This Dining Room (and Entry) makeover has been a
loooooooooong time coming! When we first moved in almost 3 1/2 years ago we really had our work cut out for us...we began by repairing all the plaster walls where they had worn and cracked over the years...and let me tell you what, we took all the help we could get...the Little Brat (below) even pitched in!
She pitched in a lot actually...whatever mommy and daddy were doing, she wanted to be in on...a baby with a cleaning sponge should not be underestimated! She did a fine job helping us clean and refinish the floors!
Oh
Lordsy Mercy, I had almost forgotten that dire view into the old kitchen!
Who would have guessed that the walls would be just as dirty as the floors though...here you can see where we opted to postpone the removal of the wallpaper in favor of simply washing it down...that transition you see below on the wall from light to dark is actually where we had washed the wallpaper (on the right) and where we hadn't (on the left)....
ewwwwwwwwwwThere would be no ignoring the fact that this paper would need to come down at some point though...it had torn where the walls had cracked, and began to peel up after what we guess to be about 35-40 years of display!
Here is a shot of the DR as we were first introduced before we purchased...
...and here it is a short time after purchase...just a bit touched up so we could live comfortably enough to tackle other
LARGER and higher priority projects...note the updated view of our newer kitchen layout as well...that was one of our most
laborious home improvement projects, but essential as it was not a functional space when we moved in..
Here is a closer shot of our tired ole' radiator just begging for some TLC...
...so this is where my super creative, talented and hard working friend
Kate and her team of fix-up Fairy's comes in....obviously I am
too huge and otherwise unable to tackle this project without their help...Consider Kate my kinder, gentler, and much more amazing twin...I get a fancy idea, and she helps me make it a reality...it's a force to be reckoned with! I hear she can do this with ALL her clients, but I prefer to believe this is something we share exclusively...because I'm selfish like that...considering we plan on listing the place up for sale within the month, it needs to be done though! First impressions are only made once, and the main level needs to be at least as beautiful on the whole as the
Living Room is that Kate helped us finish before! Here we go! Note K
ate added a strip of trim up near the original (albeit puny) crown molding. This produced the illusion the crown was more substantial and matched the crown of the LR so much better now...and that wallpaper? It gave almost no fuss at all! It seems it wanted to come down as much as we wanted it down!
..I especially love the two tone paint on the walls...
...and the mantel can now stand out as the focal point it was always meant to be...
Here is a view into the Entry, which was also touched up as part of the package deal...what I love about this view is that you cannot even see the tired ole' radiator pictured earlier in this post...that's because it has been painted to blend right into the wall now...yippee!
...and speaking of the entry, with all this beautification going on we could not leave that large detail out! This front door is original as far as we can tell...and it's age shows....the previous owner kept dogs locked in this area and they had done quite a bit of damage to the floors and trim work...
We are going to have to find a new storage place for the strollers now!
Feeling blue? This colonial blue was used throughout the house...with bright white walls....out challenge was to keep our palette 'country' while updating the look and feel to something more warm and inviting...
Hello 'the-shade-of-tan-I-wish-I-was'! You are lookin' good!
...and Kate came up with the spiffy idea to paint our mismatched hardware black as well...I gotta tell you, it had a much larger impact than I expected...I love it!
With this phase of updates complete, we can now focus on the new siding and windows set to start going up next week...after this darn rain stops anyways...stay tuned!
Happy Home Improvement,
Leah
...so this is where my super creative, talented and hard working friend Kate and her team of fix-up Fairy's comes in....obviously I am too huge and otherwise unable to tackle this project without their help...Consider Kate my kinder, gentler, and much more amazing twin...I get a fancy idea, and she helps me make it a reality...it's a force to be reckoned with! I hear she can do this with ALL her clients, but I prefer to believe this is something we share exclusively...because I'm selfish like that...considering we plan on listing the place up for sale within the month, it needs to be done though! First impressions are only made once, and the main level needs to be at least as beautiful on the whole as the Living Room is that Kate helped us finish before! Here we go! Note Kate added a strip of trim up near the original (albeit puny) crown molding. This produced the illusion the crown was more substantial and matched the crown of the LR so much better now...and that wallpaper? It gave almost no fuss at all! It seems it wanted to come down as much as we wanted it down!
