My new project

I have been wanting to do something with our curved wet bar wall ever since we moved in a little over two years ago.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  I didn't just want to paint it.  I wanted it to be focal point in the basement family room.

I had already painted the basement and made the curved wall next to the bar a dark brown while the other walls are a tan.  I thought about using tile, stone or even doing a textured technique to it.  I finally came up with the idea of putting wine corks on the wall.  I have hundreds of corks that I bought many years back plus what I have accumulated myself over the years.  The wall looks small in the picture but it is actually quite large.

Now I wasn't sure how I was going to use the corks.  I decided it would be best to cut them in half so I would twice as much and I thought it would be easier to glue them to the drywall.  Next problem, how to cut them in half.  My hubby said I should use the utility knife.  My first thought was that would take forever and I would probably cut myself and would have to be rushed to the emergency room.  My idea was to use my scroll saw.  Yes, I could still probably cut my finger off but as least it would be faster and I could concentrate better.  So I brought my scroll saw in from the garage as it was 20 degrees that day and I was not going to freeze using it in the garage. 

So I set it up in the foyer.  It was a great idea but I could only use it for about 30 minutes as my fingers were cramping since I had to hold onto the corks very tightly.  I was able to get about 200 corks cut in half and I got started later that afternoon with the gluing.  Here is what I got done on Sunday.

I know that it doesn't look like I got that far and I did not use all the corks that I cut day.  Between being down on my knees for a few hours and getting my fingers burnt from the hot glue I had to throw in the towel for the day.  I think that it is looking pretty good so far. 

I am going to try and get a lot more done this weekend.  Last weekend was more of a trial and error as not all of the corks are the same length and I was wanting to stagger the seams. Now that I know what I am doing it should go faster. After this weekend I am pretty sure that I would have wished that I just painted the wall instead. 

This Saturday we are finally getting the furniture delivered for the basement.  We ordered two power reclining loveseats.  I was hoping to have this done before then but I wasn't able to get started on this project any sooner.  Here is a picture of the area where the furniture is going.  Please excuse the mess.

I have been throwing stuff down here that I am wanting to decorate with but I have been waiting to get furniture.  I can't wait to get this area done.  I will be doing a post on the weekend showing the furniture and my progress on the wall.  Wish me luck.