Learn & Laugh

It's wallpaper!

I’ve finished chapter three of Love the Home You Have so, as suggested by the author, here I am to share a DIY fail:) 

This book is so much what I’ve needed. I literally had to wipe away the tears when Melissa reassured me that “Our desire to improve our surroundings ISN’T perfectionism.” She is so right, I do “see [my] mess as a reflection of [my] failure.” I needed to be assured that my “longing for beauty hints at our identity as a reflection of our Creator rather than a flaw in our character.” I’ve had to overcome some voices who called me a “perfectionist” when I was just trying to do the basics well. Thank you Melissa, I’ve needed your words for a long time now. 

My husband and I have DIYed our way through several houses from the beginning of our story. The only home we bought that did NOT need any work never quite felt like “ours”. We are once again in the midst of a remodel & even though it’s a mess, it feels like “ours” already. 

One things we wanted to try was a beadboard/wainscoting ceiling. We bought the materials and the two of us held that heavy sheet of wood up to the ceiling to let the liquid nails adhere. When that didn’t work we tried drywall staples. After several tries and aching arms we gave up. It turned out to be a more complicated project than we had time & energy for just then. We saw these rolls of wallpaper that look like wainscoting & a quick YouTube search found videos of other people using this product. We tried it in a small space first- a hallway- & it worked great! So then we started putting it up in our master bedroom. This was much more difficult. The sheets had to be much longer and handling them when they were wet and the glue was starting to go everywhere was gross! It was like globs of goo dripping all over the place & us! I love how it turned out, so even though the actual wainscoting was a DIY fail, the wallpaper worked! I don’t plan on doing that again anytime soon- although we did laugh-a lot!-and I did get an excellent arm workout out of the project:) 

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8 Comments

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    Your story brought a tear to my eyes, I’m so glad that the book was meaningful to you, your words meant so much to me! And I had to laugh with you about the struggle with your DIY project, but it turned out beautifully!! I love it. Thanks so much for sharing.

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      Wow, thank you so much Melissa! I am reading your book just when I’ve needed it most, I love how our Creator does those perfect, loving little things for us like leading us to just the book we need in the season we are in, after prompting another child of His to write down just the right words. I see that your book is a labor of love that reflects a whole life and I appreciate that work very much. Thank you!!!

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    I laughed at the part where you talked about the arm work out. I wont forget the burning in my arms while planking our kitchen ceiling! We measured the length of our kitchen and got a quote for extra long boards. It was crazy expensive. That is why we had to think outside the box and we used old flooring boards and recycled them onto the ceiling. lol Nobody knows anyways, as they don’t know yours is paper. 😉 We have the look we wanted, and that’s all that matters. 😀 Way to go!

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    Hi Mary! I’m sorry your DIY project turned out to be such a struggle! But I think bead board wall paper turned out GREAT! Who Knew?, I didn’t even know they had wall paper like that.
    Thanks for sharing 🙂

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