So we are happily ensconced in our new town and settled into our little rental house, as it turns out, for another two years. Since we had to short sell our house upon leaving L.A., we can't get another mortgage for three years after the sell of the house. Bummer. But really fine. It gives us more time to save and find the right house for us.
So in the meantime, our rental house is darling and in a neighborhood that we love, and our landlords are actual wonderful, nice people (as opposed to some cold rental management company). And while the house is old and has suffered some wear over the years from past renters, there were a few cosmetic things that were starting to bother me about living here. But as a renter, there's only so much you can do that is not a big expenditure and that will be removable upon vacating the premises.
The door in my bathroom was one such irk. The bathroom is a thoroughfare room so it has two doors. The bothersome door leads to another room, which leads to the backyard. The door has window panes to keep the light flowing through the windowless bathroom, and had a sad kind of blue gingham check curtain covering the panes to protect the privacy of the person using the bathroom. It collects dust and makes the room seem more closed in than it actually is.
I had bought these interesting ephemera papers involving birds and butterflies from a frame store in town months ago, not having any idea what I was going to do with them, just that they looked old and beautiful. And then it dawned on me that I could decoupage the glass. It's only paper -- it will be removable when we leave if the new tenants or owners desire, or can be covered up with the crappy curtain again.
And so I got the Mod Podge and got to work.
At first I tried to cut the papers to fit the panes exactly, but this proved to be too difficult. I wanted absolutely no gaps around the edges and I could see that getting the measurements and cutting exactly perfect every time was just not going to happen. And I would have to cut across some of the images in the paper that I loved the most. So I ended up cutting different pictures from the papers and just pasting them where I thought they should go, filling in any gaps with more pieces.
The process was actually very relaxing and therapeutic. I would lose track of time, and found it to be the perfect rainy day activity.
When the sun shines through, it almost has a stained glass effect, which I love.
And the butterfly pictures are slightly creepy, which helped to balance out the girly sweetness of the bird pictures.
I love how it turned out. I was concerned it would be too busy, and there is a lot to look at when you are sitting there doing your business, but it doesn't bother me since I have kept the rest of the walls pretty bare.
Next decoupage project: Superhero comic book dresser for the boys' room!
