Wainscoting and Wallpaper in a Living Room.

Welcome to Emily’s (my lovely assistant) living room!! 

She and her husband moved into their home, replaced the floors, had a baby and never really did anything else with this living room. 

This is where I shine, guys, in a great room that is just waiting for some oomph!!

Emily wanted a space where she could relax, feel like an adult (no baby toys) and also entertain guests.

She has an existing family room with a sofa, baby toys, tv etc, so this room was a space we could turn into something really special and unique.

We decided to do a quick and inexpensive (even though it looks rich!) wainscoting on three walls and wallpaper on the fourth wall. We wanted to give her room some height and knew this would be the perfect way!

We headed to Lowe’s and bought:

(6) 3/4 inch 8’ strips of wood for above the existing floor trim. This makes the floor trim feel a little ‘beefier’ $29

(20) 1 1/8, 8’ strips of wood for the vertical strips on the walls $104

(1) Caulk (paintable) + (1) caulk gun $13

(1) wood filler $9

(1) gallon of Sherwin Williams Showcase Eggshell in “Nice White” $40

(1) pack of 600 grit sandpaper $8

Total spent on all 3 walls was $203

We took Emily’s wallpaper sample (Emily picked the Ivory Coast wallpaper -find it HERE) with us to Lowes to match it to a paint color. ‘Nice White’ by Sherwin Williams was great match!

We took Emily’s wallpaper sample (Emily picked the Ivory Coast wallpaper -find it HERE) with us to Lowes to match it to a paint color. ‘Nice White’ by Sherwin Williams was great match!

Once at home, we started sanding each piece of wood with the 600 grit sandpaper. This gives the wood a silky smooth finish.

I added one of the 1 1/8 strips of wood at each open corner (the entry into the room). This creates a seamless end of any horizontal trim. Next I started adding the 3/4 strips of wood horizontally around the room, 2 inches above the floor trim. I attached each piece to the wall with my nail gun (find it HERE, on a previous post with all of my power tools linked). Also, make sure you have a level handy to ensure that each piece is straight :).

Once all of those were in place, I started adding the vertical strips above, every 18 inches. I also attached these with my nail gun and used the level as well. Since these strips were only 8’ long, we had to cut and add a few additional inches at the top, for the vaulted wall. Emily and I worked together on this and the entire room took about 6 hours total.

Next up was caulking the sides of the trim pieces, and filling the nail holes. Some people skip this step, but let me tell ya… if you like your things nice and pristine, do not skip this step. This creates a seamless seal and finish on your wainscoting. To wipe off any excess caulk, we use a mix of Dawn soap + water and a rag. Once the wood filler dries (in the nail holes) Emily sanded off any excess with the 600 grit sand paper.

Now it was ready for paint!! Using a nice paint is worth every penny. You can tell the difference in the thickness of the paint and how well it covers. One time I bought a paint that was not my first choice. I ended up needing 4 coats of paint in my space. That was a pain in the butt, but I learned my lesson!! Pay the extra $20 for the nice stuff. 

Emily’s living room took 2 coats of paint (only 1 gallon). She had some paint rollers on hand, so we did not need to buy those. 

Even though we were going to cover one of the walls with wallpaper, we still painted it. Having a base color that matches your wallpaper is always a plus! If for any reason your seams do not meet up or you trim a piece a little too short, that matching base paint will camouflage any mistakes :). Emily painted with her father-in-law and this it took them a full day to complete.

Next up, wallpaper!! This part is the icing on the cake. It made the entire room come to life!!

Since prepasted wallpaper strips are sold according to ceiling height, we were able to order exactly what we needed, without any waste. On Emily’s vaulted ceiling, we used (1) 10’, (3) 9’ and (2) 8’ (Shop all of the wallpapers HERE).

We started at the highest point (with the 10’ wallpaper) and worked our way down. When working with a vaulted wall, you want to have any excess/trimmable wallpaper at the top, rather than at the bottom. 

Wallpapering this wall took about 2 hours total.

Once our walls were done, we moved in the new furniture!!!!!!!!! Already in this room were the shelves in the corner and Emily’s family’s piano :)

Here is everything that we got for her new STUNNING living room:

(4) World Market chairs $1854. Emily snagged these when they were on sale. Also, I always recommend slipcovered (washable) furniture when you have children. Linked HERE.

(1) coffee table $30. I found this table at my favorite consignment shop.

(6) strips of Ivory Coast wallpaper $349. Linked HERE

(1) Guiseley 8x10 wool rug $334 with the code CC60. Linked HERE.

Total spent on decor + furniture was $2567

We are still on the hunt for the perfect mirror (for the wall directly across from window) and the perfect lamp :).

Even though we worked on this room over the course of a month (I was busy at Copper Corners and Emily had National Guard duty + a vacay) the amount of actual time that we spent working in this room was 3 days. 

For 3 days and a total of $2770, we completely transformed this space. No demo was involved (or needed) and we used basic power tools.

So, what do you think?? Is this something you could do?? Comment below!!

I hope you loved seeing this and that it sparks some fun ideas for your space!!

Cheers!!

xo

Mary-Catheryn

An Update On The Revamped Oak Office, Turned Movie / Tv / Play Room

Hi Guys!!

We finally added wallpaper!!! If you want to see this room from the very beginning, check out the post HERE.

I completed this room with the Cheerio Wallpaper in Blush. I chose the prepasted and used the 9’ strips, because I have 9’ ceilings. This wall is 10.5’ long, so I used 6 strips total.

A few reasons I chose this Cheerio design are because:

1. It is freaking phenomenal.

2. I wanted a touch of whimsical, while still being classic

3. This design has so many great muted colors, that if I ever decide to change the walls, I can pull from the beautiful blues, greens, browns and creams that are in the wallpaper, easily creating a completely different vibe with just a new paint color.

4. I already have the original Cheerio wallpaper in my half bath and LOVE it.

See those other colors I mentioned? I could easily paint this room a subtle blue and completely change the feel of it.

It took me about 2.5 hours to install this pre-pasted wallpaper. If you would like to see the process, you can find me on Instagram under @CopperCorners. There I have saved the wallpapering process in my highlights :).

I had put this entire room together to be our new movie/tv room and guess what I forgot to get….. a tv🙃. So we just looked at ourselves in the mirror for a few weeks. ha!

Once we got the tv, the rest of the room came together beautifully.

You can find my:

Console Table | Rug | Ottoman | Chandelier | Cheerio Wallpaper | Baskets | Fig Tree

Next I added the Bathhouse Artwork because it is a stunning piece that I wish I had in every room of my house. This is the 24x32 paper print in the Classic Gold Frame + Mat.

We love this room so much!! It has even turned into one of my husband’s favorite rooms in our house. Everything about it is cozy and we typically end up in here every night as a family to watch either Home Alone, What About Bob or some other late 80’s\90’s movie ;).

Every sofa in my house is from Pottery Barn. My oldest one is over 18 years old and is still in perfect shape. I always recommend the slipcovered pieces, (especially in the twill fabric if you have kiddos) because they are super easy to remove, wash, dry and put back on. The sofa looks brand new after every wash, no matter what my children have done to it lately 🙃. Sectional Sofa. Also, Pottery barn and West Elm (the ottoman) always have white glove delivery, which means, they deliver, set it up and remove all of the packaging. Avoid an Ikea-Assembly fight with your partner at all costs!! Ha! Worth every penny.

Before I go, here is a little shot of the other side of the room. No room is complete without a lamp!! And of course a fabulous room calls for an extra fabulous floor lamp! Lighting at different elevations (lights are not just for the ceiling!) are what give a room that extra cozy feel, especially in the evening. I searched for a few months until I spotted THIS FLOOR LAMP. Once it arrived, it was everything I had hoped for.. Also, it arrived completely assembled!! Lord bless their heart because there is nothing nicer than opening a box and immediately having it function, and not having to put something together!! Cheers to that!! Drapes.

Alright, m’dears!! I hope I did not forget anything!!! If I did, just let me know below in the comments :). Hopefully this helps inspire YOUR new fabulous space :).

XO

M-C

keywords: Blush paint, playroom Inspo, movie room, tv room, family room, pink living room, blush family room, cool wallpaper, Grand Rapids michigan, Artist, art gallery.

Changing An Oak Office Into a Blush Family Room - Installing Wallpaper Next!

Hello M’dears!!

I know that sometimes we need to see something to feel the inspiration for our own spaces. So here is a peek at a room in my home that has had many makeovers!! Perhaps one of them will inspire your space!

I know pictures do all the talking, so I won’t go into greeeaaaat detail. Also, I am at home with 3 children and its almost dinner time. So, if you have a question, leave it in the comments below!!

This room was green with a golf-themed border when we moved in.

I painted the walls gray, moved my painting studio in and used the back wall as my wallpaper wall (wall where I test wallpaper ideas). Wasn’t it so cute!?!? The pattern shown on this wall is one I turned into a wallpaper. The two options are Studio Walls (small) and Studio Grande (large). They are fab!

Fast forward 2 years and my art studio moved, once again, into the Copper Corners Art Gallery (you can visit us HERE!). After moving into the new gallery… this room was abandoned. Chernobyl-style. It looked like I left in a hurry and never came back. Paint stains on the floors, old paint brushes all over, random pieces of art hanging on the walls… and the worst part… it stayed like that for about a year. Ever heard the saying ‘The cobbler’s children have no shoes’? Yes, same here. I am so busy making sure that your spaces are stunning and beautiful, that mine sometimes get left behind. For a year. Ha!

Here is a peek at what this room looked like for year. And this is right off of our foyer, guys! Which means that everyone who came over... saw my room of shame. I did manage to wallpaper the hallway though and it is STUNNING! It is the Slow Dance - Night wallpaper.

Chernobyl art studio

Since I was sick of living like a complete degenerate, the first thing we did was tear out the carpet and install hardwood floors. These floors are stunning in person and not nearly as expensive as I thought hardwoods would be! You can find what I used HERE. Since the stain was a tad different than our existing floors, we laid them horizontally (in a different direction).

Once the floors were installed I started doing the really fun stuff. Nailing boards to the wall. Ok, not fun. But DEFINITELY worth it in the end!

Here is a lovely photo of me, from a fascinating angle (taken by my daughter). I bought a whole bunch of these thin strips of wood from Lowes. They are about an inch wide and 1/4 inch thick, I spaced them 1.5 feet apart. Always have a level to make sure you are nailing them straight.

The strips only came in 8ft lengths and I have 9 ft ceilings. So, if you look at the bottom of the photo you will see a horizontal strip of wood, a few inches above the floor trim. I did this so that the 8ft lengths would work. Also, it beefs up the floor trim making it look better and giving the trim a richer feel..

Next up, testing paint. When painting more than one wall pinkl, my rule of thumb is to go a few shades more muted than you originally wanted. Once pink is on all 4 walls, it bounces off of each other, reflecting and making the room even more pink than you imagined. Tone it down.

I bought a few samples, tested them on all walls and decided that LoveBug by Valspar was the winner!

I also bought THIS RUG which I love, but decided that it would do much better in our upcoming Margarita/coffee/reading/adult room, because Barbie shoes and legos disappeared into the rug within the first hour that is was out. More on that upcoming room soon!!!!!

Lovebug Valspar will be on three walls. The fourth wall will be the tv wall, which will have the wallpaper CHEERIO BLUSH behind it. I am giddy with excitement to get to that part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once the first coat of paint was on the wall, I COULD NOT CONTROL MYSELF OR WAIT ANY LONGER. I immediately unrolled THIS RUG, put THIS TABLE together and pulled out some of my FAVORITE ARTWORK. The kids couldn’t wait either. They moved their dinosaur collection in ;).

Once the paint was actually finished, we moved everything in! The WALLPAPER still needs to be in installed, so that will be coming up soon in another blog post :). But, boy oh boy, I freaking love it!!! Today the kids told me that it is their favorite room in the house! Even my son, who was skeptical about the blush, says he loves it :).

I really wanted to have a sleek look that would showcase the CHEERIO WALLPAPER, so I painted the crown moulding as well as the floor trim the same Lovebug color as the walls.

Ok, I know you want to know ALL THE THINGS, so here are a few inks for the CHANDELIER , PIG ARTWORK, RUG, SOFA, FIG TREE and the CONSOLE TABLE..

And just because it is SO MUCH FUN to see before and afters…. here is one for you!

Next up will be installing the Cheerio wallpaper and then we will move on to the Margarita room!!!! Cheers to that!!!!!

Xo

M-C

P.S. UPDATE: Click HERE to see the wallpaper installed :).