Wallpaper ain't just for your Grandma's house anymore...

I have a sick addiction to Home Renovation blogs.  I have found a plethora of great tips and advice from painting cabinets to playroom organization.  I absolutely love these kind of blogs!  So, I thought I would start a portion of my blog dedicated to home renovations.  My most recent adventure was actually a birthday gift!  All I wanted for my birthday this year was a gallon of paint.  (We all know that it doesn't stop there.. but it at least got the hubby's attention.)

Our bedroom has always been red.  When we lived at our apartment we had one red wall and since we didn't want to change all our bedding/furniture when we moved, we just kept the red.  It was the best room ever for sleeping.  Black curtains and dark red walls made you feel like you were in a cave.  But needless to say, all things have a season, and I was ready to move on.  5 years of red walls had me itching for a change!  When we moved into our house every wall had wallpaper.  By the time we got all the wallpaper down we just slapped up paint colors on the wall and got the job done as fast as we could.  So most rooms in this house are not my style.  I'm an old country cottage feel with a modern twist. 

I originally was looking at bathroom renovations when I found my inspiration for this project.  I came across this picture and fell in love immediately!

I loved the 2/3 wall covered in bead board.  So, I started researching the cost of bead board.  Not a cheap thing!  And not always easy for DIY home renovators.  I wasn't going to talk the hubby into too much of a cost.  So I ran across a blog that talked about "paintable wallpaper".  A lot of people are against wallpaper, but I have seen my mom do some pretty cool things with it.  So I wasn't afraid.  I read all about it and found out that it was really easy to find and put up.  I found some online at Home Depot for $20 a roll.  Not too bad until I saw the weekly Menard's ad with a sale for paintable wallpaper, $10 a roll.  Went out and picked up 3 rolls that day!  That jump started my hubby's motivation.  I still had to go buy paint.  I knew I wanted a new fresh feel but wasn't sure of the color yet.  I kept telling everyone.. I will know the color when I see it.  Walked into Home Depot by myself one day.  Saw the color immediately and bought a gallon of Behr's new Paint + Primer. (AWESOME PRODUCT!)

So the hubby painted the walls.  I hung the wallpaper (with a little coaching from mama bear).  Painted the wallpaper. (It comes white already but it was a little too bright white for my liking.)  Painted all the window trim white.  (Originally had the intent of painting all trim white but I didn't feel like ruining my carpet. I'm not that great of a painter.)  Bought very wide chair rail (one of my splurges on this project).  And the hubby even spoiled and bought me new bedding.

So here is the before:

And the after: (Sorry I am having to use my old camera so forgive the quality of these pics!)

New bedding is not shown in this pic.  Unless you can see my polka dot sheets?  LOL!

Yep.  It really is wallpaper!

Another renovation was the mirror on this dresser.  It is an antique my mother gave me.  It was painted gold.  There's nothing a can of spray paint can't fix.

I have a weakness for Black and White.  I'm thinking it is going to be appearing in a few more rooms very soon. 

On to the next project!