Oh Deer

Believe it or not, I am actually going to write a post about a house project on my house blog.  Due to school, the projects have been few and far between.  I cannot tell you how ready I am for a two week break in April.  In the midst of the craziness, however, I {with help from two lovely people} managed to complete one of my basement projects.  And the story goes like this...

There was once a husband who wanted a space all to himself.  His wife worked really really hard to give him that space, asking him all sorts of questions about his style and taste preferences.  As soon as the words "dorm room" came out, however, she decided to take matters into her own hands.  Well that she is me and I decided to decorate with a slightly outdoorsyish theme.  My first idea was to have a portrait of a deer hanging above our couch.  

First things first, you need a canvas.  I chose to go with plywood for this project.  I even chose the cheapest plywood available {stuff for underlayment} not because of the price, but because I liked how much grain was in the wood.  Next, the deer needed to be drawn.  There are several options for this step, but might I suggest making friends with an artist?  It will most definitely come in handy throughout your lifetime.  I did just that, and hired miss annabelle to work her magic.  

I watched in awe as she sketched this out in a couple minutes.  I seriously get jealous about stuff like that so I'm thinking next time I should just hang out in another room.  If you don't have a super talented artistic friend, a projector would also work wonders.  After the deer was traced and outlined with a black marker, it was time to stain.  I used Jacobean, which is a very dark, almost black color.

And then the masterpiece turned into a baby fox.  Thank goodness for paint.  But first, my baby fox needed to be cut into a more manageable size.  Husband cut it 32 inches high {I wanted 30 but the antlers just didn't want to fit} by 54 inches long.  He then cut it into three pieces, each measuring 18 inches.  I stretched that number a little due to the size of my couch, but I don't mind a little extra white space on such a dark wall.

The paint actually happens to be my favorite part of the project, even though it was a pain to put on.  I wanted an off white color and knew I wouldn't need much, so I chose to buy little Glidden samples from Home Depot in Elegant Lace.  When I went to the register to purchase the paint, the price would not show up.  The lady ended up giving them to me for 5 cents.  I only needed one, but I bought two just to be safe.  Now I wish I would have bought the whole stock.  After a lot of time and a steady hand, Roger was born.  

Rog happens to be just perfect for this space.  A perfect blend of masculine for the hubs and chic for me.  I'm sure it will be awhile until he gets hung since we have a few more projects going on for the basement and want to hang everything at one time.  In the meantime, I will probably play around with some different glazing and staining options.  One day {probably around the end of April} I will hopefully be able to show the basement in all its glory.  Until then, I have Roger.