Under the Sea!

I have been going postal going coastal!  I have decided my upstairs addition would be a coastal theme.  I don't really know why.  I am not crazy about going to the beach.  I only like to swim in water that I can see in.  I have watched one to many River Monster shows with my son!  To get inspiration, I started searching on Pinterest.  I came across some mermaid decor.  Like any good DIYer, I found my inspiration and got to work.

I started out with a piece of wood. Sketch out my mermaid and started jigsawing!  I think my husband was waiting to call an ambulance.  I would say I felt I was safe.  I mean, I knew where all my fingers were in relationship to the blade at all times.  Anyways, here is my shape cut out (and I didn't even cut off a single finger).

Now for the part I felt was agonizing.  What should I do?  Stain?  Paint?  After much deliberation, I decided to go for painting it.  What color should I go with?  So many options!  Since my walls are a light blue, I decided to go with an orange and navy for the color pop.  Here is pictures from beginning to end.

 

After all of that work, I don't know how I feel about it right there.  

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Give me some shade!

When I was thinking of how to dress up the window, I decided against panel curtains.  You can tell from the photo below that the proportions just didn't seem right for panels.  Instead, I made roman shades for my upstairs bonus room.  They are soooo simple to make.  Just measure, cut rectangles and sew.  I made the kind that roll up.  I tried using some ribbon but didn't seem to like the color of red.  Oh, you can see that one of the windows lack the 2nd ribbon.  I ran out. 

For some reason, I felt like the red was too much.  I liked it but wasn't in love with it.  Everyone seems to be in love with the twine and rope for the coastal theme these days.  So, why not join the craze.  Now, I have replaced the ribbon with rope and these adorable starfish.  Can you believe I found 6 starfish for $1.99!  They are the perfect size for this. 

Here is a view of all of the windows.  

                 

I think the rope gives it more texture as well as being easier on the eyes.  Which do you think is better??  Let me know.