QUEEN B STUDIOS

Makeover Tutorial

Studio Makeover: Welcome

Studio Makeover: Image

YOU HAVE A GLITTER WALL!?

That's my favorite question to receive! For years I dreamed about my perfect crafting studio and how I wanted it to look. I saved ideas on Pinterest for colors, organization ideas, storage, anything I could think of! I was just waiting for the opportunity to purchase my husband's and my forever home. I knew once I created my dream studio, that I would never want to leave it. So I patiently waited until that day came. While I'm still working on the organization goals of the room, my main goal - the glitter wall - is by far my (and everyone else's) favorite part of my room. I'm often asked how I created it so I provided a little information below along with details of all the main purchases I made. I hope this helps and if you create a glitter wall that was inspired by mine, please share it with me! I'd LOVE to see your creation!

GLITTER WALL - RESEARCH

I can't tell you how many Youtube videos I watched to figure out how to get the glitter wall exactly like I wanted. Yes - you can add glitter to your paint; BUT it won't shimmer like you're expecting (the glitter will be dull). Yes - you can buy glitter paint; BUT it doesn't give you a real glitter feel, it's more of just a faint sparkle. Yes - you can buy glitter wallpaper; BUT it would have cost me $800 for one wall.

Everyone has their own ideas and methods. I took my 3 favorite videos where the methods looked easiest and where the end-product turned out the most beautiful and then combined them. It took 2 of my best girlfriends and myself almost an entire day to apply the glitter - BUT WE DID IT!

In the supply list, you're probably wondering why I have listed "Turft Hand Spreader". I used that to "spray" the glitter on the wall! That was one of my favorite ideas found during my research. Before you begin creating a glitter wall, I highly recommend researching and watching videos first. It's no small feat and you can learn a lot from other people's mistakes.

GLITTER WALL - APPLICATION

Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how we achieved the PERFECT glitter wall!

Paint a base coat on the wall - I chose a light gray since I was doing silver glitter
Once the base coat has dried, get all of your supplies handy and readily available
I poured the Mod Podge into a paint tray + liner so that I could easily dip my 9" roller into it and apply the Mod Podge just like paint
Work in sections! You don't want the Mod Podge to dry before you can get the glitter on. I worked in approximately 12"x24" sections at a time
Border first! Roll the Mod Podge along the edge of the wall for about 12"
Pour the glitter into the Hand Spreader and spray it on the wall - AT THE SAME TIME have someone with a large box ready to "catch" any loose glitter that doesn't stay on the wall. This will help you save glitter to re-use as well as help with the mess later on.
Pour the glitter that was caught in the box back into the Hand Spreader
Repeat until the edge/trim of the wall is completed
Now work from left to right, top to bottom. Roll the Mod Podge on the wall in about 12"x24" sections, spray the glitter, catch the glitter, repeat. Note: It's ok to go over small sections each roll to make sure you don't have any gaps
Take a much deserved break once the wall is done (2-4 hours)- then do it all again when it's dry! I did 2 coats of glitter to make sure there weren't any bald spots. After that I also went section by section looking at the wall to see if there were still any spots missed. If so, I used a hand brush and touched up those smaller spots individually.
After it has set (24 hours) I applied a top coat of Mod Podge. This is where I messed up a little bit. The top coat of Mod Podge dries clear and will hold the glitter in place - BUT- if you do the top coat too thick, you'll see lines. I was impatient by this time and tried to put the top coat on as quickly as possible. When the light hits my wall a certain way, you can see my top-coat lines. Take your time, put a THIN layer of top coat with a small hand brush and don't go over the same spots.
Clean up - Luckily for me, my floors were removed when we did my glitter wall. We vacuumed what we could and then the floor and baseboards were laid after we finished to cover anything we couldn't get up. This also helped get a perfect trim at the bottom of my wall.

I can touch my wall, even rub it, with no glitter coming off! That's all thanks to the top coat application. We were able to drill holes in the wall for my wall monitors and to hold the desk in place, there was minimal glitter

SUPPLIES

For the glitter, I originally purchased 4 pounds from bulkglitters.com:

1 pound Centauri Silver: Ultra Fine Glitter Holographic
2 pounds Silver Moonlight Craft Glitter (Fat Flake)
1 pound Silver Moonlight Craft Glitter (Colossal Flake)

BUT... I ended up running out of the above glitter. I learned that anything with small flecks of glitter won't show up like you're imagining. The best glitter to use I ended up purchasing from Michaels (michaels.com) - I took their entire stock in store! Even had them check the back for more bottles.

Creatology Glitter, 8 Oz. (I believe it took about 12 bottles to do the entire wall)

Paint was purchased from Lowes (lowes.com):

1 gallon of HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams Showcase - Eggshell (one-coat coverage guarantee). COLOR: Jade Mist (color matched as this was a BEHR signature color)
KILZ 2 Interior/Exterior Multi-purpose water-based Wall and Ceiling Primer
Accent wall was 8-fl oz Sample can of HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams Interior Paint Sample

Flooring: Granite Ridge Oak laminate flooring

Baseboards and crown molding came with the house. Baseboards are 4".

Supplies:

1 gallon Mod Podge Waterbase Sealer, Glue and Finish (Gloss Finish) - amazon.com
Safety Goggles 3 PK (as 3 of us were working on the wall) - www.harborfreight.com
Scotts Turf Builder 5-lb Broadcast Hand Spreader - lowes.com
Purdy 6-Piece Paint Applicator Kit (9" rollers/covers, tray + liner, angled trim brush) - lowes.com
FrogTape 1.41-in Painter's Tape - lowes.com
4-Step Steel Skinny Mini Step Stool Ladder with Project Tray - homedepot.com
Vacuum
Broom and dust pan
Lots of patience

Furniture:

Saint Mossi Modern Contemporary Elegant K9 Crystal Glass Chandelier Pendant Ceiling Lighting Fixture - 5 Lights - amazon.com
Copper Creek Colonial Privacy Door Knob, Satin Stainless - amazon.com
Armless Upholstered Chair Navy and White (it's really black, not navy) - amazon.com
Striped Curtain Room Darkening Grommet Unlined Window Curtains, Set of Two Panels Thermal Insulated Blackout Window Treatment Set of 2 for Living Room Curtain - amazon.com
Ikea Linnmon Desk Table Top White (Two 78 3/4 x 23 5/8 and two 47 1/4 x 23 5/8) - ikea.com
Four ADILS Desk Legs White (Since I have cabinets holding up most of the desks, I only needed legs for two table ends) - ikea.com
Four ESTATE by RSI 23.75-in W Wood Composite Freestanding Utility Storage Cabinet (these came already painted white and already with door handles for a better price than doing it myself!) - lowes.com