room makeover-the royal ceiling and striped wall

Beautyyyy...!!! :')

I wanted to reveal the room all together but seeing my lovely readers getting impatient for it, i had to post something :)
I've taken a lot of time to post because a lots been going on these days, hubby got operated all of a sudden, right on the next day of my last post, had to abandon everything for a few days. He's all well now Alhamdulillah (all praise be to God) :)
So the first thing i completed was my ceiling and stripped wall..
You can see the horrible state of wall plus ceiling and how i treated it here.
Now ALWAYSSSS REMEMBERRRR start from the top. If youre planning to change the whole room, start from the ceiling, come next to the walls and end at floor.
My room being the size of 3.5m×3m I opted for light color palette. Here's the exact color combo used:

Coral peach (head over heals in love with it)

Metallic gold

White

And mud color (at least that's what i'll call it all my life)

Done with the molds treatment, i used quarter gloss water based emulsion in all three colors:

White for the base

coral for ceiling 

mud for stripes

The reason i am being specific about "quarter gloss water based emulsion" is because of its elasticity.

The only long term solution to my problem of water leakage.

This paint would form bubbles instead of cracking and falling down and would stick back to the wall once the water dries.

First step was the white paint on the treated parts of ceiling, then used masking/paper tape all around the border of ceiling. NEVER SKIP THIS STEP or u'll end up in a greater mess.

Paint the ceiling and remove the tapes

The only drawback of gloss plastic emulsions, they can peal when the tape being removed :(

But using a blade cutter to cut the edge can take care of it. And if accidentally pealed, paint it back using small brush.

Now for the wall stripes, paint them vertically if you have low ceiling, it creates an illusion of height.

Paint'em horizontally if you have a small space like me, it makes the eyes go with the stripes creating illusion of longer area.

The width again depends on the size of room. Rule is simple:

Big room, wide stripes. Reason? Small stripes would clutter the look.

Small room, medium stripes. Reason? Too big stripes loose the impact in small space.

I painted 20cm wide stripes.

paint the base color, i kept it white.

btw here what that ugly corner look like now :')

All nice and neat. I slept staring it the following night :')

Start marking from the top on every 20cm till the bottom. Mark on both sides of walls.

Now take the masking tape and go from one mark to the other on the other end of wall.

U can use multiple colors for stripes, just paint the lightest shade as base and then work on it.

here's how to tape

With tape still on.

Tapes removed. Use tape to secure your door trim if you plan on keeping it the same color. I'll paint it white so didnt bother to save it.

Now starts the most fun part...!!! 

Giving the ceiling that royal look I've always dreamed of! :')

I bought these gypsum crowns and corners.

4 pieces of large crown

A few stripes

A round medallion

and aloooot of corners because i wasn't sure of the design at that moment.

Arranged them in two different ways for the bordering of fan. 

Hubby and i both agreed on the first one. And after the tiring procedure i am glad i didnt go for the squarish one. It would have driven me insane! 

According to the pro i talked to in the shop, you're supposed to use patex glue and freshly mixed gypsum. Glue on the ceiling and gypsum on the piece.

Result? I broke 4 of the corners and one almost broke my head :/ yeah! That happened! :/

Then i left the pro- steps and simply applied aloooot of patex on the piece and aloooooot of glue gun's glue and stuck it. Time taken a few seconds without any broken bone :D

The steps:

1. Spray paint the ornaments. use ABRO spray paints. they're the best in kuwait.

2. Make a square of tapes and stick it around the fan keeping it in center.

3. Use the two glues to stick the pieces one by one. use extension to keep glue gun with you on ladder.

 this is the glue that guy gave me.

Don't worry about the company. In Kuwait you say patex and they give you this glue.

Here's my creation that replaced medallion :')

Sorry for the flashy images. i clicked these a few hours ago with lights off  while hubby was asleep :P

4. Take the measurements for the border of the chandliers.

Once done with the corners just stick the stripes in the middle of the corners.

Here's what you get

I left some spaces between the corner and the stipe piece  on the smaller sides.

ANDDDDD THE FINAL OUTCOME...

Hubby went all crazy about it. I planned on adding two large round medallion for chandeliers but hubby liked it this way :') 

And he's so proud of me. Are'nt you as well? :')

and now the ceiling goes perfectly with my furniture aswell... what more could i ask for :')

Lastly lets talk about the cost.

If i call a pro for this:

Ceiling 30kd + wall 40kd because of stripes + decoration around 60kd with additional charges of paints and ornament around 15kd

That equals around 145kd (495 usd)

Cost of a diy:

Paints (i used 1litre can each and still have mud color left, coral was perfectly enough for my 3×3.5 m ceiling) plus other supplies roughly 10kd (35 usd)

Corners crowns and stripes around 6 kd(20usd)

Total-16kd (approx. 54usd)

A little hardwork can save us a fortune :)

Goodnews! I will be starting my facebook page soon so that all my beautiful readers can stay updated without missing a thing. And there you can share your version of what made!

KEEP DREAMING... KEEP DIY-ING XOXOXOX

Room makeover....!!!!

To do... To do... To do to do to do  to do to doooooo.... <------ read that in pink panthers tune :P
yeahhh... that's his to-do list and mine is as long as his but not that melodious, in fact its full of "
damn it!" "oh my thumb!" "why the hell i left it open" kinda stuff... Yup! Because its been two days I've started my room makeover B) "ROOM MAKEOVER" such an eye pleasing word :') but not that pleasing when you're a DIYer, until you don't reach the end where you sit calmly nibbling a chocolate and look at your little heaven :') that feeling... PRICELESS...!!!
Now you'd see so many things i'll do in my room that already have tutorials on internet BUT i still decided to go step by step because seeing something on internet, that most DIYers have bought from ebay, and then searching for the same product in kuwait is what drives me crazy. this was also one of the main reason i started blogging, to help other ladies like me to get what they want, also mentioning the places and prices.
Lets take a look at my current room that i hate from the depth of my heart...

wall 1. i love my furniture, my style has always been classic and vintage and thats  not changing in near future :)

Do you see that AC... HATE IT MORE THAN THE WHOLE ROOM... Its a curse that everyone living in an old building in Kuwait would face... and even if you replace it with a split unit... the closed box would haunt you forever :'( but worry not as long as i face this problem i'll help you hide this hideous monster in a  pretty manner :)

That brown curtain was here already as this apartment was owned by my sister in law before me.  As i only like brown in a form of chocolate nothing else stands a chance.... dear curtain... your time to leave is coming closer :*

wall 2. my biggest nightmare... reason? look at the next picture. 

oh and don't mind the carton... its there for a reason.

yes... welcome to my sequence of nightmares.

a. the wall from that corner leaked for months because that leakage was from the pipe line of the apartment above and the care taker of the building is too damn lazy. Now that pipe line was fixed i can  finally start repairing it. 

b. its a nightmare of every brown person... hangers behind door... EEEKHHHH... who on earth did that first???

c. Because of that leakage the door frame got soaked and expanded and the door is now cursed to stay that much open forever... i tried closing it once and the result... i am showing you next.

i got stuck in here and hubby was luckily out... he literally had to break the door to open it :/

now instead of replacing with a new one i'll build a sliding door to the outside of the room... YES.. IT IS POSSIBLE :)

             

i used to stare at it till i fell asleep then dream about fixing it, for the rest of the night.

Peeled paint and mould... what could be more horrible than this? 

the ceiling wasn't spared either :'(

that fan's gonna get new wings... YUP! in a form of covers :)

the ceiling is getting an overall newlook. you'll have to wait for it till i post the tutorial.

the only baby i love in this room :') 

Now that we've come to an end of all those horrible sights lets get to work and start changing it into something wonderful... this post is basically more of a trouble shooter than creative because for now i am only doing a tutorial on "HOW TO GET RID OF MOULDS AND PEELED PAINT FROM WALL, AND PREPARING IT FOR PAINTING."

DUUUUFIXXXX... this thing is appearing to me as a super hero at the moment :D

Anyway, its a crackfiller, you can get it on any paint shop, and with it stands a proud knife, the character that helps super hero in every task :p

(Cost: filler 1.25 kd , knife: 0.5 kd)

Using the knife i stripped all the paint and during that process i found that the plaster crown has been weaken so bad that it broke with a light hit of knife's edge... yeahhh.. problems, just like beauty, come in all shapes and sizes :/

My first "Damn it" moment! 

All cleaned. The cement peeping through now..

Next i mixed the filler in a plastic container and kept it nice and thick. Forgot to take its picture :/ but you have to keep the texture thick and smooth it out with constant mixing.

i made a mistake here. After stripping off the paint sand the wall using sand paper to smooth out the areas where your knife does'nt reach... like the curve in crown... i did'nt do it at first and the paint particles were destroying the filler's texture. 

SAND BEFORE FILLING.

The way of application is the same as you apply butter on bread, in a Sweeping motion, leaving a thin layer of mixture where the paint is stripped and pushing in carefully a generous amount of filler where you have holes and cracks.

I let it dry for a day and next day sanded the wall, and made a thinner mixture of filler this time. Used it to neat the messy and unleveled areas, and re touched as required.

A closer look at finished job. Will sand it once more before i start painting it today.

Coming to the end of this post let me wrap it up by giving you the reason to keep following for next posts:

Tutorials on

1. How to paint a ceiling and crown.

2. How to install gypsum medallions on ceiling and walls.

3. How to paint horizontal stripes.

4. Remodeling of night stands.

5. Building a sliding door.

6. Hiding the hideous monster aka AC.

7. Treating windows and diy curtains.

I am sure you cant afford to miss this blast of DIYs that too when they totally fit in your budget :D

See you people in a day or 2. 

KEEP DREAMING... KEEP DIY-ING 

XOXOXOX

gysum water proofing + antiquing technique

BRACE YOURSELF... ITS A HUGEEEE POST :)

2 saturdays gone and not a single thing posted. I really need someone to kick my butt for being so lazy. Its a new blog and i really should be posting ATLEAST once a week but as i said i need someone one to kick me.

Anyhow... this was supposed to be a saturday surprise post, and is 2 posts combined because again i am too lazy to post 2 different posts for a single topic. 

I went shopping last week for my class and came across a gypsum ornaments shop. gypsum (also known as plaster) ornaments are the lovely and amazingly detailed gypsum moulding that most of the time we see in expensive hotels on ceilings or walls. They seem to be hand carved and HELL EXPENSIVE because of the amazing details. But i literally fell in love with allll those beautiful medallions and corners and frames when i heard their prices. These things are suuuuuper cheap... super super super cheap... and they can replace soooo many of expensive decorative things in our houses. But we always have negative side, they're super fragile as well... you must handle them carefully until installed.
The word cheap and me  were meant for eachother. Because once i find a cheap thing i wont stop using it ever... i mean come on who doesnt want to save a few pennies when this world is hit so bad by inflation (i know that was too dramatic, but thats what i am :D)

So my project 1 is waterproofing gypsum..
as soon as i reached home i started googling  for ways to waterproof it, but all in vain! Couldnt find a single thing on internet (google owner! Plz kill yourself for not having anything about this problem)
So i decided to experiment with it.

Can you believe this beauty just costs a 100fils (0.34 usd for my international readers)

Even i asked the salesman twice when he said the price. Anyway... i bought a few of these and broke one into 5 pieces as you can see.
I painted
1. With oil based primer
2. With oil based gloss paint
3. With water based satin paint
4. With primer and same oil paint
5. With primer and same water paint
Submerged them in water for a few minutes. What i found was no.4 worked the best. As i plan to use it in my bathroom makeover i'll go for primer+oil paint and a coat of varnish for extra protection.
End of project 1.

Now the project2 is what i did with my students
An antique style mirror.

Yup! Its the same white gypsum thing :)

Andddd did you see my new watermark.. isnt it perfection :')

(I am the kind of person who would praise her stuff even if no one else does:p)

Material required:

A mirror (mine was 20×20 cm)

Gypsum beauties

Black acrylic paint + brush

golden spray paint

a plastic bag

Patex or silicone glue (NEVER USE GLUE GUN ON MIRRORS, It just wont hold)

And some pearls, stones or glass liner if you plan to add more details (optional)

First of all paint your ornament with black acrylic paint. Cover the bottom as well as it would show in the mirror if left uncovered.

Now take a plastic bag crumble it and spray a little spray paint on it. Quickly start dabbing on ornament for the look of old chipped paint. Keep in mind that use of plastic bag is to only highlight the details and not covering the whole surface with golden.

Now stick your beauties using patex or silicone on two opposite corners to make a frame. Stick the stones or extra decorative stuff as you desire. I used half cut pearls, spray painted them to match my theme (the reason why spray paints are my eternal love:') )

Last and most important step, pat yourself on back and be proud of your creativity...! :)

The details.

And a bit of my photography. Oh yes i also tried heart bokeh for the first time, that is why it was a must to click a few more pretty pictures ;)

Redddd... thats my fav lippie.. can give up on any look just to wear that! ^_^

Do share your work with me if you try any of my ideas. And comment what do you think about it :)

And an exciting news... i am hoping to get featured on linkup party at  <http://www.remodelaholic.com>
The amazing site full of creativity that actually inspired and pushed me to start blogging. I hope i make it! :')


KEEP DREAMIMG... KEEP DIY-ING...!!! XOXOX

Painted glass table top

Every girl has a dream to have a perfect cozy home. Well, atleast i do dream about it all the time! 

I've always dreamed and yearned to have a perfect, beautiful BUT a modular house. But being a newly wedded bride i couldnt just toss away all my jewellery and sophistication and sink myself back into paint cans and tool boxes wearing a pj... I had to give myself and my inlaws a few months to slowly get used to of my crazy but creative side... 

So to just take a start toward decorating a new house I select my bedroom night stand to have new look. Wondering why new furniture would need a new look.. thats because I was bored of its looks *grins* 

(Secret: i actually spilled thinner on my side nightstand and it looked HORRIBLE) well, you know now.. but its a "hushhh hushhh" thing ;)

Soooo.... another thing i would tell you is I LOVE DAMASK PATTERN. Once you'll go ahead on my journey you'll witness it yourself. Now coming towards the tabletop... i just took the measurements of my tables and got the glass. And drew a damask motif on a paper of desired size.

The technique I used was reversed glass painting. I used a glitter liner to trace my design pattern glass.

Then painted 2 coats of white paint on it.

And TADAAAAA...!!!

The glitter liner gives a REALLY AHHH MAAA ZIINNNN effect when used in reverse technique.

Sorry i coudnt post before and after pics as forgot to click the before and its been a month i made these.

But you can picture the before version of top as  the same color of legs. Plain gold.

The supplies needed for this project are:

Glass according to measurement

a glitter glass liner

white acrylic paint

a paper and pencil to trace design.

and just a bit of hardwork  ;)

Do share your work if you ever try something similar.

KEEP DREAMING... KEEP DIY-ING! :)

Who am i?

Hello there!  :)
I am a Pakistani dreamer residing in Kuwait.

Basically I am a self taught person and my love for art was what led me to explore techniques and procedures of how beautiful art pieces come into being.
And with that love of art, in the beginning used to design small mirrors, frames, gifts for my friends and family and then kept on exploring and discovering the gift, the talent, God hid within me. A greater hand in my improvement was of my parents who never restricted from doing or trying anything. They always supported me to every extent possible as long as it did'nt concern my safety e.g working with drills, saws etc. ;)

Now that I got married recently to the love of my life and blessed with equally amazing in-laws who cherish every bit of my talent i plan on polishing myself more.

My blogs are going to be a record of my journey, my dreams, as i keep improving and introducing myself to new skills. I'll be sharing my past and current diy (do-it-yourself) projects and experiences with different materials, tools and in different creative fields.

New requests for tutorials are more than welcome and questions would be answered as soon as i read them!

KEEP DREAMING! KEEP DIY-ING! :) <3

Oh and thats Mr. Maaoon, my little baby.. say hi to maaoon ;)