Keeping Busy

I can't sit still for long. I am enjoying the new kitchen and bathroom and the screened-in porch has been serving us well but there is still work to be done. When our electrician rewired our kitchen he had to get rid of some knob and tube wiring that ended up feeding into the two rooms that connect to the kitchen. One was easier than the other and in what is going to be the new dining room the joists were cut through. A comment was made that with such an "accident" you can't ever really patch it right.......right. They haven't seen my Mr. at work. You can't tell anything was ever done. And, with that the new dining room was underway.

I went online shopping and went into a few brick-n-mortar stores looking for lighting. I finally rested on this one.



Home Depot : http://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Nottinghill-Collection-5-Light-Chrome-Chandelier-21085-017/202814835?N=5yc1vZc7o0Z1z0u7isZ1z0u7itZ1z0w30yZ1z0w31a

I saw a picture on Pinterest of a beautiful black and white dining room and so I showed it to my man. He liked the look, too! Sweet! Now where can I find that wallpaper?



http://www.countryliving.com/homes/makeovers/dining-room-makeovers#slide-16

I went looking on the world wide web and found it but also found it was wwwwaaaaayyyy more than I wanted/could pay for wall coverings. Plan B was to find a stencil. I went through several possibilities. I want the room to remain bright which for me means more white than black. You have to pay attention to your stencil and which part is actually cut out. It is the part that is cut our that will get the overlay paint. In most cases it was reverse of what I wanted to do and painting the walls black first to try to cover over that with white was not something that sounded like a smart or easy job to me. I did finally find something that the Mr. and I agreed upon.

In addition, I found a new/old oak pedestal table on Craigslist and refinished it.

The top and the base were stained two different colors and a little too
orange for me.

Sanded, tacked down and a coat of wood conditioner done. I started staining.



After one coat I decided that it needed to be darker. Since it was oak
I decided to stain it close to the color of the kitchen floors.

I chose to paint the base the same white as the kitchen cabinets and stained the top to match the hardwood flooring in the kitchen. I have not gotten to the chairs yet. They will require a spraying when I figure out what I want to do with them. They were a Craigslist find, too!

My school books and games were all cleared out of the shelves and everything has been given a fresh coat of flat white paint. When you are dealing with old horse hair plaster flat paint is best as there is no sheen to reflect the light and show the bumps and undulating surface.

The room before....

Someone else is enjoying the process. Found her just sitting on the floor
doing school work surrounded by white.

Ahhh, white. Not a color for walls I usually embrace but it is a breath of
fresh air.

I am loving the "clean slate/fresh canvas" effect that the room has right now but we all know it won't stay that way!

Stop back for a visit soon. I am sure something will be different.