Dining Room

The Dining Room has been completed for a while.

Except, shhh...the inside of my corner cupboard still shows some Waye green.

Remember this?

 We spent literally weeks stripping the wallpaper of these walls.
No, I really don't have any good hints on how to take off really stuck wallpaper.
We tried scoring tools, vinegar water, gel, etc.
The best tip we found, was just the old nose-to-the-grindstone
and a whole lot of chipped fingernails because all in all, they just worked best.

We read in an old newspaper article about a house tour they had done of this house back in the 80's

and it mentioned that the dining room

was hand painted at one time. 

We were so hoping to find some beautiful mural or something under all that green wallpaper.

But, alas, it had all been primed before the wallpaper was put up.

The chair rail was painted with oil base paint

and was a complete nightmare to cover over with a lighter color.

Since there is so much trim work in that room

It also took weeks for us to get it all painted, and coat upon coat of paint too.

We tried sanding some of it and also putting on primer

but it is still giving us grief--the paint chips off very easily.

Stripping wood is not in my vocabulary right now, so we'll work with what we got.

 We painted the walls a burnt red and the trim is an antique white.

The room is octagonal shape, so it is really difficult to take pictures of.

I thought I had pictures of the process, but they're nowhere to be found.
So here's the breakdown:
We taped off all the trim.  That's a whole lot of Frog.
Which, by the way, is my favorite painters tape.
Painted the walls, and then painted all the trim.
We went for the hand stenciled idea
because in my disappointment at not finding 100 year old hand painting underneath
I just had to give it some old life back.
For the stenciling, I drew on the walls freehand with chalk
I then mixed two parts acrylic paint with one part water.
 It gives the leaves a transparent look.
I then painted over the chalk.
After the paint dried, I just took a damp rag
And removed all the chalk lines.
I was going to go for gold leafing in the center of each leaf
But I kind of like it just the way it is, for now.

 And the end result:

 

That mantle below has a story.

I bought it for a dollar at a yard sale.

Yep, you heard me right. $1.00.

But I had to find a way to get it home.

So we strapped it on top of the van.

Along with the porch swing, bed, and kids kitchen we found on the same day.

Myron thought it was a complete disaster.

I thought it was a great piece of junk.

After a good coat of paint, you can't see much of the water damage it had

Except for the wood flaking on the top

But I've got a free piece of marble from another fireplace surround

To cover all that up some day.

 

 I told you the angles are weird for good pictures

here's proof:

And some day I'll be brave, style the table

and take some glamour shots.

JO