If at first you don't succeed...

...try, try, and try again.  And in some cases, try yet again.  In my mind these next few house projects were going to go a lot smoother than they actually did.   I mean, I just wanted to paint, stencil (which I already knew how to do) a wall and stain just a few pieces of wood. 

Anything that could go wrong, did and everything I could mess up, I did.

Here is the before...taken from the MSL listing.  Nice, but too dark for me.  

 
Step one, I painted the front wall white and then stenciled over with grey.  In the first attempt my stencil paint wasn't covering well and they all came out uneven.  About 3 stencil sections in, I just repainted with white, bought a little higher grade paint, due to a great sale, and started over.  But this time about 4-5 sections done, I realized I was off kilter and slanting sideways.  If I kept going, my pattern would be completely off by the time I crossed the wall.
Yep, repainted again. A third time I re-stenciled, straight and as thick as I could without the paint bleeding under the stencil.  But as I got going, I realized I just wasn't going to get good coverage over the white paint.  So, I ended up HAND painting each quatrafoil by hand.  I just went over what I had painted with the foam roller with a small paintbrush. Yep, by hand.  Each and every one. Tedious?  Long?  Yes.  But I also have to admit, I ended up finding is calming and meditative.  I would paint while Jonah was down for his nap or the kids had gone to bed and it was a slow and nice mindless activity.  I would just let my mind wander, or listen to conference talks or Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me on my phone.  I found myself really enjoying the monotony and quiet time.

So, a few attempts and a few weeks later, I ended up with what was supposed to be a simple and easy wall.  I keep telling myself it was worth it.

Next I wanted to tackle the banister.  The light oak is nice but not the look I was going for.  And again, I thought this was going to be straight forward and simple.

All I needed to do was sand down the wood and then stain or paint it.  The tops of the railing and the banister, I sanded down clear to the bare wood so it would take a stain and the rest I just sanded down to prime and paint. Simple enough. Except for all the curving parts and little areas I couldn't get with the electric sander. T.e.d.i.o.u.s. Then once I finally sanded everything down and stained, the results came out blotchy and uneven.  Not the look I was going for.  So, I sanded down again and used a wood conditioner to help even out the tone. And again, a blotchy, uneven finish. 
I must admit there were a few times I had to walk away, take a break for a few days, a week and then go back to tackle it.  My frustration level was high especially after the stenciled wall.  Plus, the stain kept running down the spindles of the banister, so I would have to clean that up, and in many spots, sand it down, prime and repaint it.  Finally after my third try of sanding everything down to bare wood, I just said good enough. 

And now that's it's done, I really like it.  It looks so different from the before.

I need to sand down a few parts of this front part and repaint but I'm just being picky now.

The stain came out pretty even the third time around, even though I wanted it slightly darker.  But I got what I got and I am not doing it again. :)  I slapped on a few coats of lacquer and called it good.

And in true Natalie form, I still have some stuff to do before I can label this project finished.  We still need to borrow a super tall ladder from our neighbor to get the high stuff, but I'm waiting for Aaron to take charge of that.   :)

I just keep my eyes low and bask in what I what I have finished.

Before...

 
After...

Next comes wall hangings.  But right now I need a break from the entryway.  I'm finishing up the painting of the family room today and another project will be hanging on the wall before the week is out.  One that makes me laugh every time I walk by it.  Stay tuned...