I love Decorating.

I started this project about two months ago or so. Usually, I don't like ones that stretch out for so long b/c I'm obsessed with the before and after. But I burn through projects and project money so fast that I had to come up with one that would take a long time. I started painting the red. Then I mixed some cream into the existing yellow. But that was still too dark. It looked like McDonald's, as Chad so kindly put it. Honestly they were two too bold colors that competed. So I did a wash with the cream on top of it. I can barely tell, even in person, and I'm the one that did it.
Then I finished the red, started stenciling it, and found this curtain on clearance for $5! The fabric I wanted was going to cost over $100, so I'd call that a win!
You probably have to click on the picture to see it. The stenciling is a damask pattern I found online, traced onto some plastic, and cut out with an exacto knife. I love it. I took some of the wall color and mixed some craft paints into it to get the color I wanted. I wanted to just use polyurethane. I've seen it done in a bold strip. It's really subtle, just a sheen change. But it was too runny for such a delicate stencil. Then I went over it with a brown wash around the edges. I think it looks like aged wall paper. Chad says it looks like water damage... eh, what does he know j/k : ) As expected, it took forever, but I only got sick of it after making 4 stencils and then again having to scrape the paint off b/c it was too heavy to line it up properly. Still a win, I just won't be doing it again. Oh, I even painted the outlet covers. They were a weird coppery color. Now they're black with some brown distressing. Much better. Oh and be sure to check back in about 5-10 years when it's furnished. It'll be great, I promise.