enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

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I shared a peek of our painting plan last weekend & am happy to announce…

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…we now have stripes! Gray & white ones! They extend along the wall behind our TV and then around the dining table nook.

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You might be thinking, "Elise, you're an idiot. You'll be moving soon, this was a lot of effort for a short lasting reward." And to that I say, "Good call."

But here's the thing : Paul's in the navy. We are always and forever going to be "moving soon." And I can be sad about it and just pin good ideas for a future house that we might own in twelve years OR I can just get over it and roll with good decor ideas. And gray stripes felt like a good decor idea. I am slowly turning our home into a place we've styled up instead of a place that we are just passing time in. And that makes me feel like I'm living and not just waiting for Paul to deploy and then come home so we can get on with the next thing.

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Painting details : The wall was already painted white. I measured out ten inch stripes from the ceiling to the floor with painters tape. I made sure that the top stripe and the bottom stripe were white so I didn't have to do as much cutting in. Then, because we have textured walls, I painted over what would be the gray edge of the tape with white paint in order to make the tape line as clean as possible. After the white dried completely, I went around with a big brush and painted the inside of the gray stripes. And finally, I went around again with a smaller brush to cover the edges of the stripes. Before the last coat of gray had dried completely, I pulled the tape up and TA-DA – straight lines. The gray paint was BEHR Sage Gray.

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This was a bigger project than I had anticipated and couldn't just be thrown together in true Elise style. The measuring was tedious. Painting mulitple coats was boring. But the result is pretty awesome. I am happy with our stripes. Paul is happy with our stripes. Paul is especially happy that he'll be deployed when I have to repaint the wall white before we move.

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But seriously : worth it. I have one more project – painting and recovering our kitchen chairs – and then this living/dining room transformation will be complete. Hooray!

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59 responses to “elise gets painty.”

  1. kelly X Avatar

    Very, very cool! I’ve always wanted to paint stripes like this. Thanks for giving the honest truth on the process. Seems so worth it though 🙂

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  2. Jenn Avatar

    Awesome! I love it. As someone in the military who moved 4 times in 2years, I agree 100% with your decorating philosophy! Keep up that positive spirit and attitude, it will be what gets you through Paul’s deployments.

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  3. Sarah Avatar

    I think it’s great that you tackled this project even though you will be moving soon. See it as a practice or experiment at each of your places. Test out things and know what to do and what not to do again.

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  4. susan ku Avatar
    susan ku

    Way to go & yes, don’t wait until you’re somewhere “permanent” – we have moved 13 times in 24 years of marriage & many places we couldn’t paint (because of rental agreements), but however I could – I put my decorating sense, stamp & personality into our many homes! It does make a house a home and give you a sense of returning to a “loved place” even if it is just for a time :)As a creative person, I also find that it keeps you creating & not stuck in the waiting for “permanent home”…

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  5. Cassie Avatar

    I love it. Definitely adds a lot to the room!

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  6. Lydia @ The Loop Avatar

    it looks great! I’ve always wanted to tackle stripes, but don’t have the patience for all that taping off. I just re-painted a guest bedroom, last weekend, though. I’m sort of hooked back on the paint wagon, again. Maybe I’ll tackle stripes in the other guest bedroom – should be pretty easy with wood paneling!

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  7. Brianna Avatar
    Brianna

    I like it. If you owned it, you could take it one step further and paint the white stripes orange, but I’m betting orange paint would be a pain in the neck to cover up when you move.

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  8. Debbie Servantez Avatar
    Debbie Servantez

    Super cool result! BTW, I am the child of a Naval officer, and you are so right, in my opinion. It would be so maddening to keep putting everything off until you “end up” where you’ll stay. Who can really measure what happiness you will have from having done it? And what you will miss from not doing it?
    Total thumbs up on the grey. I am contemplating grey paint myself these days! 🙂

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  9. Linda Avatar

    good for you for just going for it. It looks great. I love grey. Also, I appreciate your philosophy behind living now and not waiting for the day your life will begin… when all the deployment, anticipation and waiting are over. I am working on this too… I live in NYC and cant wait to have a yard, a garden, a tree to build a tree house, and SO MUCH MORE. I’m relaxed and inspired by your thinking and attitude. short lived home makeovers rock!

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  10. Michelle e Avatar

    It looks soo great!! And I like your perspective! You’re pretty lucky! You’ll get to try tons of totally different decor styles. That would be perfect for me who can never make up her mind! haha

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  11. Tiffany B. Avatar

    Love them! Great job 🙂

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  12. kristen Avatar
    kristen

    Wow – LOVE how this turned out! So excited to see the full reveal – Everything you’ve shown so far looks great!!

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  13. Avital Avatar

    I just have to say, god, you’re amazing!

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  14. jessica o'brien | jessohbee Avatar

    looooove your theory about living vs. waiting. my brother doesn’t want to buy any “real” furniture until he buys a house. his bedroom only has a bed. no nightstands. no dresser. he’s 29. i think it’s time to buy some furniture! ha.
    the stripes look awesome. i bet your landlord would let you leave them or the next tenant may specifically request them! so ask before you paint white – i’d be stoked to move somewhere w/ white stripes.

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  15. Kara H Avatar

    This looks SO GOOD.

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  16. Chris Avatar

    It’s funny about your brother, but not quite. I’ve been in the same house for 4 years now. Married & have a kid. The only bedroom done is the baby’s. Our bedroom has a bed, a dresser that doesn’t fit our clothes, and a side table we stole from the living room. Totally wish I could get into the living phase… LOL

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  17. Chris Avatar

    Love the stripes. Love your take on not waiting. Love that Paul is already looking forward to the fact that he won’t have to repaint. Ahhh men…always trying to get out of work. 😉

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  18. lindsey Avatar

    live where you are at the moment. perfect advice!

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  19. Sarahrachel Avatar

    Beautiful and modern! We have the same “problem” about constantly moving. My husband and I live in a one bedroom in Memphis, and I had these grandiose ideas of moving into a larger, brighter space at any given moment. So I put decorating on hold.
    But now I’ve realized that we save so much living in a small space, so I’ve been making our house a home for the time being. It’s made a huge difference in my attitude and is just much more pleasant and lovely to be at home.

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  20. Lisa Fine Avatar

    That looks excellent – love it.
    And I think it’s such a good point to enjoy where you’re living now, rather than always have good ideas and projects for later. What’s the point of enjoying a home, and it’s a way to feel like you really live there.

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  21. melissa Avatar

    looks awesome elise!!
    maybe the next residents will love the look so you don’t have to repaint!

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  22. tina Avatar
    tina

    omg. elise. i don’t even know if i’ve ever commented, but i’m obsessed.
    and then jealous.
    and then obsessed again- i’ve been seeing and probably repinning all of your examples…. and i HAVE to have a grey and white wall ASAP. maybe in my next apt?
    SO amazing!

    Like

  23. Carrie Rosalind Avatar

    This is awesome! I love your attitude about painting – it turned out great!

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  24. Adrith Avatar

    Darn. I wish I’d had your design philosophy the first six years that Joe was in the Army!
    I guess it’s not too late to start, though. 🙂 Love the stripes!

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  25. Vee Patel Avatar

    Awesome job & you’re totally right! Why wait for the future when you can have fun now? At least you can start ‘experimenting’ to see what you like & dislike that way when you & your family move into your dream home, it will be absolutely PERFECT & with everything you ever wanted! Kudos girlfriend [I know we don’t know each other but it sounded perfect to say that lol] `=]

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  26. Michelle Avatar

    I love your stripes and your home mind set. Live for today 🙂

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  27. france Avatar

    bravo! It took me much longer to learn this lesson. I don’t move THAT much, but I am a renter with no plans to buy and if I let that stop me I would always be living in a white box. The stripes look amazing.

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  28. Nikki M Avatar
    Nikki M

    I really admire your outlook on life and willingness to just go for it. Wish that I had read this post about 3 years ago. We have been living in the Middle East for the past few years and I did nothing to make this place my own and regret it b/c it never felt like home and that’s exactly what I did…pass the time, failing to live and make it my own. Good for you!

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  29. sarah Avatar
    sarah

    And some of us will never own a house (me – can’t afford it, too expensive here). I painted one room of our apartment, then never managed to get our bedroom done. Stripes are awesome, but i am waaaaay too lazy. 😉

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  30. Lindsey Avatar

    I love it! Both the stripes and the fact that you just went ahead and did it. 🙂

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  31. Elaine Avatar
    Elaine

    I LOVE it!!! And I love what you wrote about living instead of waiting to get through the next deployment, or until that magical someday when you own a home. So well put – I feel exactly the same way – my husband is a Marine. After our 3rd move and never feeling like a place was really ours – I decided it didn’t matter how long we would be there, I would always make a home “ours” by painting and decorating. I feel like the effort is so worth the reward. We’re on our 7th home, and I just finished painting another wall yesterday! Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone in my decorating philosophy.

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  32. Terry D. Avatar

    I think that counts as another project towards you 26 before 27. Don’t you think?

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  33. elise blaha Avatar

    I didnt know if I should count it. …maybe well see where Im at in a few months. If Im hurting for projects, well throw this one back in the mix. 🙂

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  34. jennie Avatar

    i was going to say the same thing! definitely counts in my book…it’s way more than just taking a roller to a blank wall. it looks amazing! did you use a leveler to get the stripes straight too?

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  35. elise blaha Avatar

    no level – just lots of patience 🙂

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  36. Little Gray Pixel Avatar

    Looks great! Do you know where you’ll be moving to next? Did I miss that post?

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  37. Kayla Avatar
    Kayla

    Love the Stripes!! My husband is in the AF and we are always “going to be moving soon” and i just painted our bedroom for the first time and i’m SOO happy. Thanks for inspiring me to paint more and do what we want to make our house a little more “ours”.

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  38. elise blaha Avatar

    we found out last December that we will be moving to Ventura CA … I blogged about it then. 🙂

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  39. Jennifer Avatar

    Thanks for the encouragement to decorate and paint my home even though I won’t be here for long. My husband is a Marine in flight school and it seems like we are constantly on the move. My house always seems kind of drab, but this motivates me to take over the space more.

    Like

  40. KissMyTulle Avatar

    I would like to point out that I misread this post’s title as “elise gets panty” – and thought that I was dealing with a whole different animal here. 😉
    Also, the stripes look awesome.

    Like

  41. Krystal Avatar

    I was thinking the same thing!

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  42. jendcnguyen Avatar

    LOVE LOVE LOVE the stripes! Especially because it’s grey & white. Nice job! =D

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  43. Sandy Avatar

    It looks great to me. I’ve always said you make a house a home so I’d be decorating it too. I’m getting the redo bug, but trying to get over the spring allergies and what that brings so I can start planning.

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  44. Katie Avatar

    gorgeous! those stripes are divine!
    i know the feeling about being unsure of making (slightly) bigger changes in a rental. we’ve moved four times in the past 3 1/2 years, but i love to make the place feel like mine. most of the time our landlords were fine with the changes, and we could leave them when we moved out. yay!

    Like

  45. Marcie L Avatar
    Marcie L

    that looks beautiful! My sil goes through the same thing…they move every 3 years iwth the Army and she ALWAYS paints their rentals to make them “their own” while they are there. Good for you!

    Like

  46. Deirdre Avatar
    Deirdre

    Love the stripes, love your attitude RE:military life even more!

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  47. Jaime Martinez Avatar

    I love the stripes! I also love that you are putting so much effort into your house despite the “we’ll be moving soon” thing. Years down the road, I bet you’ll remember each place you lived in so distinctly.

    Like

  48. Natural Area Rugs Avatar

    Its simply fascinating, no doubt you did a very good job.Enhancing the beauty of your home is fun to do one of the best things to do.

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