The Foyer
I have been debating over what to do with the monstrosity that is the closet doors in my foyer for some time.
Ok, I feel, as a Canadian, I must clear something up. It's pronounced FOY-YAY, not FOY-YER (despite what the dictionaries try to convince you...ignore them). It's a French word, therefore, my fellow Americans (and some of you Canadians), please pronounce it as such. I cringe every time I watch an American home/décor show and I hear someone say "foy-yer". *Shudder*. Please stop that. Gives me the same cringe as when I hear the word "slacks"...gawd, I hate that word.
lol...rant, rant, rant :-P
Anyway, I knew that it was going to involve wallpaper...somehow...wasn't sure how. I wanted to do a bold print, but my fear was it would overwhelm the space. The hallway where these doors are is maybe 4ft wide, and the closet is about 10ft long, and they are the first thing you see when you open the door - big honkin' doors.
Real exciting vision when you first walk in the door, eh? Blah. Like being assaulted by blandness.
I did a little trolling around the internet and I came across an idea; use wallpaper, yes, but only cover the doors partially. I liked this idea. I could get the boldness that I was looking for, without it being overwhelming.
I searched high and low for wallpaper that was just right. I wanted a retro feel and for the colours to work with the rest of the condo. I finally came across this wallpaper in the darndest of places.
I found this roll at Bouclair. Now, in case you haven't heard of this store, they use to be a fabric store with some décor items. Then they shut down and revamped themselves into just a décor place. They have some nice stuff, and semi-reasonable prices, so I do check out their flyers and go there from time to time. It's only been in the last 6 months or so that I noticed that they carry wallpaper. Not a lot, but some great designs. I debated over a couple, but this is the one that I settled on because it had a bit of sheen and fit well with my condo's colours.
So first things first, measuring it all out. I was originally going to go with 1/4 at each end, painted, then 1/2 in wallpaper. I adjusted it a bit though. I made the top a little less, and the bottom a little wider. Adjust to your sense of perception and scale...nothing is carved in stone when it comes to décor.
Next, paint the trim. Now the frame of these doors is metal so I chose a Tremclad paint to ensure adhesion. I chose a hammered finish in black:
Next, we paint. Now, believe it or not, I still have some of my Granite Grey paint (the paint I used in both of my bedrooms). It's a little on the thick side, but more than suitable for painting the doors.
Then, the wallpaper. Ugh...wallpaper is not exactly easy. Not an exact science. I fully recommend Googling a video on applying wallpaper before you start, just to give you some pointers. I did just that, as this was the first time I have ever attempted to apply wallpaper. Just make sure you have the essentials:
Now if you are applying wallpaper to a wall, you will also need a flat edge and seam roller would be helpful too. Just Google for the info. There are plenty of sites giving you full detail on what you need.
So yeah, it wasn't easy. If you can find someone to assist you with hanging wallpaper I fully recommend it. I certainly could have used another hand...but Layla, my cat, seemed less than interested, so I muddled through. I'd smooth the paper of bubbles only to realize that I now shifted the paper. Lined it back up...then more bubbles to smooth out...ugh. Tedious, but I managed (with some minor swear words and big sighs... and many looks of puzzlement from Layla as she saw me wrestle with the task).
But then there was a hiccup. The thin panels decided to begin to bow. So much so I could no longer slide the doors. Crap. That ain't good. I wracked my brain trying to think of possible solutions to fix it. Maybe some pieces of wood attached from the back could bring things back in line? In the meantime I needed to protect my precious wallpaper from me absentmindedly sliding one of the doors, thus causing them to scrape together, and ruining all my hard work. So I grabbed the oddest of things from my closet:
Yeah, it's a neck pillow. I needed something soft that I could shove between the doors, to not only keep them from touching, but to keep me from forgetting that I couldn't open the doors normally. I know me. I'd be off in my own little world, as I usually am, and I would grab the door, pull it with due force, and ruin my wallpaper. Thus letting out many swear words, and possibly scaring the cat. So I stuck the pillow in between and left it there. It was there for a good 12 hours, as I had to go to work the next day, so I thought leaving it there couldn't hurt. Well, it turns out it didn't hurt at all. In fact, it fixed it! Yes, I was quite surprised. I guess the 12 hours of pressure put it back in it's place. The front door is still a little bowed, but I am finding that overtime it is coming back to normal. I guess the best thing to recommend to avoid this is to seal the door first. Not sure if doing that would prevent the warping, but it couldn't hurt. Oh well. Reno and learn.
The next step was applying the trim. Now, originally I purchased some wood trim and I painted them with the Tremclad. Yeah...should have thought about this a little more. Those inner panels are not flat, so there was no way to ensure it would not only stick, but stay there. So my plans for the wood trim were doused (I'll hold on to the trim...might use it elsewhere). I went to Lowe's in search of suggestions and was guided to a particular type of trim by a very helpful associate (he reminded me a bit of my Dad - no b.s., very factual in his assessment of the situation, and a carefully thought out solution. Always a good thing when you are frustrated over a problem and just want a resolution...so big thanks to that Lowe's associate...you did good). What he guided me to was a type of plastic flexible trim, with a foam core.
Very light. Very flexible. Easy to cut. Perfect for decorative trim applications. Quite cheap to buy too. But the trick is to get it to stay in place while the adhesive dries. So in comes the hot glue. I just did 3 dots of it - one at each end and one in the middle. The rest was No Nails glue. I find hot glue to be a little messy to deal with, so that's why I opted to use No Nails as my main glue. Plus it dries clear...hot glue...meh...not so much. Gets a little gloppy, I find. So after some careful glue application, and with the aid of a level, I applied my four pieces of trim.
After that it was a few touch ups, and the final stand back to admire my work...
And here we are:
Before:
After:
Love, love, LOVE this! My doors are finally pretty :). I must say, this turned out better than I expected. Now it's no longer a depressing sight when I walk in my front door. It always amazes me what a little paint, and a little imagination, can do for the simplest of things.
Love, Laugh, and Make it Gorgeous!
Blogger on the Run
Ok, I feel, as a Canadian, I must clear something up. It's pronounced FOY-YAY, not FOY-YER (despite what the dictionaries try to convince you...ignore them). It's a French word, therefore, my fellow Americans (and some of you Canadians), please pronounce it as such. I cringe every time I watch an American home/décor show and I hear someone say "foy-yer". *Shudder*. Please stop that. Gives me the same cringe as when I hear the word "slacks"...gawd, I hate that word.
lol...rant, rant, rant :-P
Anyway, I knew that it was going to involve wallpaper...somehow...wasn't sure how. I wanted to do a bold print, but my fear was it would overwhelm the space. The hallway where these doors are is maybe 4ft wide, and the closet is about 10ft long, and they are the first thing you see when you open the door - big honkin' doors.
Real exciting vision when you first walk in the door, eh? Blah. Like being assaulted by blandness.
I did a little trolling around the internet and I came across an idea; use wallpaper, yes, but only cover the doors partially. I liked this idea. I could get the boldness that I was looking for, without it being overwhelming.
 |
| The "inspiration" (credits to www.home-dzine.co.za) |
I searched high and low for wallpaper that was just right. I wanted a retro feel and for the colours to work with the rest of the condo. I finally came across this wallpaper in the darndest of places.
I found this roll at Bouclair. Now, in case you haven't heard of this store, they use to be a fabric store with some décor items. Then they shut down and revamped themselves into just a décor place. They have some nice stuff, and semi-reasonable prices, so I do check out their flyers and go there from time to time. It's only been in the last 6 months or so that I noticed that they carry wallpaper. Not a lot, but some great designs. I debated over a couple, but this is the one that I settled on because it had a bit of sheen and fit well with my condo's colours.
So first things first, measuring it all out. I was originally going to go with 1/4 at each end, painted, then 1/2 in wallpaper. I adjusted it a bit though. I made the top a little less, and the bottom a little wider. Adjust to your sense of perception and scale...nothing is carved in stone when it comes to décor.
Next, paint the trim. Now the frame of these doors is metal so I chose a Tremclad paint to ensure adhesion. I chose a hammered finish in black:
Next, we paint. Now, believe it or not, I still have some of my Granite Grey paint (the paint I used in both of my bedrooms). It's a little on the thick side, but more than suitable for painting the doors.
Then, the wallpaper. Ugh...wallpaper is not exactly easy. Not an exact science. I fully recommend Googling a video on applying wallpaper before you start, just to give you some pointers. I did just that, as this was the first time I have ever attempted to apply wallpaper. Just make sure you have the essentials:
- A tray
- A sponge
- A ruler
- A cutter of some sort
- Clean hands ('cuz you're going to use your hands a lot in putting up wallpaper...best way to push out the bubbles without fear of tearing or marking the paper)
Now if you are applying wallpaper to a wall, you will also need a flat edge and seam roller would be helpful too. Just Google for the info. There are plenty of sites giving you full detail on what you need.
So yeah, it wasn't easy. If you can find someone to assist you with hanging wallpaper I fully recommend it. I certainly could have used another hand...but Layla, my cat, seemed less than interested, so I muddled through. I'd smooth the paper of bubbles only to realize that I now shifted the paper. Lined it back up...then more bubbles to smooth out...ugh. Tedious, but I managed (with some minor swear words and big sighs... and many looks of puzzlement from Layla as she saw me wrestle with the task).
But then there was a hiccup. The thin panels decided to begin to bow. So much so I could no longer slide the doors. Crap. That ain't good. I wracked my brain trying to think of possible solutions to fix it. Maybe some pieces of wood attached from the back could bring things back in line? In the meantime I needed to protect my precious wallpaper from me absentmindedly sliding one of the doors, thus causing them to scrape together, and ruining all my hard work. So I grabbed the oddest of things from my closet:
Yeah, it's a neck pillow. I needed something soft that I could shove between the doors, to not only keep them from touching, but to keep me from forgetting that I couldn't open the doors normally. I know me. I'd be off in my own little world, as I usually am, and I would grab the door, pull it with due force, and ruin my wallpaper. Thus letting out many swear words, and possibly scaring the cat. So I stuck the pillow in between and left it there. It was there for a good 12 hours, as I had to go to work the next day, so I thought leaving it there couldn't hurt. Well, it turns out it didn't hurt at all. In fact, it fixed it! Yes, I was quite surprised. I guess the 12 hours of pressure put it back in it's place. The front door is still a little bowed, but I am finding that overtime it is coming back to normal. I guess the best thing to recommend to avoid this is to seal the door first. Not sure if doing that would prevent the warping, but it couldn't hurt. Oh well. Reno and learn.
The next step was applying the trim. Now, originally I purchased some wood trim and I painted them with the Tremclad. Yeah...should have thought about this a little more. Those inner panels are not flat, so there was no way to ensure it would not only stick, but stay there. So my plans for the wood trim were doused (I'll hold on to the trim...might use it elsewhere). I went to Lowe's in search of suggestions and was guided to a particular type of trim by a very helpful associate (he reminded me a bit of my Dad - no b.s., very factual in his assessment of the situation, and a carefully thought out solution. Always a good thing when you are frustrated over a problem and just want a resolution...so big thanks to that Lowe's associate...you did good). What he guided me to was a type of plastic flexible trim, with a foam core.
Very light. Very flexible. Easy to cut. Perfect for decorative trim applications. Quite cheap to buy too. But the trick is to get it to stay in place while the adhesive dries. So in comes the hot glue. I just did 3 dots of it - one at each end and one in the middle. The rest was No Nails glue. I find hot glue to be a little messy to deal with, so that's why I opted to use No Nails as my main glue. Plus it dries clear...hot glue...meh...not so much. Gets a little gloppy, I find. So after some careful glue application, and with the aid of a level, I applied my four pieces of trim.
After that it was a few touch ups, and the final stand back to admire my work...
And here we are:
Before:
After:
Love, love, LOVE this! My doors are finally pretty :). I must say, this turned out better than I expected. Now it's no longer a depressing sight when I walk in my front door. It always amazes me what a little paint, and a little imagination, can do for the simplest of things.
Love, Laugh, and Make it Gorgeous!
Blogger on the Run
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