A Fish Scale Project

I told you last week how I scored this gorgeous china cabinet for just $150.

I want to live with it for a while before making any huge changes (like sanding and refinishing/painting), but I had one idea right away to add a personal touch. I cannot stop thinking about fish scales and paint swatches. For some reason I have this desperate urge to do some kind of fish scale ombre backsplash, except I don’t have anywhere to do it. Seriously- for months I’ve been talking about this. Then when I brought the hutch home, it hit me-FINALLY A WALL TO FISH SCALE. I was seriously so giddy I started grabbing paint swatches and laying out my plan the next day.

I tweaked it a little bit more, then did some quick math. I used a 1.5″ paper punch, so I measured the back area and divided the width by 1.5 and the height by .75 (since half of the circle overlaps). One Behr Ultra swatch yields 9 circles (2 of which have a little writing on them which you can strategically place at the top to cover with the next row). I ended up with 8 colors, so I needed 26 of each. It sounds like a lot, and it totally is. I’m pretty sure there’s a warrant out for my arrest at my local Home Depot. Or, there should be.

I decided to share the love by taking half of the swatches from my local HD and half from the store about 20 minutes from my house.

Ok in all seriousness, I did actually overhear a conversation at the paint desk about how they encourage you to take the swatches because the paint company writes them off. So hold the flames and enjoy the mostly freebie nature of this project.

I used 16 Scotch permanent glue sticks to adhere the circles to the back of the cabinet. Why glue sticks? Well, I figured wallpaper paste would be awful to remove if I totally hated the look down the road. Tape seemed too fragile, and hot glue seemed too messy (glue string nest, anyone?) I realize the glue stick method may not be completely permanent, and I’m ok with that. It’s secure enough for me, for now.

I’m in love…

{I know it’s hard, but try to ignore the printer….it’s moving}

Unfortunately this is one of those projects that looks much better in person. It’s hard to capture the look because of the reflective glass.

Did I mention my husband rewired the light, so now it works? I love him.

Are you on board with the fish scale look? I’d love to try some metallic wall art. What do you think?