Thursday, September 12, 2013

Just a Little Chevron


My daughter had her first day of Preschool today, wow how time has flown. She had a great day which will make going back next week much easier. I can't believe how big my baby is getting, only one more year until she is in Kindergarten. But I am not going to think about that now. It is really weird being home in an empty house. I might actually be productive this year. Maybe.

I really like chevron, but I wasn't sure how it would work in my home, so I just waited. Now I think I may have waited too long because I don't see it as much anymore. But I am going to give it a try anyway. I have had this old picture in my basement for a while now. It used to live at my parents condo in Florida a LONG time ago. It worked great there but not anywhere else.


I removed the canvas from the frame by pulling 3 nails in the back holding the canvas to the frame.


It is a painted canvas and has quite a bit of texture from the paints. So first I sanded it down a bit so the ridges from the grass and waves were not so big.  After that I wiped it down with a wet paper towel and let it dry completely.

Then I used a small roller and painted it with some left over paint in Alabaster by Sherwin Williams. I did two coats to really cover the print underneath.


I looked up a lot of tutorials on painting a chevron design and they all seemed like a lot of work. Now I remember why I waited so long to do this project. I really didn't want to mark up the whole canvas. I was afraid the pencil marks would not erase, as some people had mentioned in their tutorials, and I would have to repaint all the white areas. No thank you. So I came up with an easy way that worked for me. I played with different sizes before I came up with one I liked. I cut up pieces of paper and laid them on the canvas to see how they looked. I am very visual so I needed to see what the design would look like before I started marking the lines.

My canvas is 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall so I could fit 3 chevron peaks evenly across the top. Each one was 8 inches wide. Below I show my dimensions. I made several different sizes before I found one I liked.

Easy Chevron template - The Colored Door


Easy Chevron Painting - The Colored Door

1. I taped my templates together to complete a row and I made two rows just so I could really visualize it before I painted. I wanted to make sure the spacing was what I wanted. My chevrons are 3 inches tall and I spaced them by 3 inches so it is even all the way down.
2. I then traced my template onto the canvas. I did tape down the template with a few pieces of tape to secure it.
3. Just showing my pencil marks
4. I then added painters tape just inside the pencil marks so the pencil marks would be painted over. I really didn't want to see them when I was done.

Easy Chevron Painting - The colored Door

5. I traced all the rows 3 inches apart.
6. Then I went back and taped all of them. ( my little girl was photo bombing, she wanted in a picture so bad)
7. I painted my first coat of paint using Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams ( I had a sample left over from when we painted our master bedroom).
8. I then added a second coat of paint and then removed the tape right away. Gotta love immediate gratification.

I wanted to use what I had on hand but I would recommend using the delicate painters tape because mine did take off the white paint in a few spots.


I can't believe I waited so long to do this because I absolutely LOVE it. I am not sure how I am going to refrane from making one for each room in my house. It is so bright and fun and different than anything else I have done. This may not be the final resting place for the picture, but this is a good start.

Easy Chevron Painting - The Colored Door

Easy Chevron Painting- the colored door


Easy Chevron painting- The Colored Door

Easy Chevron Painting- The Colored Door

Have you used Chevrons in your home? It wasn't as hard as I was expecting which is always a pleasant surprise since usually it is opposite.









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10 comments:

  1. This is really cute! Thanks for the tutorial and I can't wait to try it out :) Pinning!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Katrina! Happy painting and have a good weekend.
      Tammy

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  2. How pretty! Your chevron canvas turned out great! I love the gray against the white, it looks lovely! :)

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  3. Super cute! What a great idea to reuse a canvas you already had. Looks great in the room.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Nicole! I can't believe it took me so long to do this project.

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  4. Looks awesome!! Love that soft grey.

    So glad your daughter's enjoying school! Oh wow, just the thought of my girl's first day at pre-school makes me want to do the ugly-cry. Then I think about the stuff I could accomplish whilst she's in school & that makes me want to cry w/ joy. Bittersweet, these mama moments! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Freckles Chick! It was a fun project.

      I held it together this year but it was not easy. I miss my little shadow. I am still getting used to the free time and using it wisely.

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  5. This is beautiful! I love how simple it is, but still so elegant.

    Visiting from the Happy Hour Projects link party.

    Rachelle S.
    www.stitchesbyrachelle.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think it goes well with your decor, the modern version of stripes :) I like how you reused the old painting too, great job :)

    ReplyDelete

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