Makely

Let's Make Life Awesome

  • Home
  • Decorating/DIY
    • Create Your Decor
    • Decorate Your Home
    • Paint Your Walls
    • Transform Your Furniture
  • Healthy Living
    • Essential Oils
    • Family Wellness
    • Household Care
  • Project Gallery
  • Contact
You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Create Your Decor » It’s a Small World (and a Giant Project) After All

It’s a Small World (and a Giant Project) After All

by Lindsay Ballard on December 18, 2014 22 Comments

Friends, the longest single project I have ever attempted has reached completion. My hand-painted and incredibly detailed Mary Blair inspired walls are finished.  It may be a Small World, but it turned into a huge project.

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way it turned out. However, I will admit that this single project almost broke me and my blog. I spent months (8 months, off and on) on these sections of wall. When I wasn’t feeling inspired, I simply ignored the project. The last few years, I’ve lived by a one-project-at-a-time policy, so I wouldn’t let myself start something new even when my brain needed a break. I’ve admittedly been down in the decorating dumps for a while, and I’m sorry that I haven’t had more to share with you. I really thought I was going through blogger fatigue, but now that this project is finished, I know that it was really just project fatigue.

But on the occasion when I was feeling inspired, I’d draw out the designs and paint them with my tiny, ¼” paint brushes. The section on the left – around the desk that my husband built (more on that later!) – wasn’t too bad to complete. I put a drop cloth down on the floor and just started painting.

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

But once I got to the other sections, I had a lot more prep-work to do. I was terrified that I’d drip or sling paint on my plain white walls or on my kitchen counters/cabinets. I’m a fairly messy painter, so that fear was real, y’all. I was starting to think I had bitten off more than I could chew.

About the time I was getting ready to a) throw in the towel and repaint the whole wall white or b) burn the house down, I got an email from ScotchBlue™ asking if I had any use for ScotchBlue™ Pre-taped Painter’s Plastic. I swear, the painting gods were looking down upon me that day! This plastic sheeting comes in rolls and is pre-taped with ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Multi-Surface with Advanced Edge-Lock™ Paint Line Protector 2093EL on the top – perfect for my project!

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

The painter’s plastic ended up being a great way for me to mask off my white walls, kitchen counters and cabinets. I used a combination of the pre-taped painter’s plastic and ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Original Multi-Use 2090.

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

When I first started using the ScotchBlue™ Pre-taped Painter’s Plastic, I was concerned that it would be awkward to use and that the tape would fall over on the plastic and get stuck. In reality, it wasn’t awkward and if the tape did fall over, it was easy to peel off the plastic. It went up very quickly which made my prep time nice and short, and I love that the plastic clings to the walls so you don’t have to tape all around. This stuff made me feel like I was Big Pimpin’!

Once everything was taped, I didn’t have much of an excuse to not keep painting my walls – and I wanted to do it quickly since my husband kept calling me Dexter. After spending a few days on an uncomfortable ladder that was just barely tall enough to reach the top of the wall, Tom quit joking around and built me a DIY scaffolding to stand on.

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

Yep, I always look crazy when I paint. Just be glad I didn’t show you my hair! I’m pretty sure that the more scattered I look, the better I paint. It’s the artist in me or something.

As I had with the previous portions of this project, I worked with sections of wall at a time. I drew out my design, labeled the colors that I wanted each piece to be, and then got to work painting. After months of doing this, I perfected my workflow – I painted all of one color in a section before I moved on to the next color.

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

And just like that, one day it was finished. Note: My kitchen ceiling will one day be Lindsay White and my walls a color that I haven’t picked yet. My one-project-at-a-time policy is quite visible in my house.

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

Hand painted Mary Blair inspired feature wall via MakelyHome.com

As I said, this was the longest project I have ever undertaken. I questioned my sanity more than a few times. But now, my heart just sings every time I look at it.

The paint colors use in this project are: Peacock Blue (Glidden®), Onyx Black (Glidden®), Garden Party (Glidden®), “Lindsay White” (Glidden®), Polished Silver (Martha Stewart Living™ – discontinued) and Vintage Gold (Martha Stewart Living™ – discontinued).

I am proud to be a 3M sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape. Opinions are my own and additional products used in the project were selected by me.

Find ScotchBlue™ on their Pinterest page, Twitter page, and Facebook page.

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

« Tame Gifts that You Can Buy On Your Way to a White Elephant Party
Merry Christmas from Makely »

Comments

  1. Roxanne says

    December 18, 2014 at 11:58 am

    Looks awesome!

    Was this wall mural really more work than your son’s toddler room murals? Four walls, floor to ceiling of artwork definitely seemed like the biggest painting job I’d ever seen on the internet! I guess because I’m not an artist, both projects seem literally impossible to accomplish.

    Reply
  2. amanda @mommy is coocoo says

    December 18, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    Awesome.

    Reply
  3. Julia says

    December 18, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Loved watching the real time progress of this project!!! It’s good for us to see it not happen overnight. Your philosophy on one project at a time is priceless!!!

    Reply
  4. Kristi says

    December 18, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    This looks so so good. I love how light and bright your house still is while having all of those beautiful blues and greens. It seems to tie all the rooms together.
    You are truly my favorite blogger, your quirky decorating style is the closest match to my own I’ve found, but you make me stretch my mind, please don’t stop blogging!
    And I’m so glad to see the bed frame is still hanging! One of my favorite things you have done.

    Reply
  5. Stacy Risenmay says

    December 18, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    WOW! Just wow. You are so adventurous! I doubt I would have painted on scaffolding. I hate heights. It was worth the wait though for sure!

    Reply
  6. Danna Brown says

    December 18, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    Looks FANTASTIC!!!! I love it!!! Good job!!
    Danna

    Reply
  7. Heather says

    December 18, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    Dude. You ARE big pimpin’. And I can’t even imagine your house without this now 🙂 It was totally worth it!

    Reply
  8. the Blah Blah Blahger says

    December 19, 2014 at 1:31 pm

    You are a wild woman!!!

    Reply
  9. Vanessa says

    December 19, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    This is so spectacular!! Mary Blair is one of my all time favorite artists/illustrators and I am obsessed with your idea! I’m totally going to be undertaking this once my husband and I buy a house. AMAZING!!

    Reply
  10. The DIY Homegirl says

    December 22, 2014 at 12:37 am

    Wow! Very impressive! Hats off to you— I don’t think I could’ve committed to such a large project!

    Reply
  11. Andrea says

    December 22, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    Hi! I saw your post about how you made the drum light. I am an electrician and my boyfriend is a drummer so this is the perfect gift idea! I do have a question…. How exactly does the pendant hold the weight of the drum? It looks to me like the whole thing is hanging from the cord with the lightbulb… But wouldnt the weight be too much for that cord? Please email me back! Thanks

    andee26@hotmail.com

    Reply
  12. Kellie says

    December 23, 2014 at 7:27 am

    Wow! It’s stunning and no wonder it took you so long, looking at the details. Definitely not something I would have had the patience to do, just using three colors for mu family/kitchen was enough to make me never want to paint again. This is gorgeous.

    Reply
  13. Jenn(ifer) says

    January 5, 2015 at 10:04 am

    The project was absolutely worth it (though I also look forward to more projects)! Totally stunning and amazing!

    Reply
  14. Alex says

    July 3, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    I know it’s been a while since this was posted, but DAMN. You did SUCH a great job. I just happened to be scrolling through Pinterest for some Mary Blair artwork (love the woman) and saw a thumbnail of your wall. It’s literally impeccable. You’re line control is phenomenal, so clean and sharp! Ugh, I can’t get over it.

    Amazing.

    Reply
    • Lindsay Ballard says

      July 6, 2015 at 9:30 am

      Thank you SO much, Alex!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. My Favorite HomeRight Projects of 2014 says:
    December 31, 2014 at 6:00 am

    […] favorite projects of the year.  Sadly, for this blogger, I basically spent an entire year on one. single. project. Needless to say, I don’t really have 10 amazing projects that I think are worth sharing […]

    Reply
  2. Celebrate Yourself with a DIY Plaque | The Tressle Blog | The Official Blog for Tressle.com says:
    January 7, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    […] day soon, I’ll quit talking about “the wall.”  I’m sorry to say that today isn’t going to be that day. When I could have gestated a […]

    Reply
  3. Stenciled Stepstool for Benjamin - Queen of Everything says:
    January 13, 2015 at 7:35 am

    […] defer to my friend Lindsay on all things painting (have you seen this?? Even more amazing in person!), so of course her blog came through for me on advice on how to […]

    Reply
  4. Case Study: A Charming Staircase Makeover | Teal and Lime by Jackie Hernandez says:
    March 14, 2015 at 5:30 am

    […] to expose myself to different design ideas.  Like the stairwell art, one of the inspirations was Makely School for Girls blog Mary Blair inspired walls.  Three things coalesced in one moment – the problem, a really cool inspiration of something […]

    Reply
  5. An Infusion of Color & Pattern « Brandingly's blog says:
    May 13, 2015 at 10:03 am

    […] 1  |  2  |  3  |  4 |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8 […]

    Reply
  6. Happy Little Cacti - Desert Gems says:
    June 12, 2015 at 9:29 am

    […] happy, energized and in good spirits the second they walk in the door.  I accomplish that through crazy wall treatments, boldly colored furniture and generally unexpected little […]

    Reply
  7. Case Study: A Charming Staircase Makeover | School of Decorating by Jackie Hernandez says:
    November 16, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    […] to expose myself to different design ideas.  Like the stairwell art, one of the inspirations was Makely School for Girls blog Mary Blair inspired walls.  Three things coalesced in one moment – the problem, a really cool inspiration of something […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.


Archives

Categories

PRIVACY POLICY
Copyright © 2009-2019 Makely School for Girls | All Rights Reserved | Posts may contain advertising content or affiliate links