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.

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.

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.

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.

br />
Linked up over at: Imparting Grace, The 36th Avenue, Shabby Creek Cottage, The Frugal Girls, A Glimpse Inside, Shabby Nest, Happy Hour Projects, While He was Napping, The Charm of Home, Young and Crafty, 30 Handmade Days, My Blessed Life, Tatertots and Jello, It's Overflowing, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Or so she says, A Vision to Remember, Flamingo Toes, Under the Table Dreaming, DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrifty Things, Homemaker on a Dime, Suburbs Mama, Uncommon Designs, Skip to My Lou, Craft O Maniac, Keeping it Simple, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, The Blackberry Vine, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Cherished Bliss, Handy Man Crafty Woman, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Someday Crafts, Tilly's Nest, DIY by Design, Happy Hour Projects, A Glimpse Inside, Be Different Act Normal, Its Overflowing, One Project Closer, Suburbs Mama, DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrifty Things, Uncommon Designs, Under the table Dreaming, Craft O Maniac, Skip to my Lou, I should be mopping the floor, Balancing Home