The Code Wasn't Right!

As you've seen here our dining room has recently gotten a new look!  One of the newest elements is the wall color.  I learned an important lesson working on that project...those paint codes really don't transfer between stores!
 As most people do, we had many many many paint chips that we looked at over and over till choosing a color.  I however did not pay attention to which store the paint chip was from; instead when we were ready to purchase the paint I went to the store that had paint on sale. (makes sense right?) The little paint man scanned the paint color and mixed me up some paint - perfect!  And it was perfect till halfway through the actual painting job (which was being done months after the paint was bought), we realized we needed more.  So off to the store I went...this time I chose the other home improvement store, without even thinking about it. (This time it was distance that made my decision.) I got the paint, we opened it and WOAH! It wasn't the same color...time to freak out!  It wasn't very different, just a little different - much deeper of a tone.

Slapped it on the wall and WOW it's even more beautiful than the other paint of the same name and code!

Hmm, so which was the WOW color?  The paint from the store that actually sells that paint color? Or the paint from the store where they matched the color?  Yup,  you guessed it...the store that actually sells that paint color!  Never again will I believe that little man who says, "Yup we can match any color!"

I just love coming down our stairs to this mirror against the Allspice paint!

To Stain or To Paint...that was the question

Now comes the big decision...to paint or stain. We decided to buy wood so that we would have options.  Off to the store I went not even thinking that the rail had to have a special notch cut in the bottom to rest on the chair rail.  Do you know how hard that is to find?  VERY!  Finally I found it, the only way we could get it was in a pack which contained both the top and bottom rail for the wainscoting.  It was much cheaper than I expected so I didn't mind have a leftover piece (I'm sure i'll find a project for that...maybe a picture frame?)   

I loved the look of the pine wood...smelled good too!

As you already know we did decide to stain the wood.  Our thought was that if we didn't like it we could still paint it.  So we pulled out the can of stain that matches all the other wood in the house.

Minwax English Chestnut

We used cheese cloth to wipe on and wipe off the stain.  

Once it was dry we experimented with a new product (at least new to us), spray polyerethane by Minwax.  It is quick drying.  When something says quick drying i'm often skeptical but this really was!  We sprayed a few layers but it so easy and quick!  We will definitely use this product again!

Here is the finished chair rail...don't you love it!  There's something so beautiful about stained wood!

  Ever stain and get some on your hands?  Did you know Goo Gone removes it? Gotta love Goo Gone!  

To see the chair rail in its new home visit here.

A Place to Dine

Finally...the dining room!

As a reminder here is the before picture.

It had been used as the living room.  It is now a grand dining room perfect for our Easter family dinner! (we finished just in time!)

We still plan to get a proper buffet by the windows but just haven't found the right one yet! 

There are so many things to share about this room and all the little things we did to pull it together.  For now I'll just give you a quick tour around the room.

 This wall is one of the longest in the room.  The only one without a window or archway so it's a great spot to show you the colors.  The yellow shade is called Allspice which we previewed for you here. The wainscoting is the same as the trim color we used in the living room as you saw here.  We had a big decision (and you know how we are with decisions!) about what to do with the chair rail.  It had to be replaced but should we paint it or stain it.  As you can see we went with stain.  We think we made the right decision.  I'll tell you how we did it soon!  Once the wall was decorated and the massive fireplace found its new home things seemed to really be coming together!

Directly across from the fireplace we have a small wall between two archways.  One goes into the living room revealed here and the other one goes right out to the front porch. I'm not 100% set on this bookshelf here but for now it serves its purpose as a mail collection station and a spot to hold baskets of junk!

On the other side of the front door arch we brought in a new lamp to balance the lamps on the fireplace.  The lamp is anchored by a table which we can use to display special antiques like our "tea party" set. 

You can see a section of the huge windows in this image.  I will share more about them soon!  

Finally we have the wall with the staircase.  This is one of the reasons we stained the chair rail instead of painting it.  We love how the details of the staircase really pop now! 

We were very lucky through this whole project we had nice weather so Sanka was able to enjoy some fresh air while we did all the hard work.  At the end of the day she would come in and inspect our hard work!