My Drab Surroundings Depress Me

[Memory's Flame]

My Husband and I bought our house back in April; moved in and I realized how dull the house was! The walls are white; the carpets are all different and mismatched!

The problem is, money does not allow for big projects!

I've thought about painting the living room (where I spend most of my time) but I don't know the first thing about painting! I also think that I can only get to one, maybe two walls to paint without completely moving everything out of the room!

Would it be "ok" to paint just one or two walls? And if so, what are some colors that are relaxing, yet encourage "happy" moods? (I don't know much about this stuff...)

[misschief]

yeah, they are accent walls. it would probably be a great change. try muted colors, like... light but noticable. or.. if you are going for a big effect, maybe something that reminds you of citrus.

[Memory's Flame]

I have a gallon of bright yellow paint (I made some shelving awhile back, and painted it a sunshine yellow color) I was thinking of maybe using this; but not really sure if a sunshine yellow color is too bright to make it relaxing?

Also; about how long would it take to paint 2 walls (one wall is 14' ft long and the other 12' ft long)

[misschief]

depends on how much paint you'll use on each wall. which depends on the quality of the paint you have. shouldn't take more than a few hours. yellow would be like... invigorating or energizing, not so much relaxing, but should improve the room.

[Yasmine Galenorn]

I have a gallon of bright yellow paint (I made some shelving awhile back, and painted it a sunshine yellow color) I was thinking of maybe using this; but not really sure if a sunshine yellow color is too bright to make it relaxing?

Also; about how long would it take to paint 2 walls (one wall is 14' ft long and the other 12' ft long)

If you could afford to get a quart or two of the same type of paint in white, you could mix them and tone down the yellow to a peaceful level.

Yasmine

[misschief]

yeah that's a good idea. i was thinking free solution instead of cheap... but that would work very well.

[Tzhebee]

Or you could do something like a sponge paint on the walls so the yellow isn't over powering. Or perhaps just paint stripes, or dots or handprints.

Or even just do a border or two, freehand. Or a border sponge painted. And if one of your walls has textured wallpaper, DON'T peel the wallpaper off, paint over it for a nice textured wall. Or...

Sorry. I get carried away, my dad has worked in a paint store for 25+ years. :lol:

[misschief]

lol.. my dad owns a painting business, and all i say is 'i dunno, paint it' :lol:

[Memory's Flame]

Thank you :D

I am debating what to do with it; I like the idea of Stripes; but they'd probably end up crooked! And I'm REALLY liking the thought of doing sponge painting... hmm... have to talk to the hubby when he gets home!

[MorningDove030202]

Or an even smaller job would be to paint just the woodwork around the windows and doors.... that always adds some color without having to move alot of furnature.....

Dove

[Memory's Flame]

Painting the woodwork was my original thought! I wanted to paint all of the trimming in the whole house... although I wanted to do a unified color; so I need to think some more on that one ;)

[MorningDove030202]

Painting the woodwork was my original thought! I wanted to paint all of the trimming in the whole house... although I wanted to do a unified color; so I need to think some more on that one ;)

My mom did that to her house, but my bedroom had pink wood work with curtains to match, and then the living room and dining room had blue wood work to match the curtians which also matched the wall paper. The kitchen after we remodled had wooden wood work around the doors and windows and it was stained to match the cabinets. All the walls were a cream off white and looked realy good.

Dove

[ApollaJade]

do you have shelves? you could sponge paint the wall behined them like so that the shelves are there color then the section in between each one is sponge painted. it makes stuff pop and is really easy.

[banondraig]

you can also tone the yellow down with a lavender shade. it will be mellower, but still be a rich color, less pastel than mixing with pure white. i'm not a fan of pastels myself, don't know whether you are or not. my mom has sort of gold-colored walls. she did them sponge-paint over white and it looks really good.

there are only two things to worry about in sponge painting. one is to make sure you keep overlapping your sponge spots at a variety of different angles, otherwise you will have a bunch of rectangles with weird patterns inside all over your walls. the other is to make sure you don't get too much paint on your sponge. done properly, sponging doesn't make nearly as much mess as painting the wall a solid color would. the paint doesn't drip down the wall.

i wish i could paint my barracks. :(

[Memory's Flame]

I've decided that I'm going to sponge paint the west and south walls of my living room with the yellow (toned down a bit, but not much)

[FaeFollower]

That will be pretty...I like the idea of painting only two walls. When we sponge painted my sister's room (and the living room, and bathroom, and my parent's room...my mom likes sponge painting), we did a few colors on top of each other and that looks really nice too. If you want to leave the yellow bright, you could sponge paint that and then do a calmer color over it...for a little variety. :bouncybob

[9-2-2]

The only way I can think of doing free decorating in the home is by grabbing things that exist in nature, revamping old things in the home, or by taking a trip to the salvage yard.

Nature-fy

There's lots of stuff you can do with simply a bunch of sticks, rocks, dried leaves and flowers, feathers, and more. Oh crap, I just realized that I lent out my Witch Crafts book. CRAP CRAP CRAP!!! >_< Well, I memorized some of the projects. Okay, I have a crappy memory, but being an artist, I can whip up some ideas for you. :)


The Anything Wreath
There are several methods of designing this.

A bundle of very flexible sticks, preferably freshly cut from a LIVING tree
-or-
A bundle of freshly cut twigs and sticks from a pine tree
Trimming shears or a saw

1) The idea is to form the bundle of pine or sticks into a wreath of whichever size you wish... and of course, you'll need the shears or saw to remove them from their respective plants in the first place. :) Cut each stick at about 12 inches to 3 feet in length, depending on the size of the wreath you desire. Also, don't forget to brush off any bugs that come with them.
2) Find the most flexible set of sticks and set them apart from the wrest. Use these sticks to tie the wreath together, to save $$$ from buying twine or string. It's better to use string, but if you can't afford a spool of string (I know I can't), go ahead and use sticks... but make sure they're VERY flexible!!!
3) Garnish your decoration with pine cones, bird nests (vacant ones, of course), feathers, bones, dried leaves, dried flowers, whatever strikes your fancy.
4) When you design your wreath, make sure you have enough flexy sticks left over to make a "hook" to hang on the wall. Use at least two sticks to make a loop on the back and top of the wreath, and attach the loop SECURELY to the wreath before mounting.
Additional tips: If you would like to make a wreath the centerpiece in your living room, you can make a very large and oblong wreath to hang on the largest wall.


Dinner Table Centerpiece
Sometimes a bowl of fruit will do the job, but what happens when fruit has been sitting there for months, and turns into a bowl of fuzzy mush? In this case, an alternative is required!! :D
You will need:

A bouqet of freshly-picked flowers, preferably daises
A bunch of freshly-picked dandelions
String
A bunch of feathers at least 6 inches in length (optional)
A sheet of paper
A water bottle, vase, or drinking glass you won't use anymore
Glue

1) Tie the flowers together by their stems and hang them upside down in the bathroom (over the toilet works well). Place the paper under the flowers to catch falling parts; you will be drying the flowers.
2) Do the same process with the dandelions and hang them right next to the flowers.
3) It should take a week or so to dry the flowers; you will know they're sufficiently dried when the petals are crispy. But not so crispy they fly apart.
4) Plop the flowers into your vase / container.
5) If you have feathers, gather them together. If your dinner table is place against a wall, glue the feathers on to the back of the glass in a fan formation. If your dinner table is in the center of the dining room, don't worry about this.
6) Gently break off the heads of the dandelions, and glue them to the front and sides of the container (only if you did #5). If you did not do #5, then glue them all over the container until it looks like it's made of dandelions. n_n You can glue them sporadically, or make a super dandelion container of doom that's so covered you can't see the original container's surface.


Mud Cloth

A square or rectangle of fabric that you will never use again
A large bin
A big fat pile of mud
A metal or wooden rod
Scissors

1) Cut holes in your cloth that are large enough to pass the rod through easily. Don't attach the rod yet, just size the holes correctly.
2) Fil your bin with mud, and stick the cloth right in. Mix the cloth around, rub the mud into the fibers. Leave the cloth in there for a couple of days if you need to (make sure the mud stays wet). You want the cloth to be permanently stained so that you cannot see the original color or pattern of the cloth.
3) Remove the cloth when it's sufficiently dirty and stained. Brush off excess lumps of mud. Stick the rod through the holes, and hang it up outside to dry.
4) When the cloth is dried, shake it, crumple it, and brush it to get off the excess clumps of mud. If there's any dirt that's firmly stuck to the cloth, leave it alone; you just need to get rid of the loose bits.
5) Clean the rod, and hang it where you wish. You may choose to paint on the mudcloth, glue stones, feathers, or other decorations on if you wish. Designing a montage (term?) out of seeds works wonderfully as well. :)



Miscellaneous
- Find some very smooth river stones (preferably large) and place them on end tables, book shelves, dressers, etc.
- Encircle interior doorways with cut vines, or just accent with short vines.


Additional Stuff
- If you go to a salvage yard, make sure you dig through everything with gloves.
- Bits of flat, broken glass can be cleaned and combined in a picture frame to make an abstract mosaic.
- Ask friends if their children have any old Halloween costumes they don't wear anymore. Take them, and cut them up to make long table runners, drapes, or couch throws.
- If you have any old books that you want to get rid of, DON'T THROW THEM AWAY. Instead, neatly remove some of the pages and make tablemats, frame random pages, cover a table top, etc. Get creative! Burn the edges of some pages, stain them, whatever strikes your fancy! Just make sure you coat the pages with something protective so they don't get nasty. Use the book covers (preferably paperback) to make montages. This is especially fitting for bookshelves :) With the hardbacks, you can make hollowed-out books to stash emergency $$$. :D
- Do you have tiny, useless boxes? Turn them into treasure boxes. I actually got this idea from Willow Polson's Witch Crafts book. n_n Grab a stack of magazines, and find fantasy pictures, or images that strike your fancy for the strange, exotic, and the beautiful. Cut them out, and cover the box with them. I did this with my future stepson, and we made a subtly magickally-themed treasure box, with exotic and colorful dragonflies representing the elements, a medieval woodcarving of a circle to represent... well, the magick circle... pictures of Goddesses, terrific scenes of nebulas and other outer space wonders, etc. Throw candy in, ritual gear, whatever you like. :)