Dining room done, 6 rooms to go

 While my table was covered with "stuff", I painted the nook in the dining room. I had a 1/4 inch of classic gray paint left in the gallon container that I used for the rest of the room, and I was sure I could cover this small area and finally complete one room, But after a few strokes, blandness ensued and I couldn't convince myself to continue with the same colour. (Above, left is the finished wall; on the right you can see a bit of the nook, when it was white, and the rest of the wall painted classic gray)

I had visions of a darker shade of paint, a shadow.  And even though I am listing the house and all I needed to do was finish painting the room, I managed to talk myself over to the paint store to play around with darker tones. A few minutes later I left with a quart of classic gray (Benjamin Moore), but much darker, I can't say how much darker, and in the store I was a bit worried, the paint masters comparison swatches looked nothing like the colour on my wall. But I claimed, much darker and she produced.

Lighting changes this colour and sometimes its an off white, sometimes I can see hints of taupe and gray, and sometimes the nook colour looks exactly like the rest of the walls. But it is indeed a darker tone and has added some much needed intimacy in the dining room. The shadow I wanted does exist and black accents and white borders really pop.

Next up, painting and figuring out how to mount the microwave on this last wall to complete in the kitchen...

disclaimer: I am aware my photos suck! Many bloggers claim an overall improvement with their photography skills after running a blog for several years. Not me my friends, mine have worsened. And the replacement zoom lens I bought makes it difficult to get a decent angle. But I have hopes of a full house reveal in photos, eventually, So bear with me :)

Dining room

Classic Gray, Benjamin Moore

Parker bench

A while ago I found this bench and fell in love.

The colour of the upholstery, the wood, the engravings, legs, wheels ... All.  I have never been to a World Market store, but I would take a chance on this a buy online.

While I have been painting my dining room one wall at a time (one wall completed with two coats, two halves of two walls completed. Now to shove the furniture all to the other side). I just shove the furniture aside and get to work. One shove too many and the leg on my bench fell off. Sucks because I wanted to use the bench as "scaffolding" to reach the higher areas. Sucks because the broken bench leg revealed its cheapness.  The leg was just nailed on rather then screwed on. The bench is low and eventually I was going to replace the legs with higher ones, so reaching ones plate on the table would be easier. Blah, fake legs. fake bench. (hammered back on w/ wood glue, but I'm skeptical of its strength)

BUT Yay for new bench.  IF/when my contract resumes the Parker bench is the first thing I'm buying.

Dining room - painting

I do, I do like colour, but I haven't decided what colour I want for the dining room.  Three years ago I started out with peacock blue on my mind; I had a peacock coloured curtain and peacock upholstery for chairs.  But when you are working on an entire house at the same time and it takes a while to finish one room, well ... its hard to stay committed. I sold the curtain and I keep getting different ideas.

I attempted making a decision a few months ago, but was completely uninspired by my picks. Bothered by the splotches of test paint and my lack of inspiration for a colour, I finally chose Classic Gray (by Benjamin Moore). A gray no more then a dim white, as if you are covered by shade. I like how it changes throughout the day, in different lighting.

One wall completed (evening shot)

I sense by choosing this colour I am setting myself up to paint again when I decide on colour. For now it looks fresh and clean and well dusted and organized! Rose from the garden.

Dining room update

8 months later and the dining room light fixture is dangling in all its sweetness!

That works out to 2 weekends / 1 week spent trying to do electrical work myself.  Another week anticipating that the Contract-Her would finish my attempts. 6 months and 3 weeks to call an electrician. 1 week to call a different electrician. 3 weeks turn around / waiting time for the electrician to show up.  And 1.5 hours of electrical magic to make my lighting dreams come true.

And after all that time, I still love 'em. Phew!


Product info: West Elm Industrial Bulb pendant, UrbanOutfitters Damask Curtain, Pier 1 peacock dining chairr (that will eventually be replaced), Artwork: Milkweed b&w photos by me; Letters from Micheal's Art store, painted by me.

Electrical tape and the flu

I feel the need to update on my weekend project. I want to claim that I did not specify WHAT weekend.

Ego aside, I did play with the fuse box and discover there is not a switch specifically for the dining room. Main breaker switch it is ... I guess that is the safest way to go. But I needed the electricity for the time being. My assistant claims one needs more voltage then 140 to cause serious injury / death.

I turn off the light switch. Unscrew the old chandelier to investigate the wiring and hole and metal plate. All looks copasetic and doable. My assistant holds the fairly heavy lighting fixture, that would otherwise dangle from the wires. Its fairly heavy, anything is when you hold it with your hand raised above your head. I do a little more poking around.

Decide the new light fixture instructions need a more thorough reading. Try to screw light back on to metal plate. Can't get screw back in ... its very awkward up there near the ceiling, with a fixture blocking the view of the screw hole. Get my assistant to find and pass me the hemp rope. I loop the rope around the metal plate and the light. Tie it. Do it again, for added security. Make a mental note to check hemp rope, daily.

Light sort of back in place, I decide that was enough for Saturday.

On Sunday, renewed, I took some time to thoroughly read the new light fixture instructions. Google subject a bit and prepare to finish the task.

There was one minor snag, two wires coming out of ceiling. Three wires on new light fixture. There is no ground wire. But it's standard, I learn, to wire this around a green screw (which was provided). No biggie.

Feeling confident after reading the instructions and seeing the insides of the old fixture. And the wiring. And the encouraging google links. All is coming together nicely.

Except for two things.

Electrical Tape. That was showstopper. I do not have this, and I do not think substituting duct tape or wrapping tape would do.

So I add it to a list. A list that will not get further then pencil and paper. I also add voltage tester. That tool ought to be useful.

We are all sick right now. Stuffy and runny nose. Really sore throat. Puffy eyes and low energy. I wasn't running any errands. Instead I revisited the pleasure of watching a movie in the middle of the day. On my bed. With everyone.

Before posting here, I wrote an email to my Contract-Her. She is coming this weekend to gut my kitchen. And we are leaving on a jet plane to visit a friend on the west coast. I wanted to discuss some finer points of the gutting project. And as the final point I have asked her how much she charges for this kind of electrical work. I know a few Canadians who would happily do this for a case of beer. Maybe she would like a bottle of Baileys?

But I couldn't hit send. Ego back intact.

Weekend project - lighting - cool industrial dangling sockets replace chandelier

Electricity. That is a big deal. When we were kids, playing tag on my grandmas roof, many times I almost ran into the electrical wires that crossed over the roof.  Stopped short of them. Thank goodness for my limbo expertise.  Yeah, forget that we were playing tag on her roof. There were no boundaries back then, well maybe there were but they were far away.  There were 15plus cousins. We needed to outsmart each other.

Good at limbo, not so good at fully understanding the dangers of wires. Or the not so dangerous wires. I tune out, even though there may be an easy explanation. Live vs dead or inactive. Birds sit on wires. Bird on a wire. Squirrels run across them, safely to the other side, leaping on to a twig on a limb on a branch on a tree in the ground and the green grass grows all around.

BUT in all the cartoons that we watched, cartoon birds and cats (think sylvester and the obnoxious tweety ... are there any others?) exploded. SO TUNE OUT all reasoning and just be leery of wires. live or dead.

Now I want to try this little electrical project. Google it, seems easy enough. Turn off fuse box. Unscrew chandelier, unravel wires. Twist new wires on. Screw on new cover. Let hang, light and admire.

Old

New West Elm

I know things are colour coded so rewiring should be ok. I am deft with my screw driver so I should be able to easily unscrew the cover and put the new one on. I have a helping hand to take the chandelier from my hold and pass me the new one.

The only concern I have is the one about screwing on the extra support bracket. I don't want to mess with that.  I did hire a handyman to replace a light with a fan-light. That went over well. In my old house, I wanted to change the exterior door lights with something more me. But the whole wire thing attached to the light turned me off. BUT if I can do this, then I have a whole lotta new-light-replacement jobs to do!

If not, if caution sets in, I have a back up plan. Invite handyman over. Install light. AND offer him an assistant job to my Contract-Her. And if that fails, maybe Contract-her can squeeze it in between prying off the floor.

Cluster bulbs

 
I little while ago I stumbled across this beautiful bubble chandelier on Etsy and admired the organic look and the creativity. Hemp rope ... can't get enough of it (actually I do not know if this is hemp, but I like it)! Such a beautiful light. Kudos to the artist.












And then I noticed that this cluster lighting was popping up in other stores. How could it be? Has it always been around? I dunno, but it really lights my fire.  So when I clicked through West Elm's site and found this cluster of bulbs I treated myself.

I love it; the black cords, the option to switch out different sized bulbs! Yeah, I am sure someone else could rig this up on their own, but not me, at least not while my time right now is divided between my kids and work and maintaining my home).  As soon as it arrives I'll have to find someone to install it!

p.s. I think if I could I would have supported the artist, but I am just as pleased with W.E. version and in fact, W.E. version probably suits my home a bit more.

p.p.s AhHa! Subconscious inspiration. I saw it, but at the time, it was the sideboard and wallpaper that grabbed my attention.

This or that!

Just found this self-adhesive paper on Urban Outfitters site. Seems like it sold out and is back. I can use this at a much lower investment, both $ and effort-wise and see if I like it!

Although, I suspect the Farrow & Ball wallpaper is textured, and I LOVE texture.

Dining room - design board #1

Working on my dining room. Besides eating, we gather, chat, craft and work.  I have a long, brown Pier1 Imports table.  I added two wicker seats and two peacock chairs. And a bench w/ storage. Anything else currently in the dining room is over flow and will eventually be moved to another room.

I just ordered the curtains from UrbanOutfitters.  There is a window facing the back yard. I would love to replace the window with narrow french doors leading to a (raised) back deck.







Love this glass door cabinet from UrbanHome. White inside and dark expresso brown on the outside. I am waiting to hear back from them, concerning delivery. I hope it is reasonable as I have not been able to find another two tone cabinet. 




Farrow and Ball wall paper. 

Ikea sideboard. I like how wavy lines on the sideboard are similar to the damask wallpaper and curtains.

Sideboards - Dining room space

Did a little searching and found some sideboard possibilities.

I like the colour and style of the Cleveland Sideboard Buffet, by ModLoft. The price, not so much. This one is most similar to the one in the post below. Or not similar at all, but I like it. I am looking for long and narrow. Lighter wood.

The Ishu Glass Credenza Buffet, Dark Brown, by Aishni Home is very nice and roomy. All my serviettes will fit nicely in the cupboard and keep my cats from napping on them. Love dual functional items! But its a bit dark.

 

 

 

This sideboard from HomeStyles is simple and light and functional. Long and lean.

And lastly, the Wayborn buffet also looks great. Love the rustic appearance, but again, it may be to dark for me.

I have two others bookmarked but cannot get a photo. All buffets / sideboards were found at HomeFurnitureShowroom, and there are plenty more!

And since it did not become apparent while viewing buffets and sideboards, the difference between the two ... "These two terms are used interchangeably quite often, and for good reason" 

postscript: note to self working nook space 87x53x12