Friday, January 18, 2013

"Control Corner" makeover

Hi guys!  How is everybody?

We over here have been working on some new year's goals.  Darth Hubby has cut back on video games, and many nights I find him with the glow of an e-reader lighting his face, or having pillow fights with the girls and spinning them around on his shoulders at intentionally just the right speed to make my stomach turn (oh, he knows the speed...).

I myself have been working on getting more organized.  I have more of the craft room I'm planning on updating soon, and this week, I made over this "Control Corner" - mostly for the kid's school stuff to be more organized.

Check it out!

Here's what went down in the battle of Me vs. Dank Ugly Corner: 

First I wallfabricked the wall (I just made that word up, but it's gonna be a thing...  It means wallpapered with fabric)

 ***THIS is a WONDERFUL trick, and so super easy.  I recommend it to anyone, everyone, and very interior design conscious dogs.  One of my favorite interior tricks to date!


Instructions for Wallfabricked wall:
1.  CUT FABRIC TO FIT.
2.  USING A PAINT ROLLER, ROLL OVER TOP OF FABRIC WITH STORE BOUGHT LIQUID STARCH (LIKE STA-FLO).
3. DO THE SAME IN THE CORNERS WITH A STARCH SOAKED SPONGE AND USE YOUR HANDS TO FLATTEN AND EVEN OUT THE FABRIC.
4.  JUST LIKE THE SPOON, THERE IS NO 4.  THAT'S IT! JUST THREE STEPS!

(For a more in depth tutorial, click here )

Are you geeking out about this as much as I am?  Perhaps the best part is you can pull it down any time you like, and the fabric is still good for other projects after a washing.

 Then I simply slowly added things we already had - some that were already there, and some that were away in storage.
 
Cork Strip previously made for Displaying Kid's upcoming events, menus, Scholastic book orders, etc. (Planning on doing a tutorial on this soon...)

 The frame above is a place where the children can display a grade or piece of art they feel they did particularly well on.  It is just meant to be a little encouragement for them to try their best. 


It even opens up to switch out the work easily.  (It's from Target)

Added some hooks and a clock, and, that's pretty much it, folks!  Here are some different views
 

Excuse the missing light switch plate.  I broke it moving it and haven't had a chance to replace it...




Thanks for checking it out!  



4 comments:

  1. Ok. Wait. That fabric thing is amazing. I wanta do it. But I don't completely get it. Just have another person hold the fabric up and roll the starch on top and it sticks? Like how well? When you pull it off is the wall behind affected?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Shauna!

    Yeah, this is great! What I did was use a tack to tack the corners, I didn't even need another person's help (of course, I did a small part of the wall, I'm not sure if you'd want more help for a larger wall). And then you dump the tub starch into a paint pan, and soak the starch into the paint roller. I just rolled it on top, but I have seen a tutorial that said you can roll it onto the wall (I tried that, and it didn't work for me, but it may be the texture of my wall - it is a little bit more textured.)

    Don't try to overly pull the fabric! I did that at first, and it stretches it out to where it does not "bounce back". Just make sure you have the right size to begin with, and you won't have to pull on it.

    Then, once most of it is starched on, I took out my tacks and the fabric just stayed right on. Then I used a sponge to get into the corners and sides where the paint roller couldn't reach.

    Last, I used my hand to smooth out the fabric. It really wasn't difficult. I have used other things before, like films over windows, where it was chore to get all the "bubbles" out, but this wasn't like that. I just let it dry for about a day before I put anything on it.

    As for your question about how well it sticks...it's better than any wallpaper glue I've ever used. I have wallpapered before, and I have never had such an easy time with it. This project was done in easily less than an hour (the wallfabricking part of it...) It is about 5 days later, and so far shown no signs of peeling.

    And about it damaging the wall - In all truthfulness, I really don't know if it damages the wall behind. Confused smile I had kind of wondered that, too but I am really thinking there's a good bet it will be safe since it does fully dry and also starch is mostly corn starch, soap, and water. But, use at your own risk. I am not certain just yet that my wall isn't rotting back there. :) This is not my own technique, I looked it up on "Ehow", and they didn't say anything about ruining the wall. I am hoping if it ruins the wall they wouldn't have posted it...

    Thanks for stopping in to the blog! I'll be doing some more home renovations in the near future if you want to stop back by.
    -Amy

    ReplyDelete

I can't wait to see what totally excellent comment you will post! Go ahead, do it! Don't mind me....