Shed Building Plans

Disney World inspired stone accent wall progress

Walt Disney World.  My second home.  I love all things Disney but it is so much more than the theme parks.  I LOVE the architecture of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.  Each resort is its own individual themed world.  I love the way the Disney Imagineers utilize stone work.  It is simply gorgeous.  Two of my favorite stone walls are at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort and the Beach Club.

Once I knew I wanted some type of stone accent in my living room, I looked for inspiration photos.  The one below, in my own camera, was the look I was hoping to achieve.  This is from the entrance of the Beach Club, one of my favorite places on Disney property.


Enter Craigslist.  I found a listing for left over stone from a patio paver project.  It was actual stone as opposed to veneer and was about 10 square feet.  So I bargained the price down, drove up and loaded it into the car.  I was SO worried the tires were going to explode on the way home but thankfully, I made it home.  PHEW!


I unloaded it - not a fun task - and stacked it on the driveway.  I had never done any type of project such as this so I Googled a lot.



So up went the waterproof barrier first applied with a staple gun.  So far so good!  Next game the metal lath.  This is a nightmare.  In the checkout line, I cut my fingers on the rough edge which is like razor sharp.  I started to bleed all over the place - so embarrassing!  I was on my hands and knees wiping blood up off the floor - it was quite gross.  This was the worst part of the job.  Buying it, transporting it and applying it with an electronic staple gun.



Next came the scratch coat.  This is not a pretty job and not very kind to a manicures.  :-)  Even wearing gloves, mixing the mortar and applying the thin coat to the lath is a messy job.  Yuck!


Next came application of the stone.  I am a huge fan of jigsaw puzzles - either you love them or you hate them and I love them.  Applying the stone is like a giant life size puzzle with different sizes and shapes of pieces.  If you are a little anal, life myself, this takes forever.  But I hope the arduous task  will totally be worth it.


The first stones in place.  I placed a solid piece of wood to serve as a level surface to ensure an even application.


More progress.  When I stepped back and looked at this - I hated it.  It looked very messy with no flow.  So, I pried off the stones and started over.  I hated to do it but in the end, I was much happier!  As Queen Clarisse says in Princess Diaries, "Better.  Much better!"


And this is where I am right now. 2/3 done - getting really excited!


Since the stone is real, the weight is considerable.  Since I am concerned about the floor supporting the weight, I am going to go under the crawlspace with a support jack.  I see they are about $40 and can allow for an additional 18,000 pounds of weight support.  They look like this...



So that is my wall progress.   I hope I can post a reveal by Friday.  I am quite excited to see this messy project finished.  Have a great weekend!  Go IRISH - beat Oklahoma.






Disney World inspired stone accent wall progress

Interior Window in Kitchen Dining Room Wall

I installed this awesome window between the old pass thru which existed between the kitchen and dining room.  I found this window on close out for $50 at a local home improvement store.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it but I knew that I could not pass up such a sweet deal!  Here are updated pictures of my ALMOST finished kitchen - cannot wait for it to be complete!










The old pass thru  - just sort of an oddity and it became a place to hand stemware glasses.


These are pictures of the original large pass thru.  It was nice and functional but it was always sort of a strange design choice.


Little did I know that if - on a whim - I held the circle window up that it would fit and could fit perfectly.  I was excited about how it could look!


Years ago, before the internet, before Pinterest,  I used to clip pictures from magazines and catalogs which were intriguing to me with regards to home interiors.  Some I have had since I was a teenager and I still love them after all these years.  I recently came across this picture which, interestingly, I also found on the internet.  It was the interior window placed between a dining room and kitchen for interest and light.  After all these years, this design vision is becoming a reality in MY house!  Pretty cool.


So using some very bright neon poster board for a template - LOL - I measured it out, cut some drywall and two by fours and secured the window in place.




 This is how it looks from the dining room side - it adds a beautiful contrast to the deep navy wall.  It still needs to be spackled and sanded but one room at a time.  :-)


Almost ready to be installed - cant wait to see how it looks!  Fingers crossed that it would fit!  It did!


It was quite tricky cutting the ledger stone to fit around it.  I simply took my time and did it right.


Starting to be able to envision the final product - it was going to look better than I hoped it would.


And the final product - I absolutely love it!  It still allows light to pass thru but adds a touch of elegance to the pass thru.  Im so glad I hung onto that picture from a magazine all those years.  :-)

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Interior Window in Kitchen Dining Room Wall

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Stone accent wall 99 999 complete

One of my decisions was whether to use crown molding or continue the stone up to the ceiling. Since this is a living and I wanted a more polished than rustic look, I decided to use white crown molding and molding corner blocks.  I am glad I did this and I love the trimmed look.  
















Stone accent wall 99 999 complete