Country Plaque Recon: Drab-to-Fab

[kcartwright856]

So when you watch too much HGTV, you decide that everything needs repainted. My husband and I are moving very soon and we (mostly I) decided that we are painting and decorating our room in a light blue with chocolate brown colored accents and some neat Victorian stencils. We are moving into his old bedroom in his parents' house. (Yay.  ) As my mother-in-law was cleaning out her junk making room for us, she offered me this plaque which you can see from the before pictures is very... something. I decided that it could be made to fit into the style of our new room.

Before:


After: (This is the most true-to-color shot I could manage. Try to picture a brown that looks like liquid chocolate and a light Robin's Egg blue of sorts.)


I sanded it down all over with a paper grit that wasn't quite right, but it got the job done. I painted two coats of brown all over the inside area where the letters are, and painted all the outside blue while I waited for it to dry. Turns out I needed 4 coats of blue to cover the plaid paint. Then I painted the top of the letters, which took me two hours. I didn't have a detail brush, so I just went really slow to ensure that I only covered the tops of the letters. This also took 4 coats. Then I took a stencil I bought to test out how I want to do my walls on poster board, but it was too big for the plaque. I decided to only use the inside of the design. It looked like it needed something more, so I found a little section of the stencil that I thought would look good where the little holes for the hanging wire are. Three coats of clear gloss polyurethane varnish and I call it done. It took quite literally all day (yesterday) from start to finish.

The great news? My husband actually really likes it!

[Eliea]

This is one of the best recon's on this sort of plaque I have seen. You did a great job!

[kcartwright856]

Thanks! Do you guys think it needs anything? I think I have that problem where I don't know when to stop working on something. I can't help but think there is something cool I can do to the heart. But I guess maybe it really is just done. 

[clovergrace]

I love it! I am not a big fan of country decor, and that's what all the heart home plaques tend to look like...you made it amazing and chic!

[aliceownsj00]

I have to totally agree with you on HGTV=painting! My hubby and I just moved into his parent's house (I feel your pain), and I'm trying to convince his mom and dad to paint their faded peach living room.

I love that color scheme, and those scroll stencils look awesome on it! 

[kcartwright856]

I have to totally agree with you on HGTV=painting! My hubby and I just moved into his parent's house (I feel your pain), and I'm trying to convince his mom and dad to paint their faded peach living room.

I love that color scheme, and those scroll stencils look awesome on it! 

We should make a support group.  HGTV is a bittersweet disease, to be sure. I am using the move as an excuse to go a bit deco-crazy. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law is colorblind so I am helping her pick out colors for her other rooms and she just nods!

Thanks for the support on the colors. I needed a pick-me-up after I emailed it to my brother and he said it looks like a bad polyester suit. I guess that's brothers for you. 

[runningbear]

I like it, but the plain blue heart looks a tad unfinished...

[kcartwright856]

I like it, but the plain blue heart looks a tad unfinished...

That's what I keep saying to myself looking at it. 

[MandyLikesPie]

I really like it as it is, but if you think the heart looks unfinished, maybe you could put tiny brown swirls or polka dots in it? Kinda like the dots in the centers of the pretty things in the corners. 

[cnds1992]

this is now so cute and trendy and I love it.