't want to eye it.
6. Trace the stencil onto your wall. As many stencils as you can get, or as many as you want on your wall.
7. Paint on the INSIDE of the stencil line. Use the pencil line as your guide and slightly cover it as you go.
8. Have a wet rag handy for drips or too much paint.
9. Enjoy your hard work!

I'm linking up with these lovely ladies today... Katie, Sherry,  Renee, Emily

For the Pinterest Challenge Spring Edition... Link here: Pinterest Challenge: Spring Edition
and linking here...

Have a great day, and go check out these awesome Pinterest challenge projects!

xoxo- Kaara

Howdy Monday

Happy Monday. It definitely feels like it. And by that, I mean it feels like a Monday, not necessarily that happy.

I have the day off which feels weird, but I feel like I have a lot to get done today.

We'll see how far I get with that ;)

While I was waiting for the coffee maker to warm up this morning, I 'played' with our flooring... I'd love to have our kitchen tile laid in a fun pattern, but it probably will require a lot more cuts and that means more money :/ 

This is me playing with it this morning...

Now you can also see the wood flooring I was talking about in my post yesterday too. I love it! I just want to see how it looks after it's all come together ;) I would love a herringbone-style pattern in the tile, but don't think it's going to happen.

Hopefully it will all be over in a few days!

Then it's on to my favorite part...

Decorating! 

Last night I spent forever on Ikea's website and pinned a bunch of things I would love ;) my decorating is definitely going to be a mix of high and low. I obviously can't afford to get too many high things, but I feel I can't skimp on everything. I want durability and for it to last which doesn't always mean it has to be expensive. But usually it does. I really do like a grey sectional from ikea, which I've heard really good things about! but I'm also considering Pottery Barn or the Restoration  Hardware outlet... I'd love to see what I can find at their 'outlet price' which is sometimes still too expensive for me ;) 

Last night when we were on a little 'Sunday treat' run... We drove past our neighbor's driveway and I spotted this cute round table in a free pile! You know how I love a roadside freebie ;)

I think this table would look great as an entry table, centered as you come in the door (a place to put a vase full of fresh flowers!), or maybe as a side table in the living/fam room. I'm thinking maybe I will paint it white? Maybe sand it and refinish it in the same tone of wood? Mmmm... maybe not. Maybe distress it! (mmm... yea) I just see dust when I think of keeping it a dark wood tone. I hate dusting!

What do you think? 

What I'm thinking is what I really want to do today is go thrift shopping! 

I've been wanting to find a cool mirror or two to refinish for weeks. I just haven't made it to that part of town, I'm always in a hurry :( 

Trying to slow down a little today and do something I really want ;)

Have a happy Monday!

Stop and smell the roses ;)

xo- K

linking up...
 

Sunday Post

Happy Sunday!

I got lucky and I have one more day off this weekend than normal because my work is changing their hours... yay, me!

finding this quote inspirational today :)

Source: norcalwedding.com via Summer Burns on Pinterest

So far this weekend has been pretty lazy except for the part where we went down to seattle yesterday.

luckily the drive down wasn't too bad and there wasn't much stop-and-go ;)

We got to Sam's Club, where we bought our laminate wood flooring from, but we were early, so it wasn't ready for us yet. so we ate the cheap food there in their food court area... it was pretty good for getting 5 items under 10 bucks! haha, gotta love a bargain. 

So I guess I've never actually told you all about what flooring we are going with in the fam/living room, dining room, breakfast nook, and hallways... so a pretty substantial amount of space is getting this flooring.

It's Select Surfaces brand in Canyon Oak, it's a click laminate flooring that has a hand-scraped finished and great deep, woodgrain textured look, I love it! 

You can find it here if you're interested in learning more about it!

It has great reviews online and many said that people don't believe it's not real wood. It comes with a foam backer attached too, so another added, cost-saving bonus! This is also commercial quality, so it should hold up well in a house with pets and kids. Though, we intend to not let our pets hangout too much inside once everything is done... I can tell we're going to be a little OCD about our new floors getting ruined for a little while!

I haven't been able to find anything locally, even remotely of the same quality and low price. 
Not even at Costco, unfortunately. Troy bought laminate for our old house there, but it didn't stand up very well to pets and wasn't that great of quality after a couple years. If you had any spills that you didn't catch right away, then the old floor absorbed it and warped, sad face.

So, anyway, it was well worth the 2-hour drive down to Seattle to get this higher-quality flooring.

We fit a whole pallet of flooring in the truck, haha! It was a pretty heavy ride to get back up home!

Here are some house pics of how things are looking before everything (hopefully) gets installed this week:

don't mind our mess... kitchen with fridge and dishwasher out.

looking into the fam/living room from the breakfast nook area

looking into the dining room from the kitchen ^

 12 x 24 tiles for our kitchen! i can't wait to see these babies on the floor!

 looking from the dining room into the entryway.

 fam/living room

back side of the fam room and french doors to the patio.

 looking into the dining room... the fridge is living in there for the moment!

 arm party break :) my Sunday arm candy... from left to right, my friendship bracelet from my gf who brought it back to me from South Korea, my rose gold Stella & Dot 'Hope' bracelet, my turquoise cross bracelet from a local shop, my silver 'gilded arrow' Stella & Dot cuff :) on my way to meet some girlies for tea and chat!


We are also selling our kitchen suite... so if you know of anyone in my area that might be interested, please pass this along... We're in the Whatcom County area in Washington State.

They are all about 8 years old. We've used them since we bought the house 2+ years ago and haven't had a problem with anything.
Everything is Maytag, except the fridge is Amana brand.
I love the gas stove so much and I will miss it! Everything works great.
 We are just deciding to upgrade since we're renovating anyways.

We'd like to sell it all as a set for $750, U-pick-up.
if you're interested in buying anything or buying something separately, please contact me with your price.
kaara (dot) anderson @ gmail (dot) com

The pictures are pretty true to color, they are white/offwhite.

Maytag extra large microwave with rack, with venting for over the oven...

Maytag Gas Stove and Oven...

 Amana Double door fridge with ice maker and filtered water...

Maytag Dishwasher...

Have a happy Sunday all :)
xoxo- K