Dining Room Re-Do
I love a good project. That's one reason I enjoy SFFS so much...it's an ongoing project. I get to post all kinds of things on here and you all are so patient with my ramblings. So here's another one for you.
After being in this house for a little over 4 years...I decided it was time to change something. I wasn't sure what it was going to be but I knew I was in need of change. The rest of the family had no input. For two reasons. The first reason was because I didn't ask them for their input and the second reason is because I didn't want their input. This was ALL me. I gave some consideration to our bedroom...but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I just redid the office/spare room so that was out. Then it hit me! The dining room! One of the first rooms you see when you walk into our house. That's it!
So off to Lowe's I went in search of paint. I waffled between a couple of colors before I decided on what I wanted. I needed something that would blend with the rest of the house but be bold enough to make a statement. I waited until I had a week with a couple of family members gone (i.e. a 3 year old) and I got to work! I prepped the room and even wrangled my son into wielding a paintbrush for me one day. After just two days of prep, paint and putting things back together...the room was done and it looked great! Just what I wanted! But I wasn’t done yet!
The next items on my list were the two long windows in the dining room. I knew I wanted another bold statement and to avoid spending a ton of money, I knew I’d have to make them myself. When we lived in California, every now and then, friends and I would make a trip down to the fabric district in Los Angeles to load up on good fabric at good prices. Since I’m no where near LA now, I settled for the next best thing here in the south…which is Tony’s Fabrics. A very fun fabric store close to our house. I dragged IT Guy along with me and off we went. There are aisles and aisles of fabric on huge bolts and I wandered up and down, up and down. I came across one that looked promising but just didn’t bowl me over. I wanted it to WOW me. Up and down, around and around…looking for just the right one.
Then..like a beacon in the night, like the mother ship calling me home….I saw something from afar. (Too dramatic?) At first I just saw the colors. The exact colors of my new dining room plus another color that I use in an adjoining room. It looked like it could work. Then I pulled the fabric out for a closer look when I realized that THIS was the one! IT Guy was over an aisle perusing the fabrics when he heard me squeal in delight. (Okay..not really, but I did holler for him.) He found me and I must have had a huge smile on my face because he said something like, “Oh…you found it.” It wasn’t a question…it was statement of fact. He knew it the minute he saw the grin on my face. He knows me SO well.
I just couldn’t believe how perfect this fabric was! I got enough fabric for the windows plus a little extra...just in case. You never know when you need extra perfect fabric. I brought it home and went to work on making the curtains. Measuring, cutting, lining, sewing….and they were finished! Now…how to hang them. I didn’t want a plain ole curtain rod. My idea was to use hooks on the walls then hang the curtains from little rings. The problem was, I needed the hooks. So...off I went on a quest for decorative hooks. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to go too far. Just down the street to Hobby Lobby. But….and there’s always a “but”…I needed 8 and they only had 1.
It took trips to 3 other Hobby Lobby’s to find all that I needed. Now I was ready to come home and hang my beautiful new curtains. And guess who got roped into that job this morning? Yep. IT Guy. What a good sport! He’s always so good to indulge me. He wouldn’t have cared if our dining room stayed the same for the next 50 years…but he knew I cared…so I know he did it FOR ME. So the end of the story is that I have a new dining room and you have something else to read about me and my little life.
This is the dining room before. It's okay. Not bad but not terribly exciting, either.
Here's yours truly taping off the crown molding.
Here's Son #1 painting below the chair rail. The paint color is Lowe's Valspar
and the name is Swiss Chocolate.
Here I am again...up on the ladder, roller in hand! This color is also Valspar and
it's called Woodlawn Valley Haze.
Here's IT Guy hanging the hooks for the curtains.
And here's the after shot. I LOVE IT!!
See this cabinet? IT Guy got it for me one Mother's Day...a LONG time ago. The
dishes inside are all Tracy Porter and I love them. Peacocks and butterflies. If you
noticed, the curtains have peacocks on them. That's what sealed the deal for me!!
