DIY Dining Room Accent Wall

I should start this post by saying, I LOVE DIY projects.... but I should also say, that sometimes I lose focus and want the project to just be over, and the drywall dust to be gone, and the stuff to be painted. But in the end, I always miss the actual "doing" of the project. The painting, the nailing, the feeling you get when you step back from your project and it's coming out like you envisioned! Even better getting to work with my kids and husband and niece helping paint or cut boards.

I am in love with the way this came out. 

Here's how this DIY got started.

We had an interior wall in our dining room that has the breaker box in it. We wanted it to be a focal point, but had to figure out a way to hide the breaker box, but not sacrifice design.

First goal: Hide that utility box but not so well that we can't get to it when I blow a fuse.
Second goal: This is a focal point in our dining room so we need to be practical but make it look awesome.

My Inspiration:

Contemporary Bedroom by Orem Paint & Wall Coverings Soelberg Industries

My DIY Thinking:

"I can do that!  (with a bunch of help from my husband and family)"

I did some sketches to make sure that what I thought we could do was possible. I then showed it to my husband, and we worked through some engineering flaws with the wall and my design.

We started with a frame of 2 x 4's to build out from the wall (not everyone needs to do this part, we had to work around the breaker box) and a base of plywood just to make sure the wall was going to hold up once we put all the weight of the boards on it.

Here's that darn breaker box that we had to work around.

Here was a little wall artistry that I performed to make sure my hubby knew how awesome I thought he was. 

We used 11/32 inch waferboard to raise or lift the boards off of the wall. My husband and son team-worked those on the outside, while my daughter and I installed the boards inside to keep the project moving.
We used 1 x 4 and 1x6's for the design. We took some time to draw those out to accommodate for the breaker box, as well as the design factor. I penciled those measurements by drawing on the wall, so the boys could get the measurements of the next board and stay ahead of us by cutting.

I didn't want there to be gaps between the boards, so we used caulk to seal them up. My daughter helping caulk as we went.

Then this darling thing happened to our family, and we got off track for awhile. However, the white puppy drywall dust prints throughout the house got me back on track VERY QUICKLY! 

Applying the turquoise color (Schooner A58-5 from Olympic Paint) - Can you believe my son and husband picked out this color? I was thinking something more muted like cream with some sheen pearl highlights, but they both really wanted this to be a bright wall. 

My niece and I along with some help from my son helped apply the bronze highlights. This was done with a copper spray paint and glaze. We learned quickly that we had to apply the glaze to a small section of the wall, then apply a few dashes of spray paint, and then using our paint brushes manipulate it on the wall. We also learned that there is not a CORRECT way to do this.
It's art. It's a wall. It's yours. Just go for it.  
By the end of it, we each had our own methods, but when you stepped back, it ended up looking wonderful.

The Final

If you are asking where my breaker box went, it's there, and it's hidden behind a panel of about 6 boards that are not fastened to the rest of the wall. My brilliant hubby attached them to magnets, then stuck them on the breaker box. The other boards around it help hold them in place.

Also, because I wanted some lighting on my walls, but didn't have any outlets up that high, I had to be creative with the lighting. 

Sconces from Hobby Lobby ($14.99/piece), Globes from Lowes ($4.99/piece), Lights are LED handheld flashlights from Lowes ($3.97/piece) 

My cup runneth over

I have had a couple of cup runneth over moments as of late with my kids. I am aware their journey into small adults is right in front of my face, and I am trying my darnedest to take a mental memory of all of it... It goes too fast.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have gotten to experience a call from my son telling me that I should grab my camera and run outside after a recent afternoon rain and get a picture of the grass, and that the rain on the grass might be a pretty shot. He has taken an interest in photography lately, and we made a trip to downtown Hutchinson together to take some shots of Avenue A park during the golden hour, right before sunset. It was fun to get some shots on my camera of my son taking pictures. Even funner, to scroll through his photographs, and listening to him tell me about what angle he liked, and why he framed it the way he did. I love photography and it's a wonderfully soothing outlet for me, I love that I can share it with Chance and that he's kind enough to share with me.

Recently, I played in a volleyball match with my daughter. I have coached her since she was in 3rd grade, and those are some of our most special memories. We have been able to play together for the last couple of years, and this last time we played together, it was different. My role changed from coach to a teammate, it was fun for me to watch her on defense digging a ball up, and I realized that she was in the perfect spot after making the perfect read on the way the ball would travel. Watching her communicate well on the court and smile after a great play and sharing those moments with her on a different level from a different viewpoint is a wonderful thing.