Today I hope to inspire you to create your own DIY Board and Batten Wainscoting. My Master Bedroom Makeover is slowly but surely coming along nicely. I am happy to say that after weeks of working on the walls, they are finally finished!

I began by painting the walls before we put the new flooring in. I figured it would be easier since I didn’t care if paint spilled on the old, cruddy rug. I painted the top half of the wall a pretty soft blue and the bottom half of the wall satin white about 34″ up from the baseboards. Here is a photo of the room as the floor was being installed…..

To create the board and batten wainscoting I started with fourteen 1/2 inch thick 4″ X 6′ Fence Pickets at Lowe’s for $1.09 each. Each one was very rough to the touch so I sanded them smooth with my electric sander.

I painted each one a yummy deep chocolate brown.

Being that I am doing an Equestrian Theme in the bedroom, I wanted to give them a slightly rustic, shabby chic look. I went over each one with two coats of satin white paint using a dry brush effect so the brown would sporadically show through.

Once the paint was dry I cut off the rounded dog ear on the top of each picket, then cut each 70″ board in half.

I nailed each picket to the wall spacing them about 24″ apart, using a level as a guide.

Instead of capping it off, I stopped there and started on the damask stencil design on the upper half of the wall. I bought a large damask stencil off of Ebay and used a small roller to apply the paint.

I really was not loving the endless sea of beige damask on the wall. (this picture is awful, it looks orange. My apologies.) It was overwhelming and bland. I will show you how I fixed that issue in a moment.

Days later, when all of the stenciling was completed I moved on to capping off the Board and Batten Wainscoting. I bought a few 8′ long 1″ X 3″ furring strips at Lowes for about a buck a piece. Since they were cheap, they were not exactly straight. I ended up screwing each board directly into the wall studs so they would lay flush. I chose to counter sink each screw and followed up with Spackle to cover each hole.

Not looking too pretty here!

A few days later I went around the room caulking the gap where the board met the wall and also did this to each individual picket. It took me about two hours to caulk the whole room.

When that was dry it was time to touch up all the paint. You can see in the photo below what I did to the stencil design. Every few stencils, I went back in and lightly highlighted the design with a dark brown and pink. It makes the wall pop, gives your eye a place to rest. It looks amazing.

I took it a bit further and added a little bling to each highlighted stencil by sticking one of David Tutera’s Adhesive Rhinestones to the bottom. You can purchase them online or the bridal section of Michael’s Craft Store. Sorry I don’t have pictures of the finished look yet but it does give the room some added elegance.

And here is a larger view of my new walls and my version of a Board and Batten Wainscoting. What do you think? I love the look. It was a challenging and time consuming project but well worth it.

In case you are wondering why the bed looks a bit bland and low, well, it is! The mattress and boxspring is sitting on the floor because my bed frame is patiently waiting in my garage for it’s facelift. I also have a pile of fabric waiting to be transformed into a new coverlet for the bed.

Stay tuned to see how my master bedroom makeover is progressing!

Have a great day!

~Lisa

New to my blog? I would love for you to join me on my decorating adventures! Learn how to decorate on a budget creatively, get crafty ideas and be inspired to tackle your own design projects. You can subscribe via email below and never miss a post!

Lisa's Creative Designs Blog Master Bedroom Update: DIY Board and Batten Wainscoting

Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms out there

Take a few minutes to stop and smell the roses. This is your day!

As a working, “entrepeneur” Mom I am always on the go. Some days I get so overwhelmed that I feel that I can’t catch my breath. My “To-Do” list is always getting longer. I feel as if I am  always being in pulled in different directions, juggling work, my home and my family. “Exhausted” has become my middle name. I know there are a lot of Moms out there in the same boat.

Today I am taking a Me Day, a day to relax and spend time with my hubby and kiddos. I may even sniff some roses!

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

~Lisa

Lisa's Creative Designs Blog Happy Mother’s Day To All

What’s The Funky Chicken??? No, it’s not a place that sells great fried chicken. It’s an adorable little shop that offers an eclectic mix of new, vintage and redesigned decor, gifts and more.

I have been all moved in for about a month and a half now and thought I would share a couple of pictures with you today. We still have quite a bit of space to fill in the store and I am loving every minute of the hustle and bustle of creating new merchandise before the beach season officially starts on Memorial Day weekend.

I have really missed having a retail space and it is so nice to have an area to work in that does not include messing up my kitchen or dining room with all my project “stuff”.

Here is a couple of photos I took right after we reopened the Funky Chicken on March 16th. It’s looks a little different now but you can get an idea of what our shop looks like.

Being that we are at the beach, we have a lot of beach inspired items. I love the wallpaper mural on the wall.

Shabby ‘n Chic gifts and decor….ooh-la-la!

Here’s is our little Country Vintage Farmhouse vignette. It’s so sweet.

We even have a small baby nook! It is a little bit empty in this photo but I am working on it.

This big metal Funky Chicken is our “Mascot” for the shop. He sits out in the hallway welcoming everyone!

We still have a couple of weeks before beach season starts so am working on adding more and more to the showroom floor. I am really loving being back in the retail world. I have missed it so. Having my website and blog is great but it does not give you the same satisfaction of meeting your customers face to face. Having the store has also let me start working on larger furniture pieces again like this Beachy coffee table I just finished. Please feel free to checkout our new website www.TheFunkyChickenShop.com for more info on the store.

Master Bedroom Update:

We have been working on our master bedroom for a few weeks now and it is progressing nicely. I am happy to say that the new floors are done in the master bedroom. They are just gorgeous!

After about two weeks of sanding, spackling, hammering and painting, the board and batten wainscoting is finished! I don’t have a photo to share with you just yet but this is what it looked like mid-project. It was a lot of work, more than I anticipated, but it turned out wonderfully! I can’t wait to show you the finished, “after” photos!

More pictures of our master bedroom makeover coming soon!

Well, that’s all for today. If you ever find yourself visiting Emerald Isle, NC, please stop in The Funky Chicken and say Hello.

Have A Great Day!

~Lisa

New to my blog? I would love for you to join me on my decorating adventures! Learn how to decorate on a budget creatively, get crafty ideas and be inspired to tackle your own design projects. You can subscribe via email below and never miss a post!

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Lisa's Creative Designs Blog Doin’ The Funky Chicken At The Beach…My New Home

Spring is in full swing here in eastern North Carolina and Mother’s Day is right around the corner! Today I thought I would share with you how crafting with vintage tea cups is just perfect for Mother’s Day.

Of course Mom would love a pretty afternoon Mother’s Day Tea with her best girls but there are plenty of other ways we can celebrate Mother’s Day by crafting with vintage tea cups.

I created this beautiful Victorian Tea Cup Wreath by hot gluing vintage teacups, silk flowers and some trinkets found at a flea market to a simple grapevine wreath. Spend an afternoon with Mom creating one of your own.

Simply wrap a scented votive candle with tulle, tie with a ribbon and place inside a dainty china teacup for a quick gift.

Create a Pretty China Mosaic Picture Frame with an inexpensive wooden frame, some broken china teacups and saucers. Place a favorite picture of you and Mom together inside and you have an absolutely wonderful gift for Mother’s Day!

A few years ago I did a Tea Party for a bunch of Red Hatters and we made a bunch of these adorable Teddy Bear Tea Cups Favors. They came out so cute! Once you find a charming tea cup, you can find everything else at your local craft store. I just used hot glue to put it all together.

In honor of Mother’s Day I have placed everything in my Vintage China Cupboard on sale this week. Please feel free to pop on over and take a peek here.

Have you ever crafted with vintage tea cups? What did you make? I would love to know!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

~Lisa

New to my blog? I would love for you to join me on my decorating adventures! Learn how to decorate on a budget creatively, get crafty ideas and be inspired to tackle your own design projects. You can subscribe via email below and never miss a post!

Linking Today To:

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Lisa's Creative Designs Blog Crafting With Vintage Tea Cups For Mother’s Day