Jumping On The Chevron Bandwagon

Hi there!  Hope you all are doing well.  I have a quick post for you today with a few updates on progress in The Babe's room.  Before we get to that, though, I just have to vent for a sec.

This week has totally been a snap back into reality for me (hence the lack of a post yesterday).  You see, last week we were on vacation...in Aspen, Colorado...and it was amazing.

We had such an awesome time, BUT this week has been less fun.  I came back to a big list of projects for The Babe's room, in addition to all the unpacking, laundry and general post-vacation cleaning that's necessary.  Usually, I can just snap to it and get moving, but I've had such a hard time getting motivated this week.  Anybody else feel overwhelmed with the routine after a vacation?  Ugggg.  BUT, I can't just sit around...so I've been slowly getting back into gear.

One of the things I've been working on this week has been painting a very subdued chevron pattern in the dormer area of The Babe's room.  When I first started thinking about the design for her room, I ran across this image on Pinterest and it has stuck with me.  I, of course, loved the grey, white and yellow, but it also looked so fun in a kid's room.

From House Thirty-Six and my Pinterest Board

I know everyone seems to be doing chevron these days, so I purposefully tried to not do it and came up with a stenciling plan instead.  I made my own stencil and started painting it on the walls, but it was too small and I quickly lost my stenciling mojo.  So, I thought back to the chevron pattern I pinned early on in the project, and last week while we were traveling I decided to just do it!

If you're a Facebook fan of The Tall Chick (if you're not, please become one!), then you already know I've been working on it because I posted this in-progress picture Monday.  See...there are benefits of becoming a Facebook fan!  ;)

Since Monday, I've been plugging away at the chevron and now I have another quick peek at how the progress is coming along + a tutorial.  Now, you can get in on the chevron action, too, so I won't feel like I'm the only one jumping on the bandwagon.

Before I get into the details on how I taped everything off, here's a peek at what the finished wall looks like after painting.

It really isn't difficult or time consuming to do this paint technique.  You can use this tutorial as a guide to get started or you can give mine a try!  Here it is!

{FIRST STEP:  MEASURE}

To get started, I measured my wall length; it was 91.25 inches.  I knew I wanted 5 chevrons per wall, so I divided 91.25 by 5.  This gave me a chevron width of 18.25.  Using a tape measure, I put a small dot on each end of the 18.25 inches.  Then, I also marked the midpoint of 18.25, which is 9.125.  I marked all of these points very lightly in pencil, but I've represented them in the image below in orange.  You're basically creating the three points in the triangle.  AND, I just have to say that I'm very proud of my wicked math skills (total joke there, folks!).

{SECOND STEP:  MEASURE + LEVEL + MARK}

Next, I started on the second chevron.  Using the same orange dots again, you can see that all I did was measure down 12 inches from my top marks.  I was sure to use a level to keep everything lined up vertically.  Once I had my pencil marks, I taped off the chevron putting the tape on the outside of the dots.  I also measured, leveled, marked and taped everything in columns.  I found this much easier than working on the chevrons side-by-side.  I think it also saved a considerable amount of time.

Using the level to keep my
dots straight vertically.

After you've done the first couple of chevrons, it really is as easy as connecting the dots.  Then, before you know it, you have this!

{THIRD STEP:  TRIM YOUR POINTS}

It's also important that you trim off the excess tape at the points of your chevrons.  This will give you a nice clean line.  I used an x-acto knife to do this.

Once you have everything trimmed, then it's time for the fun part...PAINTING.  I used a brush to do this because I didn't want it totally solid and was looking for a little "texture".  Sooo, this is what it looked like when I was all done.

Ohh yes, and the curtains are hung...
Hopefully, I'll have more on them this week, too!

So that's a little bit of an update on my progress this week.  I feel like I have tons more to do in the room, but the main things hanging over my head are figuring out my light fixture for the main part of the room and getting the dresser / sideboard painted.  I started sanding and filling in the wood in a few places, but I would guess I'm only about 10% complete.

WISH ME LUCK and can't wait to hear your feedback on the chevron.  Do you forgive me for jumping on the bandwagon?


Linked up @:  Home Stories A to Z, Not Just A Housewife, Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond The Picket Fence, Saved by Love, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Nest, French Country Cottage, At The Picket Fence, Tater Tots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Under The Table & Dreaming