Hey friend, I'm Tessie! Along with my family, I'm in the process of renovating a 100 year old historic home. I'd love to share the process with you!
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Hello and Welcome! For those of you joining me for the first time my name is Tessie. I am a watercolor artist and pattern designer with a passion for creating beautiful interior spaces. I am thrilled to be participating in Jeweled Interior’s Primp and Pamper Bathroom Refresh where a dozen bloggers are all tackling a bathroom makeover and documenting the process during the month of March. If you need to catch up you can read week 1 here and week 2 here.
Last week I shared all about the process of designing my own wallpaper and I am happy to announce that the wallpaper FINALLY came!!! My wallpaper was printed from Spoonflower and although it took a while for it to arrive (about 3 weeks) it was so worth the wait!
There are two wallpaper options from Spoonflower. One option is a woven “peel and stick” and the other option is a smooth “water activated” wallpaper. I knew that the peel and stick would be easier to install but it was also more expensive. I also preferred the vibrant colors and the smooth texture of the more traditional water activated paper.
I decided on the traditional water activated paper and I am so happy I did. The colors ended up being absolutely perfect and smooth texture is quite stunning.
Ok, enough about the wallpaper let’s move onto the board and batten!
I’m going to be honest here and let you know that this week was difficult!! I felt like I was moving slow as molasses since I don’t have a lot of experience with things like taking down a mirror, removing towel bars and running power tools. Let’s just say that google and YouTube were my best friends. Also I would be perfectly happy if I didn’t have to set foot in Home Depot for a long long time. (On Friday I went to Home Depot three times in one day which was just a bit ridiculous.)
There are so many fabulous tutorials out there for board and batten like this one from Young House Love. I am not even going to attempt to do a tutorial because I honestly feel like I have no idea what I am doing. Ha! So Instead, I am going to show you some pictures of my progress and let you know some “lessons learned” at the end.
Just as a reminder this is how my bathroom started:
I decided to use a chair rail for the upper pieces and placed the top of the chair rail 57 inches from the floor.
I knew I would need a miter saw to cut the wood so I borrowed one from a friend. Unfortunately it was missing that little bag on top that catches all the sawdust! Sawdust spraying all over the room with every cut? Umm…. not so fun.
To fix this problem I rigged up a little Target bag attached with a rubber band. It wasn’t pretty but it worked a lot better than letting the sawdust fly everywhere! It still made quite a mess but the clean up wasn’t too bad.
I’m a total novice at cutting wood and ended up with a few gaps.
Thank goodness for paintable caulk 🙂
I finally got all the boards cut, nailed to the wall, filled the holes and caulked all the edges. I was hoping to be completely done with the board and batten by now but I still need to prime and paint it tomorrow.
Here is a little sneak peak of my mirror. You can’t really tell from the photo but the color is quite beige. It won’t quite work with my white board and batten so I am planning on spray painting it a pretty kelly green.
Alrighty then. That’s it for today. I have lots and lots of work ahead of me for the big reveal next week!
To see more behind the scenes (or to just come hang out) you can find me on Instagram at Tessie Fay Design
Also, don’t forget to check out all the other AMAZING ladies that are redoing their bathrooms too! I have been absolutely blown away by their talent and the beautiful spaces that they are creating!
Jeweled Interiors Bathroom 1 | Jeweled Interiors Bathroom 2 | This is Our Bliss | PMQ for Two | Monica Wants It | I like it Lovely | Tessie Fay | Southern State of Mind | Maggie Overby Studios | A Designer at Home | Domicile 37 | My Eclectic Nest | Street Flea Style | A Pinterest Addict
Whether you're sprucing up a closet or tackling an entire room, I designed this workbook with you in mind. I know fixing up a room can be overwhelming, but this workbook will give you a head start in organizing your thoughts and gaining confidence to dive head first into decorating your space.
These are the ways I feel called to LOVE DEEPLY. My mission is to help you create beauty and peace in your own home—because I believe everyone is worthy of love and joy.
Well you’ll never know how to do something until you try and you learn the most from you mistakes. Looking good so far, and when you get it all painted out it will be fabulous.
So true Maggie!
Your wallpaper is gorgeous. Great job!
Thank you Mary!!
That wallpaper is going to be amazing! I really want to put board and batten in the dining room, but I’m so scared that I’ll mess it up. I’m coming back to see how yours turns out!
It actually turned out beautiful!!! I can’t wait to show it to you next week. You should definitely give it a go!
progress is progress! Sounds like some good lessons learned 🙂
The board and batten is going to be beautiful and I’m dying to see that green mirror hung in it’s place!!