DIY Sponge Accent Wall

I’m so excited for today’s blog because I have my first guest blogger on this site, and she is perfect for the job!

This girl and I met and connected on Instagram, and I’m so thankful that we did! I’ve learned so much from her, I’ve been inspired by her, and honestly she pushes me to try things outside my comfort zone – mainly being a plant momma! Let me introduce you to Chelsea!

Chelsea Dasinger is the mom of two girls, a former elementary school teacher turned home school mom, who loves all things home and decor ESPECIALLY on a budget. Her passion to empower other women to create spaces & lives they love is such an inspiration!

She featured this project on her Instagram – find her here – and I knew it would be perfect to share on this blog! I hope you all enjoy her post, I sure did!

D-I-Y. Those 3 letters have the power to strike the full spectrum of emotions in the heart of a homemaker. It’s a term I’ve snuggled up to in my 12 years of being a homeowner, and though I definitely wouldn’t call myself a guru, I HAVE become a big time advocate of what I like to call T-I-Y’s (Try it Yourself). We are on our 3rd house and I’ve learned the hard way how to paint, hang wall decor, and tackle messy, challenging projects. And when I say ‘the hard way’, what I mean is that I’ve screwed up a whole lot and had to fix my fair share of holes in the wall. I would definitely consider myself to be an amateur when it comes to most things DIY, but I am getting pretty good at being unafraid to create a home that we love 🙂 And I can say for sure that the one thing that has always worked in my favor is getting over my fear of messing it all up.

I HAVE become a big time advocate of what I like to call T-I-Y’s (Try it Yourself).

A few months back, I finally decided to tackle the accent wall I’d always wanted in our foyer. It’s a small wall and I’ve always wanted a little pop walking in the door. I went back and forth for several months between wallpaper, painting it a solid color, or going the sponge route, and while I (still) really wanted wallpaper, the sponge won out because it was the best fit for our budget and I’d seen a lot of DIY queens make it look doable. So, after months of back and forth, I finally decided on a Wednesday night to do the sponge wall.

Here’s what my super sophisticated prep looked like :

• I searched #spongewall on IG and Pinterest
• Watched 3 highlight videos pulled out some old cabinet paint and a pack of kitchen sponge
• Started stamping my wall at 8am on Thursday morning.

I had a general idea what I was doing, but really I just took a page out of my 4 year old’s playbook and started free hand stamping my wall.

I’ll admit that I hovered that sponge over the wall for a full 30 seconds before pressing it in and making that first white print, and I promptly freaked out because it wasn’t exactly perfect. But then I pressed another one in beside it. And then another one. And then I wiped away the drippy paint on the wall from the first print, and then I pressed another one and soon I had a whole row that looked pretty dang good! I was encouraged to keep going and a little while later, the whole wall was full of tiny white sponge prints that started coming together to bring my little vision to life. It wasn’t perfect, but it was just what that wall needed.

I haven’t always been one to just jump head first into projects like this. Anybody else struggle just the tiniest bit with perfectionism? But since I turned 30 a few years ago, it’s been pretty freeing to learn to embrace that natural inclination to get out there and be unafraid to just dive in, get messy, ruffle the status quo and just DO THE DANG THING!!!

Whether that’s painting a wall in your house, building a business, mending a relationship, trying a new recipe, starting an exercise program-the same principal really applies to it all- That the best way to start is to just BEGIN.

It’s guaranteed not to be perfect the first time and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to repaint or restart a project because I got the shade of gray wrong, or put an extra hole (or five) in the wall, but I have learned that wherever you are on that road of perfectionism, do yourself a favor, STOP overthinking it, do a little homework, and just dive in. Because it’s in those moments where we mess it up and have to do it again that we grow the confidence to do it better the next time and potentially create something that can spark a little joy:).

So here’s the nitty gritty on the sponge wall :

You need two materials to do this project:

1. Kitchen Sponges
2. Paint

That’s probably why this was one of my favorite projects – it was cheap and low prep:) Be sure to grab a few packs of kitchen sponges, because you’ll want to cut a few different stamps for your wall since they tend to get messy and drippy. And if you’re working on an angle like me, you’ll need to cut out some smaller stamps to fit into corners and such.

I freehanded my sponge prints. Remember that a sponge wall doesn’t need to be perfect! If you look closely at mine, you’ll see that it’s not perfectly aligned and there are points where the stamp marks are closer together than others. That just makes it unique. The objective isn’t perfectionism, it’s to create a general uniformed look, so don’t freak out if you don’t travel in a perfect straight line. (But if your OCD kicks in, just grab a ruler, draw a line with a pencil and erase it later.) The most important thing is to keep an eye out for drips. Keep a wet towel on hand and stop every 10 stamps or so, look back with your cloth and wipe off any drips from previous stamp marks. It’s obviously best to keep up with these, so you don’t have dried on drip marks. (lesson learned) Other than that, it’s all about staying steady and not be afraid to just start.

Because it’s in those moments where we mess it up and have to do it again that we grow the confidence to do it better the next time and potentially create something that can spark a little joy:).

I’d love to see your sponge wall if you decide to do one! Tag me @keepinghouse_ so I can check it out and share!

Is that not amazing! I am so with Chelsea – learning to stop being afraid is the most freeing experience. Screwing up isn’t the worst thing that could happen, not living because we are afraid to is so much worse!

Until next time –

ALL THE MAGIC,