The “O” Project: Applying your initials to the Wall
ByI have an allergy to empty wall space. It’s sad and untreatable. I try really hard to live with blank space on the walls knowing that not everyone needs to be surrounded on all sides my STUFF, but my condition wins out and I put something else on the wall. After my last family room redesign I had a chunk of white space in the upper right hand corner of the room; I thought a collection of our last initial would be rather fitting for the space. With our initial being a basic circle I had to search for shapes that had a little variation to them, your last initial will probably be a little more interesting!
What you need:
- an odd number of raw, unpainted letters (material isn’t so important, they can be wood, cardboard etc)
- craft paint (multiple colors or variations of one)
- sponge brush
- drop cloth or magazines, newspapers etc
- hanging materials
Whatever your letter may be, start with raw, unpainted pieces
- Step one, paint your letters. In the interest of making this as easy and clean as possible I put the paint directly on the piece and paint from there. Unless you have a really clear understanding of how much paint you need and how it moves/drips I would suggest starting out with your paint on a paper plate or palette. Squeeze out a 2″ diameter blob and dip with each stroke. Do at least two coats, three if you’re patient to make sure the raw surface is completely covered.
a couple of magazines and a sponge brush is all you need
Whether you are working with a palette or free painting the piece while holding it you are going to need somewhere to set it down. You don’t need anything fancy for this part, I use old magazines and just open them up for a larger area. You can use newspaper, open paper grocery bags; when I do a large painting I use an old shower curtain liner. Use your imagination, just make sure you won’t mind whatever you choose being covered in paint.
attach your hanging hardware to the backside
Unless the letters you chose came with hanging hardware you are going to need to attach your own. I found a picture hanging kit in our tool closet and started to attach the hanging bar with teeth. The tiny nails were IMPOSSIBLE to nail in on our family room carpet (it was pretty late at night when I did this project and I didn’t want to anger our downstairs neighbor) So I improvised and just used the thumbtacks to attach the tooth bars. Each letter is so light that the thumbtacks were more than secure and incredibly easy to apply.
make sure every piece has numerous coats to cover raw surface
I like to arrange the letters on the floor in the pattern I want to see on the wall so I’m not flying blind. But my two year old desperately wanted to help so by the time the O’s were up on the wall they ended up looking like I wanted a bunch of O’s in the shape of an O on the wall. Not what I was going for but I have yet to change it so it isn’t THAT bad.
find your hanging space on your wall
fill your empty wall space
In the end, the empty space is filled, I can breathe easier without all that potential staring me in the face everyday. I really like the final project even though, like everything I do, I want to make some changes and improvements before I am completely happy. One of these days I will take them down and vary the metallic finish a bit as well as change the design on the wall. But overall I am representing my pride in being an Overgard…and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!
