freckles & ash

Back in November, I wrote about a little quickie makeover I was planning for my entryway. Well, we've now been living with it for about a month, and it is fabulous! So, here's what we did to get our wallpapered effect.

For those of you who don't recall, here's the mustardy before. Our entry is only 4' by 6', so it's really hard to get full shots of the space. The first step was to paint the wall. We have chosen a soft white to use in the house, Classic Gray, OC-23, by Benjamin Moore. We have been using the Aura paint in the matte finish. It is fantastic.

Next is to choose your instrument of choice. These are Sharpie poster paint markers! They come in three thicknesses, and I bought two of each of the larger ones, and one of the smallest, since I didn't know how much coverage I would get from each. They come in oil and water based, so make sure you get the water based. It will dry faster which is important for minimizing any smudges. I just picked them up at Michael's for about $6 a piece.

The other thing you will need is a straight edge of some sort. Using a metal ruler with a cork back is the best. It is easy to hold in place with one hand, since the cork gives you some grip. And since the markers are quite liquid when they go down, you want the cork thickness to raise the ruler off the wall and prevent and bleeding.

And then you start drawing. I had loosely planned out my design before, but it was quite spontaneous when I was actually working on the wall. Start at one edge and work outwards from the corners. You will have to do your longer lines in stages, so you should feather out the ends as shown in the photo above, which helps to camouflage where you had to reconnect the line. After a couple of lines, you will get the hang of lining up the lines perfectly with the various thicknesses of markers.

When drawing the lines, I kept a rag on had to wipe the edge of the ruler each time. I removed the ruler by putting pressure on the lower edge, which lifted it away from the wall, and was easier to grab. Be careful not to touch or smudge the lines, as they won't dry immediately. Wipe the edge of the ruler each time to make sure your hands are clean before touching the wall again. If you do smudge, its easy to touch up the lines with a bit of your base wall colour when you are all finished.

And here's how it turned out! I did lines of two different thicknesses at random angles all over the wall. I stopped myself short, since I was sure I could have kept going and would have over did it. All in, the linework took about 1.5 hours of work. Painting the wall was another 2-3 hours.

Here it is all set up again. The room isn't accessorized as I eventually want it (that mirror is far too tiny!), but it looks pretty damn good for now.