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Bower Power

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Put A Burlap On It

OUR 2nd HOUSE

Ever watch that video called “Put a bird on it“?

Basically it’s this joke about everything is better if you put a bird on it…bird bags, bird pillows, bird plates, bird everything.

Well ever since I watched that video, it’s like an ongoing in-my-head joke.  If I ever hear the words “put” “on” and another word in between, it gets stuck in my head and I walk around all day muttering it like my schizophrenic uncle.  (that’s not a joke…he is and he does).  For instance – I’m cooking breakfast and the infomercial tv person is talking about their fantastic blanket and says “Are you cold, put a Snuggie on” – I then walk around the rest of the day muttering – Put a Snuggie on it! to basically any question – even when it doesn’t make sense.

Jeremy – “Katie will you clean up your crafting mess – it’s been here for four days and two weeks”

Me – “Put a Snuggie on it!”

Will – “Juuuce Peas”

Me – “Put a Snuggie on it!”

Jeremy – “What are we having for dinner?”

Me – “PUT A SNUGGIE ON IT!”
It’s part insanity – part in-my-head hilarity.

And now enter Will’s room.

Remember we painted it?  Well, actually we painted it from salmon to white and then switched the white to tan.  yeah.

So I really wanted to do an accent wall.

Yeah, I dig an accent wall.  Plus, I liked that Will’s old room had an accent wall.  Sortof like a ‘howyoodoin” nod to the nursery of yesteryear.

Aww – memories.

So I already had it in my mind that I really wanted to do an accent wall – not really knowing what type and no money to do it with…basically the best place to start, huh?

Right about then is when Jeremy said “Katie, have you seen my wallet?  Last time I checked, it was on the table?”

Me – “What table?”

“The little table.  You put burlap on it”

Bada boom bada bing…the rest is history.

(In case you are no good with connect the dots or are my mother, I walked around the rest of the day saying put a burlap on it…and walked into Will’s room, saw the wall, said put a burlap on it….NOW bada boom bada bing…the rest is history).

I just staple gunned that bad boy on it.

I love the fact that if I hated it, I could just tear it all down, fill a few hundred pin holes and repaint just one wall 🙂  Slight sarcasm.

Let’s be honest – I was fully expecting to hate it…but my new mantra when it comes to this house is be a Nike girl and just do it!

Crisis!  Sippie Cup down!

Excuse my greasy hair – no makeup look.  It’s coming back in – any day now 🙂

It’s not rocket science – just smooth and staple…cut and fold under around the edges…then smooth and staple.

I asked Jer to take relevant photos.  I don’t believe that’s a lot to ask.  It’s a small simple task.

Apparently it was too much to ask.  Because upon downloading the photos, there was about thirteen of my butt crack.

And then there was four of Will reading.

Also not relevant – but cuter than my rear end, so….so….put a burlap on it!

Almost done!  Obviously Jer quit at this point (probably felt like his task of NOT taking photos of his wives coin slot was too much to bear)…

And he’s back.  I guess he was making a Cheez-it’s run 🙂

And here we have it…the finally burlapped wall.

The photos at night were horrible.

Curtain rods and curtains go up….note how ridiculously short they are…obviously this room is quite a bit taller than Will’s last nursery.

I love it.  It’s very tweedy in my book.  Kinda like an english gentleman’s fabric wall.  I know it’s probably one of those things that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (haha – punny), but I dig it.

This is when Will officially was like “Put me in bed…and some burlap on it”

So one last photo during the night….

Only to wake up and love it even more.

It’s hard to tell but the texture is great….simple, masculine and a little rugged.

And yes, Will played with it that first morning…he stuck his little fingertips in the holes – make it have a pull…but I fixed it with a baby comb and you can’t tell…ever since, he hasn’t messed with it.  I think he found it a little boring.

Ignore the toys and blankets and general messiness…I need to make a crib skirt, bumpers, move furniture…the whole shebang.

This was prior to our toy chest so it looked like this on the other side.

I think on this wall I am gonna put the rocker and a nightstand and some artwork.  The other side will have this dresser (that needs a paint job…not today…but someday) and some more shelves…we’ll have to see.  It’ll come together, I’m certain.

So accent wall, check!

Put a burlap on it, check!

Now onto free art…and maybe letting the hem outta my Steve Urkel curtains 🙂

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Comments

  1. Nate is always on about putting fabric on a wall with starch and just letting it dry. No holes! Did you consider this? Do you think it would work with burlap? On the other hand, you can supposedly just pull it off when you’re ready to redecorate. Maybe not so good for Will’s room.

  2. This made me laugh for so many reasons. Do you remember Hidlie (sp?) from Trading Spaces on TLC, she used to glue all kinda crap on the walls, like flowers and feathers, cardboard, etc. This reminded me of that, but in a good way. It’s really nice, just like a textured wall paper or something, very ‘in’ now. The crack shots made me laugh, why is it that they don’t make womens pants high enough to cover some crack!? I can’t find any! The cheez-it run made me laugh. Me and my boys have a cheez-it attack every day around 3:00. And I haven’t seen that bird thing yet, gotta check it out. But it’s so true, EVERYTHING has a bird on it!

  4. Loving this! Gotta love when you have something stuck in your head and it lasts ALL day or longer lol….Me…oh I get random songs stuck in my head…and will randomly belt out tunes…lol…..goodtimes 🙂

  7. Um, you are not the only one walking around saying “Put a bird on it”. I was in Steinmart this weekend and there were a bunch of linen like pillows with birds on it. What do you think I did? Called over to my husband, held the pillow up and said, well, you know what I said. We recently discovered “Portlandia” on Netflix and love it. My husband made the opening song his ringtone. Have you watched the “Dream of the 90’s” video? Hilarious. “I gave up clowning years ago. Well, now you dont have to.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmq9dq6Nsg

  14. I love it! The texture is so nice, and it’s not overbearing as a feature wall – just a nice, friendly touch in the room. I can’t wait to see what you do with everything else!

  15. Looks great Katie! Who would have ever though of burlap, but it really adds a new dimension to the room. The curtains would also be super cute if you weighted them with a darker fabric on the bottom, especially if they’re not long enough after you take out the hem.

  16. SLEEP! You won’t be getting any after! At least I didn’t! And make sure you have cute blankets and hats for taking his picture 🙂
    xo – kb

  18. I’ve seen that – but yeah, I was worried that the starch wouldn’t be enough since this is the heavy duty stuff for outdoors. Plus, add in the Will factor and you got yourself some trouble. I went with a sure thing – but I’m sure the starch thing could be great for other non-toddler rooms 🙂
    xo – kb

  19. Love the burlap! I am not thinking of doing this in my own son’s room! I just gotta convince my husband it’s a good idea. 🙂

  21. Looks cool!

    Add a band of solid to the bottom of the curtians when you pick an accent color.

    I wouldn’t bother with new bedding – he will be in a toddler bed before you know it. Sometimes the change is made because they start climbing and falling out of the crib.

  22. Ah! I love it! The burlap looks so crisp with the white curtains. I would have never thought to “put some burlap on it!” The wall is too cute, home run definitely!

  23. This is awesome… thinking of doing it myself. I noticed Mr. Will is getting a bit older, and will soon be moving into a big boy bed – you won’t have to redoecorate your focal wall. This is an ageless treatment, which is good because after Will hits the age of 2, you will not stop running until he is, oh, say 22? I know this because I am the mother of 8 kiddos, 4 of whom are boys. Put on your sneakers…

  24. Oh Portlandia (thats the show that your phrase is from), and being from Portland, I can’t believe how much they nailed it. You should youtube the video of the feminist book store, and the cyclist. Ridiculous. Anyhow, the burlap is just like those skits, ridiculous in an awesome way. I never would have thought of that!

  25. Haha…I loved your story and your pictures of putting burlap on it! Such a wonderful idea! I love burlap and I’m definitely going to have to do that when I get my own house again!

  29. That video is so hilarious. I can’t stop laughing about the hay and the commentary! Now the burlap, on the other hand, looks amazing! Go Bowers

  33. I love the burlap look! You guys crack me up all the time.
    I think making the curtains colored (hmm, some navy blue perhaps?) will add that pop to the room. It looks too white for a boy’s room to me, but then again, it might just be the photo. 🙂

  35. If something involves burlap, I’m most often a fan…the streak continues with your wall…LOVE IT! Trying to figure out what wall in my house I could copy your idea on.

  36. Looks great, I’m into it. It’s very cozy with the texture. Can’t wait for the art, I can’t imagine how you could have any more frames since you’ve done the gallery wall on the stairs. I’m curious how much the wall cost you? I know you said you were trying to do it for really cheap. And I’m having a pillow cover giveaway at my blog today, I would love it if you wanted to stop by and enter : )

  37. In the picture where Will is ready for bed, it totally looks like you vacuumed the floor around him while he sat on that one little spot of carpet. Did you? 🙂 Totally something I would do.

    LOVE the wall!

  39. Well, the burlap was the roll that I used on the Thanksgiving tablesetting…so it was free. Otherwise it would have been $10.
    xo – kb

  40. I was going to say – I love that you just happened to have a giant roll of burlap. 🙂 I think it looks great! Very creative.

  41. While I do love the wall I just wanted to make sure you asked about your burlap…whenever I buy burlap and my son is with me I have at least 2 ladies tell me that its full of formaldehyde and that I shouldn’t use it inside. You may want to double check that from wherever you got it from. Just wanted to let you know!

  42. Okay, I must tell you that I almost busted a gut at Jeremy’s picture taking. My hubs is the same way!!! As soon as I saw the curtains I thought how cute they would be with a stripe at the bottom in a blue that matches Will’s bedding. I’ve been dying to fabric a wall since the first time I heard Nate Berkus say “just use spray starch to put it up”. I’m so jealous.

  43. When the hubby finally lets me even start thinking about having a baby I will keep this in mind if we have a boy!! I totally love it and growing up on a tobacco farm just adds to the using of burlap!

  44. Pretty!

    Ooh, how about, instead of letting the hem out, you sew a nice contrasting color? To the top or bottom. Either would look great.

  45. I love this! Wondering how it would look with a color behind the burlap? Do you think that would be to weird? I have a deep red wall that I’m totally over, but I really dont’ feel like repainting it… 🙂

  46. Love Put a Bird on it! I say it all the time. The burlap wall is SO cute. I can’t wait to see the rest of the room come together!

  47. haha. My husband does the same thing with the picture taking. I am not sure how the coin slot is relevant. BTW love the wall.

  48. I notice the lovely vacuum tracks too. Seeing as you have a vacuum that clearly sucks (as it should) do you have any recommendations for a good one?

  49. We have a Electrolux – it’s old but it does a good job. Jer’s dad was a sales man in another life – so he made us believers 🙂
    xo – kb

  50. Yeah – our package said it was all natural with no added chemicals…I would assume that would be formaldehyde…right? It’s used for organic gardening – so food you would eat – but I will be sure to double check! Thanks for the reminder!
    xo -kb

  51. I’ve turned Beyonce’s song that talks about putting a ring on it to “put a bird on it”. So I go around all day singing “if you liked then you should have put a bird on it. Oh oh oh … ” You get the picture. It’s a sickness. Glad to hear I’m not alone in my weirdo-ness.

  56. Love it a million times love it! You did an amazing job and it’s such a simple idea! Perfect for a “little man’s” room! By the way..the greasy hair no make up look (which looks beautiful on you by the way) is my stay at home mom to 2 boys under three uniform:)

  57. I also wish I could “Like” comments like on Facebook. I love that you vaced before the pic! I would have done the same thing!

  58. You are so creative Katie! It might just be my eyes but is there a big diagonal wrinkle in the burlap? It may just be the lighting. I think the bed skirt from his original nursery would look great in there. It won’t be long until you will want to redecorate it again.

    For my daughter’s nursery, we cut a roll of bamboo in half and stapled it to the wall and topped it with molding at chair rail height. Her room was a Hawaiian, tropical surf theme. As she got older, she would reach through the crib and attack the bamboo. We eventually had to remove it.

  59. Aaaah, you use the Playtex sippy cups, too! They are the only ones that don’t leak for us even though Clark throws them all. the. time. with the exception of the two stopper my husband cut an extra line in when our son was having a hard time getting anything out. Have they been as good for you?

  60. He’s definitely figured out how to make them leak…also, he’s really good at sucking out the juice and then letting it fall outta his mouth. yeah. annoying. but I got him two other brands at Christmas and HATE them comparitively…
    xo – kb

  63. So I just youtubed “Put a bird on it” and the first result is “All the Seagull Ladies.” Is that the song you’re talking about, because I’m choking on my Cheerios watching it this morning. You should totally add a bird silhouette over Jeremy’s crack shots.

  64. I have a super old electrolux from around 1980 and it works great! It was a hand me down from my mil, if you ever see one at goodwill, they are totally worth picking up.

  69. I am hearing Beyonce’s song “if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it…” – not really sure why. 🙂

    LOVE LOVE LOVE the burlap wall… is there a way to make it look more seamless? That’s the only thing I would change if I were to do this. Maybe arrange the burlap so the seams (ends) are hidden underneath the curtain.

    Definitely love it though!

  70. Ah I love the burlap! You have such good ideas for accent walls! I was totally going to copy your pallet wall (have to postpone that until we are in a permanent home now) but you have inspired me to find some other solutions for texture on walls! 🙂

  71. My uncle was an Electrolux salesman, and he gave my mom a 1970s version of it! It looks ridiculous, but my mom said it’s the best vacuum she ever owned!

  74. Love it! Like a textured wallpaper but so much easier to apply and remove if you want! Did you tell Jeremy to take pictures relevant to the blog, or just relevant pictures? ‘Cause obviously your rear end is relevant to him. 😉

  76. I LOVE it!!! I really love the use of texture in pillows and blankets, so I suppose now it will extend to walls. I am also glad to hear that it is so inexpensive. Great job!

  77. Now I feel bad because *all* the curtains in my house are short rather than floor-length 🙁 I tried them long, but between the kids pulling on them and the pet hair wads that got stuck in them, it was an ugly mess. So I cut them.

    I was thinking you’d go posh and traditional with your nursery (just based on your dresser, the crib, and that navy checked fabric), but the burlap is a neat complement. I might try that somewhere in my house, though I’m not sure it’d fit in with our other stuff…

    One suggestion: Maybe seaming the burlap panels together and trimming would help the seams look less obvious? I’ve seen the starching technique + seaming the fabric used before (it was striped, so much harder to match) and the seams were almost invisible. Though it is probably difficult to measure/cut all the different pieces.

  79. So how did you trim the burlap next to your molding? Scissors? or an exacto knife? It seems like it would be difficult to make the cuts so clean. Any suggestions? Thanks! It really does look great.

  81. Looks great! Question, and if it was posted and I misseded it I’m sorry. Where did you buy your burlap? I want a bunch but am not sure where to even go for it.

    Love the crack… my hubby would do the same!

  86. OMG Katie I flippin’ love it!!! We just painted a spare room in our house a khaki color but it really needs a little more, ummm, something… I thing a burlap wall might actually be the perfect thing! (side note: my mother-in-law gave me 10 yards of 3 different colored burlaps for Christmas… … … yes, it was amazing/my favorite gift)

  92. Oh, I just LOVE this wall treatment. I have been considering some kind of wood accent wall when we switch my son from his nursery to a bigger bedroom later this year, but I have not been able to decide on a look. Now, I’m thinking fabric- yes-FABRIC!!! I have a bit of a textile obsession.
    Anywho- the Portlandia, “put a bird on it” reference has been muttered so many times by me since seeing it last year that my husband finally cornered me to find out what on Earth I was talking about. Of course when I showed him the video he saw the humor, but not as much as I do. Oh well, if he would just put a bird on it everything would be great! Am I right?

  93. I used scissors but my little trimming ones that are sharp – you definitely want to get it as clean as possible so go slow!
    xo – kb

  95. I trimmed mine – just tried to get a clean look. I actually told Jer that if I didn’t like the way the edges looked then I would just take a piece of quarter round and nail that to the wall over the edge to make it super clean but in the end, I didn’t feel it was necessary – and saved the money.
    xo – kb

  97. DYING!!!
    Can you imagine me following him around taking photos of his butt – because I can and I’m fairly certain that he wouldn’t be phased by it 🙂
    xo – kb

  98. Katie, you are so weird. Thank you for that, because I pretty much only realllly like weird people. 😉 xoxo

  100. You should put some burlap on the top of the curtains to make them longer! DUH! I love it! I want to do some kind of “travel room” for my 2 year old. And I think burlap would look good on a wall. I also want to have the quote “of the places you will go” up somewhere too. I need an interior designer! You are so awesome at this Nike girl thing!!

  101. Oy Katie.

    I like a lot of the home decorating things you do, but I am not a fan of this one. The seams are pretty distracting to me. Sorry. 🙁

    What about grass-cloth wallpaper?

    Jen

  103. Love the color and texture. That center seam would drive me insane though. Curses!

    Those short curtains made me giggle. You could always add a few inches of coordinating fabric with some stitch witchery as a temporary fix. 🙂

  104. Joann’s has it online for $2.00 a yard right now with their 50% off coupon (regular $4.00). They have it in regular and navy.

  107. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! What a unique and creative idea. Love your blog, you give such inspiration for the “not so creative” gals like myself. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  109. Well, I totally know what you mean about the seams…and I hear ya. I do have plans for frames to partially cover it – it will still be there but with all the other ‘lines’ of the frames – hopefully it will be less in-your-face, if you know what I mean.
    xo – kb

  110. I was just on a rant last night about why some genius out there can’t figure out how to make a sippy that doesn’t leak….we have six kinds that we have tried, all price ranges, ALL LEAK. And the expensive one leaks the most! Playtex has worked the best so far, only leaks when he shakes it so vigorously he can’t walk straight (which means milk ends up splattered across even more of the floor!)
    Love the wall, but does the red line bother you? is that going to be a color in the room?

  113. Hi Katie,

    I really like it, it provides a focal point yet it’s understated. I’ve used burlap for so many things but never thought about it on a wall… reading it was one of those, “why didn’t I think of that” moments!

  114. Hi Katie,

    I really like it, it provides a focal point yet it’s understated. I’ve used burlap for so many things but never thought about it on a wall… reading it was one of those, “why didn’t I think of that” moments!

  115. Coin slot! Steve Urkel! Where do you come up with these one liners? You are HILARIOUS!!!!!…. Where did you come up with the burlap wall? Did you really just say “put a burlap on it” and the idea sprung into your head or did you see it used somewhere else?? It looks great..good idea no matter where it came from!

  116. Oh my goodness its so nice to know I’m not the only who thinks that… Let me guess, every time you walk past something with a bird on it you think “PUT A BIRD ON IT”! (in all caps… Just like that!) My husband thinks its hilarious how true that video is and every time we walk into any home design store and there is a bird on something he pulls me over and says “they put a bird on it” and laughed. Yeah… Considering how may birds there are on things, this get old real fast. lol. I SOOO thought you would do fabric on the wall this time around too, so yeah, I’m pretty much awesome like that, just saying, oh, and you too for thinking up the idea!

  119. Haha… coin slot… that’s funny.

    I like the burlap. It’s cute. Perhaps you could do a fabric border to lengthen the curtains. Just an idea.

    Hugs,
    Dana

  120. I was thinking the same thing about the seams, especially the big one right in the middle of the wall. I am sure you thought about this, but maybe using a whole piece to cover the middle and then make the seam in a more out of the way spot? My eye just goes right to it! Although I do love the color and the texture. Such a creative idea!

  121. Well, here’s the thing I didn’t explain earlier…if I had one piece down the middle, we would have two seams down either side…the curtains wouldn’t have covered it because the curtain rods are not expandable…so I figured that one seam would be better…especially seeing as how I am using the burlap as an accent for added texture underneath a bunch of frames. Does that make sense?
    xo – kb

  122. Nope – it doesn’t bother me…seeing all the crazy animals and weird bedding bothers me…but a little thread of red does not 🙂
    xo – kb

  124. Seriously how it happened. Weird, huh? Stuff gets crazy when you have limited money for renovations and you want to exercise the creative side…you start putting stuff on walls Hilde style 🙂
    xo – kb

  125. All I can hear in my head is the sound of slot machines. CHA CHING CHA CHING….haha

    Did you consider running the burlap horizontally? And when you stapled, did you just staple at the tops and bottoms or did you place staples on the edges all the way down? Love the idea!

  127. Your burlap wall looks great! I don’t think the seams are a problem at all- it goes with the look of the burlap. Grasscloth has the same issue, actually bugs me more. I’m glad you mentioned the issue of Will pulling on it-that was my first thought considering his bed is in front of that wall. Good idea, and thanks for the laughs, as always. 🙂

  130. I did think of that but I was afraid of sagging in the middle…don’t know why but I thought that gravity could help with it vertically. It probably would work either way though 🙂
    xo – kb

  131. Unrelated to the current burlap wall….

    Katie, you need to read December’s In Style magazine. A designer totally redid Will’s first nursery for Jewel and it got featured. It’s got the pallet wall and faux animal heads and all.

  134. I like this. I kinda think the mirror you just pulled down from the bathroom would look amazing between the windows….

  136. I love the wood accent wall in your sons old nursery! Did you do that yourself? If not do you have any suggestions as to wallpaper that would give a similar look?

    Thank you
    PS LOVELY BLOG 🙂
    Sara

  138. I had my mind set on burlaping my wall (I have an entire roll of burlap!! Burlap banners, burlap book covers, burlap jewelry……..)
    I was not excited to do it the “proper” way – liquid starch and am ecstatic that you used my weapon of choice!! A staple gun!! Thanks for the reassurance!! Plus, I want to see some wrinkle & texture. Thank you!

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