Saturday, August 29, 2009

The longest-to-complete project....EVER!

Waaaaaaay back in June of this year, I showed you all my Master Bedroom. In that post, I showed you the "wall art" that I used to have on the wall...



Then I showed you how humidity from our shower and little hands managed to, uhhhhh, I guess destroy said wall art....



So, I decided I wanted something different.....

(Inspiration photo from House Beautiful)

I LOVE this look. So elegant, beautiful...

And oh so EXPENSIVE!

Most of the new "frameless" picture frames start at $20.00 each and go up significantly. NO WAY could afford to do that!

THEN, I found these at Wal-Mart for only $4.00 each...



I rushed to get these filled and up before my Master Bedroom post, but just didn't quite make it....



So the frames have just been sitting around, waiting until hubby and I had the chance to finally get them hung.

Yesterday, Hubby actually had the day off and the kiddos were in school....we decided to tackle this project.

It ended up being just as frustrating as I thought it would be. Fussing, griping, irregular-sized frames, measurements being off, cheap frames falling apart, and even one frame fell off the wall, landed on Marty's level, and busted ALL over the bed.

Nothing like that mad rush to clean glass off of the bed you plan on sleeping in later that night.

And since one of the frames was now broken, we had to make a trip to Wal-Mart to buy another frame.

I bought two more.....just in case.

We got home a little late from Wal-Mart, so we decided to wait until today to finish hanging them. I also had to scrub all the pencil marks and scrapes off the wall, try to super glue all of the edges of the frames (which constantly kept slipping off while we were trying to hang them), and add adhesive corners to each frame to make them more stable.

This is what everything looked like when we went to bed last night. (Notice there are no sheets on the bed....they were being washed to get the GLASS off of them)


I was a little nervous sleeping last night. I kept thinking that one (or more) of them would fall off and stab me in the head.

So today, I DREADED the task at hand, but I knew I had to make myself finish this project. Hubby left to do a quick errand, and I decided to begin the task.

I removed each frame one-at-a-time, scrubbed the wall underneath it, glued all 4 corners of each frame, cleaned both sides of the frame, and then added adhesive tabs to the back.....

And then I attempted to hang them back up....

They were crooked, the hangers fell off the wall or pushed into the wall, the glue wasn't holding the frames together....

UGHHHHHHHHH! I was SO FRUSTRATED!

I quit about 1000 times, I fussed, I griped, and I may have even let a bad word or two slip out of my mouth (please forgive me).

But I forged on.

And FINALLY, after what-seemed-like HOURS of torture, I got all of them hung.

Here is the completed result....



I am happy with the results, but I am thinking I need to add another row on each side, but that would mean adding ANOTHER SIX frames to this project...and I don't think my nerves could take it...lol!

During this process, however, I have figured out that I probably should have paid more money for better quality frames and saved myself (and Marty) a lot of headaches. BUT, if I would have had to spent $20.00 per frame (minimum), I would still have a blank wall, too. The "cheap" frames were the difference between paying $60.00 verses $300.00 (or more) for the other frames.

I'm so glad they are up and I hope to enjoy these photos for a LONG, LONG time!

I promised Marty that the next "wall art" project I plan will involve just ONE BIG thing and a couple of screws!

15 comments:

  1. I think it turned out great!! It looks beautiful....job well done!!!!
    Beth

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  2. It's gorgeous. I love them. What a great look. Hopefully all the corners and everything will hold, because it really does look great. Hugs, Marty

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  3. Oh My Gosh Robin, it might have been a pain in the ass, but WOW it looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing such an inspirational project!! Great job! Sue

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  4. Robin, oops, I wanted to thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment! Thanks!

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  5. Okay...I realze it was a royal pain!! BUT...it was SO worth it!

    I looks great and I truly LOVE it!!

    Lou Cinda

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  6. I think they look awesome! Too bad that they were so difficult to do!

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  7. Holy-crow! I have had that same blue inspiration pic in my files for a loong time. Was going to do the same above my bed w/ botanicals or such. Well, now that I have a curved, upholstered headboard on-order, the effect might not be the same and will have rethink the shape(s) of whatever will go above. (Still plan to do this idea w/ those frames somewhere else in the room.)

    Sorry for such a long comment. I guess I was over-excited to see we both have the same inspiration pic! :-)

    Your photo collection looks great! Have a nice rest of the weekend.

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  8. Looks Goooooodddd !! I am redoing my lair now..LOL....and I did an accent wall...in MERLOT!! (not CRIMSON..can't have none of that mess , heehee).....I'll post mine when I get it finished !!

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  9. This came out beautifully Robin. It's a shame it was such a pain to do, but the outcome seems worth it. We are thinking of doing something similar on a hallway wall, I may rethink that after reading this lol. Kathy

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  10. It looks Awesome!!! Great Job Marty and you did!!!

    Sherry Mayfield

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  11. love it, love it! it looks really nice..you both did an awesome job, now i might have to steal this idea..lol..see ya my frined..xx

    silvia.

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  12. robin, i love your room. it looks like a grown-up room. i love your new wall. i'm so jealous. our bedroom has a california beach look going on and i so want to change it, but then i like it too. i want a grown-up room :)

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  13. It looks great! Would you mind coming to Oregon and helping me! LOL

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  14. Your wall looks great. Thanks for the inspiration. I may have to try that.

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  15. Robin, that turned out beautifully! All of your efforts were worth it. Looks like a decorator showed up at your house. laurie

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