Friday, May 9, 2014

tinkering project: love is (wallpapered) blinds

Left: Savannah by Pottery Barn Kids; right: Antique Rose Bouquet, Cath Kidston
In a recent post (exterior illumination) I detailed my excitement over finally having ideas come together for the exterior of my Cape Cod style house. I still haven't painted either side of the back door but I had been thinking about replacing the existing and broken mini blinds inside with something else, something with pattern. And then inspiration hit and I was out the door to the home improvement store.

Fabric: Spray Flowers by Cath Kidston
Perusing the aisle of blinds I was drawn to the 2" faux wooden ones rather than the narrow 1" sort. The wider slats seemed right for a decoupage experiment. My next stop was the office supply store for color copies of fabric which I intended to adhere on each blind and then coat with a light finish.

I decided to keep the blinds in-tact and simply work around the cords. I started with the decorative valance which I covered with paper trimmed-to-fit and finished with a coat of Mod Podge. The paper began to bubble a bit, which happens, and so I smoothed it out using light pressure from my fingers along with the directed heat of a blog dryer. Blah. This was going to take forever. Was there a better way?


Wallpaper! Of course! No sealer-coat required! And I had a roll that I bought years ago knowing I would find a use for it someday. Now if I had a matte board and rotary cutter I suppose this could've been even easier but instead I tinkered and improvised: I cut sections of wallpaper small enough to fit my guillotine-style paper cutter and then trimmed to fit the two sizes of the three sections required for each slat.


Since I plan to shorten the length of the blinds (after I muster-up the courage), I extended them to determine just how many slats would need to be covered: twenty-three. Unroll, cut, chop. Unroll, cut, chop. Unroll ... you get the picture.


For the final step, I grabbed my trusty glue stick (Elmer's gel) and affixed each piece to a slat, gently smoothing to adhere well. Was each piece the perfect fit? Of course not. Did I even attempt to match-up the patterns slat by slat? No way! This is tinkering, after all.


This weekend's plan now includes prepping, priming and painting the back door so that I can take nice final photos and write this up as a tidy tutorial for Romantic Homes!

To paint shiny white


Hmm. Now I'm thinking the exterior of the back door will be the blue of the wallpapered blinds ...

Fickle-osity continues ...

xo

elyse

28 comments:

By Neymes said...

EXCELENTE IDÉIA,PARABÉNS.VALÉRIA.(BRASIL).

Maryjane-The Beehive Cottage said...

Clever girl! I love it to pieces!!!! xox

Passionate for White said...

Thanks for including your trial and errors....very helpful for us. Your blinds look awesome!

Victoria said...

How lovely!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! Love this to pieces!

I haven't used Elmers gel stick. I'll check it out.

I'm going to send you a couple questions over facebook.

Sugar Pink Boutique said...

I have to say out of all of your gorgeous creations this one is THE BEST!!!!! I LOVE it so much I'm going to have to try it soon! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas we enjoy them so much! Hugs and God bless, Jennifer xoxoxo

Claudia said...

Adorable.

Jil~Say It With Roses said...

Thank you for idea, inspiration and wonderful tutorial! I am wondering if I could really do this. We have three windows in the living room with wood blinds and it would give the room such a new look...Thank you, again! ♥

vivian said...

really cute!

Pocketful of Patterns said...

LOVE this!!

Lisascraftiques said...

Gorgeous! I love Cath Kidston and that pattern is wonderful!

Heaven's Walk said...

Sweetness! I love this project! So cute and very ingenius!!!! Looks fabulous!!!

xoxo laurie

Theresa said...

Oh what an awesome idea and gorgeous! Enjoy your Mother's Day dear Elyse, HUGS!

debi said...

well, you've outdone yourself with this project! this is just too, too stinkin' cute. love it!!

cindy said...

Going to try it with toile...

Kit said...

So lovely! What a clever idea! Kit

Danielle said...

Ooooh, love so much! x

Bobbi @ 3GLOL said...

This is an awesome idea! Not sure I would have the patience with it. But I'm wondering if you could use some of that trendy tape instead?

Thanks for sharing and inspiring me to do something with my blinds :))

Shanice Bannis said...

I love this idea! I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams starts on Fridays :D Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.

Unknown said...

Hi stopping by from Silver Pennies Sunday! This is such a great project and it looks so fabulous! Makes me wonder if I should do that to some of my blinds. :)
Leelee @ paperbagstyling

srpprcrftr said...

That's why people like us don't get rid of things, never ever know when something will be perfect and it sure looks like that wall paper is perfect for those blinds. I absolutely love how the paper looks on the blinds, genius idea. Happy weekend Pinning

Unknown said...

Good job turning those tedious blinds into interesting ones! The design itself is really attractive and refreshing to see first thing in the morning. I'm sure those who get to read your post about this will be inspired to make their own variations. Cheers!

Greg Arnett

Desiree @ The 36th AVENUE said...

Such a cute idea... I am pinning!

Anwar Fazil said...

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=37387500&postID=8538031951694415879&page=1&token=1407744966061&isPopup=true#form

entirely apropos said...

I'm so inspired! Also, love following you on facebook! I have pinned and will enjoy revisiting this post and possibly trying this! Thank you so much! - Julie

Fernanda said...

Excelent post. Já está marcado nos meus favoritos. Adorei este site ao ler vi que era o que eu estava procurando, Estou ansiosa para ler seu próximo artigo, parabéns.
Natalia e muito Swing um abraço

Versimiltudes said...

This is so much cheaper than drapes. I have the 2" blinds but was tired of them, they're so boring. What a fabulous idea. Sheer genius!

Shades said...

I have used this method for years.I just use a good all purpose cleaner and a regular garden sprayer on the hose.I did have some white blinds discolor slightly from leaving in the sun so best dry them in the shade.
window blinds houston