Monday, November 1, 2010

yea, about that...

As usual, it's been awhile, and my excuse hasn't changed.  I've been spending lots of time here.


It's hard to believe that it's already NOVEMBER.  Wow.  Luckily that does mean that the first part of kindergarten is over and everyone has really settled in to our routine.  The year is getting more fun and less exhausting.

Back to the house, though.  Thanks to TONS of help from Mom (seriously, she worked her butt off), the stenciling in the dining room is FINALLY over.  Actually, it's been over for awhile, but I had to work up the energy to do the touch-up (6 hours straight of painting with a teeny artist brush- ugh) and then make time to put it all back together.  Here is the "after"!


Of course, there is still more to do (window treatments, change the table & chairs, possibly a rug?) but I am SO thankful to have the walls finished.  I'm happy to say that all of the work was worth it (hopefully Mom agrees) and I LOVE the finished product.  It is so much better than the coral, and fits in really well with the rest of our house.  Plus, it really gave us the wallpaper look that I wanted, without having to spend so much $$.  So, here is the dining room's progression over the past year +.


before we moved in - the previous owner had started to cover up what had been RED walls with BLUE trim (their kids' playroom)

last winter/spring

now!
(you can see the glossy sheen of the stencil lines in this pic... my favorite part!)

It's always fun to see how things change.  Some fun facts about the room:

* The base coat (darker gray) is high gloss and we stenciled over it with flat.  It sure was shiny in there before the stenciling!
* The painting of the circles above the buffet was done by my Granddaddy
* The silver rectangular "VOTE" poster between the windows belonged to my Grammie and it came from the League of Women Voters... such a snapshot of who she was!
* The white columns (there are two) came from Lane Sanson, the fabulous Carytown store that closed last year (sob) and Valerie Sanson, the owner, got them from Thalhimer's when it closed!  Love having a piece of Richmond history in our dining room.

There are other fun facts, but they're probably much more interesting to me than to anyone else. :)  I'm just thankful to have a presentable dining room again!

5 comments:

  1. Megan,
    I just happened to take a peek at your website tonight-- I L-O-V-E what you did to the dining room. I can't believe that you and your mom stenciled all of that. I can only imagine all of that work... not to mention the time. Well, it was well worth it. It looks great!
    Kim Jackson

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  2. Hi Megan! I just ran across this post and I have a question for you. The dining room looks fab by the way!! I have a very similar stencil with which I want to do the same exact effect. However, when I went to Lowes to get the paint, they said that I cannot apply matte paint over high gloss. They said the matte paint will not stick to the high gloss. Have you guys had any issue with the matte paint flaking/chipping off the high gloss base? Thanks for any advice!

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  3. Hi Megan - I never got back to you with the results of my stenciling. Without your feedback regarding painting on top of the gloss I don't know if I ever would have gone through with it. I'm so glad we did! We haven't had any chipping/flaking issues. check it out here

    Thanks again!

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  4. I love the paint color you used, would you mind letting us know the shade? I think it would be perfect for my guest bedroom!

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Lydz! The lighter shade of gray is Behr "Silver Drop" and the darker gray is also Behr "Dolphin Fin". Hope that helps! :)

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