Board and Batten Front Hall Make-Over

So, over Christmas I was browsing Pinterest on my phone... it might even have been Christmas day.  And I came across this post.  I leaned over to my husband and said, "We have to do this."  He actually agreed.  Now, I don't know if your front hall is like ours... abused.  Between kids, a dog, and lots of company, our walls look like they have been beaten up.  I thought this was a great way to add functionality and cover up some of that abuse.

Here is our front all.  It is large, so I planned a large project.  The longest board was almost 12 feet long.  I sketched out my plan on paper and then I sketched it out on my wall.  I based my plan on the fact that wall studs are 16 inches apart.  Well, it turns out ours were 12 inches apart.  I did not change my plan. We just had to use wall anchors.  With 2.5 inch boards, having the centers of them 12 inches apart would have been way too close.

After I sketched my plan on the wall, I added paintable wall paper to what will be the centers of my boards.  I did this for two reasons... visual interest and to hide some of that wall abuse.

Next we put the boards up.  My (awesome) husband did all the cutting (in the garage and it was freezing outside).  We put the bottom board on first; then the bottom uprights; then the center board; then the upper uprights, then the top board; the side boards and then the shelf.  There is also a little piece of corner round under the shelf which we put up last.  From the floor to the top is 60 inches.  The horizontal boards and side boards are 1x6 (which are really 3/4 x 5.5, I don't get that).  And the uprights are 1x3 (really 3/4 x 2.5).  The shelf is a 1x3, as well.  

The we painted the wall and the boards... all the same color as the other walls in the adjacent room.

 

Then I painted the insets the same color as an accent color on our main floor.  We kept it all the same color for 2 days and I felt like it needed something.

I added hooks and things to the shelf to finish it off.

The whole project was less than $100 (honestly the hooks were the most expensive part).  We already had paint, tools and hardware.  We only bought the wall paper, the wood, and the hooks.  And it didn't take very long.  On New Year's Eve I sketched the design on the wall.  On New Year's Day my husband when out and bought the wood and wall paper.  The following Saturday we got it all up on the wall.  Sunday I painted it.  Tuesday afternoon during nap time I painted the insets.  Tuesday night I went out to Lowe's and bought the hooks and Wednesday night I put them up.  We did have some teen and tween help.  Oh, and I started potty training a toddler the day I sketched the design on the wall.

We love our new functional front hall and we've gotten lots of compliments on it.

Another Pinterest project success.  

So I totally forgot... One Little Word

One Little Word was the other scrapbooking related thing that was overwhelming me.  Two years ago I posted about it.  It's something Ali Edwards does her blog... picks a word to be the theme for the year.  Two years ago I picked Opportunity.  This year I am stuck.  I cannot decide between Serve and Content.  Most of the time, my life is all about me... my wants, my comfort, what I want to do.  But my example is Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve.  On the other hand, am I ever content?  I see something and I want it, sometimes I even get it.  Sometimes I can be a brat if I don't get my way.  I am sure no one reading this can relate.  But Paul is a great example... for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance.  He didn't need whatever the latest and greatest craft-related thing was.

So would it be wrong to have two One Little Words?

Are You Overwhelmed?

... because I am.  Here it is, nine days into the new year, and I am already overwhelmed.  I am overwhelmed by lots of things... some serious (can you say Government debt?) and others not so serious (say, potty training).  This post is about something not so serious.

At the beginning of the year on all the websites and message boards where I hang out, people are talking about Project Life, or photo a day, or 365 Challenge, and things of that sort.  It's overwhelming.

I have been scrapbooking for a long time.  I made my first scrapbook in junior high and two more in high school.  I scrapbooked our honeymoon almost 20 years ago and bought my first Creative Memories album in 1996.  I've kinda' always have done things the same way... chronological or theme.  And I've been happy with that.

So why do I feel the need to change and try Project Life or something else.  My only answer is peer pressure because "forced" to take a picture every day or document every week really just does not appeal to me.  Is that bad, as a scrapbooker, to say that?

I recently saw this blog post at This Is Me Challenge.  She talks about 12 different ways to document your life in the coming year.  Obviously I needed to make a decision.

One of the other things that has been overwhelming me lately is my own sin and failure (real or perceived).  So along that line I decided to do 365 Days of Thankfulness.  I took a journal that I already owned and made a cute logo (with my Silhouette) that I put on the inside cover.

Now nine days in it has already been a wonderful tool to praise God, even on days when I think I'd rather not.  Even the days where the one being potty trained has run out of underwear and pants, I can be thankful for my washing machine.  

After reading about the This Is Me Challenge, I also decided to do that... in another journal to answer the questions that she has posted about life.  I would love to have something like that from my parents or grand parents or great grand parents.  I am not sure if someone else will care as much about reading mine, but that's the topic for another post.

How are you keeping your memories or telling your story this year?

Happy New Year!!