Evolution of Our Hallway.

For just being a hallway, ours has undergone quite a few changes in the short time we've owned our home. First and most importantly, we knocked down quite a few walls to create our open floor plan.  

Then once that happened, I knew I needed to spice up the blank slate.

I added a stencil...quite a daunting task for a first time stenciler, but boy was it worth it!

Then I added some much needed frames.  I thought that was good, but quickly realized it was still lacking something.

So I decided to add a lot more frames to create four mini-gallery walls.  I now realize I only showed off the first gallery that went up...and after that I lost steam on the project.  The frames were up for quite some time, but I never got around to filling them with meaningful art, words and photos.  {Please tell me I'm not the only one who moves slower than molasses at that task!!}

After my gallery walls were up, I surely thought our hallway was almost done.  I just needed to fill the frames find the perfect mirror to hang where my current "place-holder" mirror is.  Ohhhh, if only that was the case. ;)

To be perfectly honest, I just wasn't feeling the pattern I put up in the hallway anymore.  Don't get me wrong...I really did love it when it first went up!  At that point in time, it felt like a big risk to put a pattern up over our entire hallway.  I loved the extra something it added, but as time passed, I realized it wasn't enough for me.  My style is constantly evolving, and along with that evolution, I seem to gain courage to take more risks and try new things.

I was craving more.  I wanted a bold statement in our hallway, and after seeing YHL paint their floor, I knew the exact pattern I was searching for...Royal Design Studio's Suzani Silk Road.  

I placed my order the same day YHL's post went live, and I couldn't wait to paint over our stenciled hallway to give me a fresh new canvas.  Who would have everrrr thought I'd say I was happy to paint over something that took me 9 hours to complete?!  Certainly not this girl!!!

Shockingly, I didn't cringe on bit as I covered up the pattern.  {FYI...if I wasn't putting such a busy pattern over my previous stencil, I would have sanded the walls down before painting over it to make sure everything was smooth and there was no trace of the stencil left.  I took a risk not doing this, but I figured my bold pattern would be forgiving...and it was, phew!!!}  It took two coats to cover {mostly because I used a semi-gloss white paint for my stencil the first time around, but soon I was ready for my new pattern to go up!

I stuck with Behr's Gentle Rain as the base coat color for the hallway.  It's the same color we have in our living/dining great room, and it reads as a "true" gray on the walls in our house.  I used Behr's off-the-shelf ultra white paint in a flat finish for the stencil.  This stencil was quite time consuming and took twice as long as the first stencil I used.  The main reason for the added time was that I could cover the entire wall {top to bottom} with two passes of the first stencil since I bought it in the "professional" size.  This stencil took 4.5 passes because of it's size, and that meant I needed to wash my stencil twice because of the paint build up. Grrrrrrrr.....

Yes, my stencil got a bubble bath {with hot-ish water and dish soap}...which was quite effective in removing the paint and keeping all of the tiny pieces from bending out of shape. :)

This hallway project was quite the task to take on {I completed it during two days off from work}, but just like my first experience...the results were SO worth it!!!  I cannot wait to get some frames back up and complete this hallway! :)

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you all have a great weekend! :)

One Week to Go & Random Sneak Peeks...

I seriously cannot believe I have only one week left of this program.  Now that I have reached the 23rd day, time feels like it flew by.  Past day 16 or 17, things became easy and almost automatic.  I was no longer paying attention to how many days had gone by and how many where left...things just became routine.

I fall asleep and wake up SO much easier than I used to.  My energy is present and consistent through most of the day.  My post-lunch and post-dinner ravenous cravings are non-existent or easily satisfied by eating a piece of fresh fruit.  I haven't had a headache in who knows how long, I haven't had an upset stomach since I started the program and my mood/outlook has greatly improved.  My irregular heartbeat that I felt quite often {I have SVT} hasn't occurred since I started this program, and dizzy spells that I would frequently get have not reared their ugly head either.

I didn't start this program to lose weight, but it's happened without trying.  I don't stop myself from eating "too much" and I haven't exercised for a single second...yet I've still managed to drop 8 lbs.  Yes, I know...they say don't weight yourself during the 30 days, but I'm not doing this for the weight loss.  I'm doing it to improve my health...so I have been weighing myself quite often since I took on this challenge.  Even if I didn't step on a scale, I would have know I lost something because NONE of my work pants fit me anymore...a belt can't even remedy the situation because the gap is too big.  It makes dressing for work each morning quite difficult, but it's a problem I love to have. :)

So far...this program has been TOTALLY worth it!

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And while my life may seem like it's been all about food, I have been getting some other things accomplished too!!  Here's a little sneak peek at some in-progress projects I have going on behind the scenes {or not so behind the scenes if you follow me on Instagram ;) haha}.

Happy Tuesday, friends! :)