9/03/2010

One down, one to go.

Phew! With Ethan's room (mostly) done, I feel like I can relax a little before diving into the next project (Sadie's room). The pace of life has been frantic around here lately.

Ethan's room (previously Keith's office) needed a lot of prep work before we even began to think about paint. It took weeks to clean out and organize the contents of the room. Some of which is still sitting around, cluttering up our bedroom. Such is the pace of progress with a new baby, I suppose.















Keith then worked on the walls which required hours of sanding and patching before I was able to paint them. After a couple coats of paint, we faced the daunting task of getting the world map mural onto the wall.

As I mentioned, I was inspired by a picture I saw on flickr. I loved the way the mural pulled the room together in a unique way and knew Ethan, with his interest in geography, would love it as well. I looked around online until I found a good deal on something very similar. The mural came in eight different panels, its original size was 13' by 8'.8" and it expanded even further after application.






















Suffice it to say that the application of this beast was a true test of a marriage. Ours just barely passed but here we are. And it was worth it. Truly, Keith took on much of the project himself, doing most of the cutting and pasting, his perfectionist tendencies keeping him company.

I've been wanting to try a project I saw some time ago. I found an image online that I knew Ethan would love, printed it out, enlarged and made it into a stencil which I used to trace onto some fabric. I cut it out and simply applied to the wall with liquid starch. So easy! Now I'm thinking it should have been a little bigger.






















There are a few unfinished details (closet doors,a dresser) and I would love to find different bedding at some point but it's already functioning quite well as Ethan's new bedroom. He's very happy with his own space.

6 comments:

drewey fern said...

Liane, that's fantastic! I LOVE the map idea. And I'm so happy for Ethan!

gretchen said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!

I've been waiting and checking with bated breath!

Glad your marriage survived the Remodel Test. Oh ma word. I can just imagine : )

And I love how you added to the challenge by timing it to coincide (or nearly) with the Newborn/ Sleep Deprivation / Postpartum-ish Test. You are very brave. Or visionary. Or determined. Or all of the above. Or something. : )

Anyway, I LOVE IT! It's inspiring!

ljm said...

Thanks, guys! I should have explained that the reason for the whole project is the whole room-shuffle-after-baby thing. Ethan gets his own room and Adam and Drew are moving in together to make room for Sadie in Adam's old room...thus the awful timing. I thought about tackling it while pregnant but that's as far as I got:)

the Joneses said...

That is seriously impressive work. I love the world mural - very cool!

--DAJ

Audrey Thompson said...

Very creative! I love the map AND the fabric cutout. :) Well done!

gretchen said...

Oh, now I get it: Brave, determined, visionary, AND desperate : )