My Dining Room - DONE!

While I was going through my photos the other day, I noticed that I hadn't shared photos of my dining room since I repainted it. It had been painted the same color as all the other rooms when we moved it just so it was done! Since I had to do the whole house at one time, I didn't have time to make those decisions. Now, 3 years later it is done. The wall color is Silver Fox (2108-50) from Benjamin Moore. I chose that color after seeing it in Stefanie's home here. (You can click on the photos to see them larger).

The table was acquired when I lost my round one in the trailer fire when we moved back to PA. This was a quicky replacement, but I do like it. I may repaint it and stain the top darker in the future. The flooring is from Lumber Liquidators, Bellawood Brazilian Cherry. We installed it ourselves, as we did everything in our house. The ceiling medallion is from Fypon. It was something that I wanted for a while and it wasn't that expensive. I'd like to change out the light fixture to a vintage crystal chandelier. Keeping the search up on eBay!

This is the view to the left side of the table. I bought this hutch over 15 years ago at a outlet store in Chicago. It is from Lane and has the most beautiful crackle finish on it. It houses my cookbooks, kids activity books, some of my china and misc. other stuff. The doorway you see here goes to the powder room.

My beautiful piano. I wrote about it here before. This bump out was original to the house, but it was in sad shape. The whole thing was leaning and the windows were all wonky. So, after tearing everything down to the studs, we found out that the foundation was only set on a few block a few inches in the soil. Ugh. We had to tear the WHOLE thing off and start again. This time with an actual foundation down to the frost line, new walls, and new windows.

This is the view to the right of the right of the table. The doorway goes to the living room. All of the drywall and trim are new in this room. I originally wanted a smaller crown moulding, but the small was more expensive than this big one. Can you explain that? Most of the prints on the wall are antique and the plates are from Laura Ashley. I worked there for over 5 years while I was in college and after. I wish they were still in the states!

What's been happening here?

Not a whole lot, but at least the kids made it back to school today after being off the whole week. They had a two hour delay and then seemed to goof off the whole day anyhow. Movies and a Valentine party. At least I got a little free time. I worked on some taxes and then painted the fireplace. I had primed and filled in all the holes earlier in the week. I also had a lot of caulking to do. So much that I needed to let it dry 24 hours. Either our wall isn't straight or the mantle was warped. Maybe a little of both. I took Lisa's advice and painted it white. It is true that all the rest of the trim in the house is painted white. I do think I like it better painted white. I have at least one more coat of paint. I use Sherwin Williams Proclassic Acrylic Gloss Enamel trim paint. It covers the best and holds up well, even though it is pricey. I have tried the others and this works and looks the best. Maybe we'll get the tile done this weekend!

I also got a present this week. I loved the serverware from Martha Stewart, but really didn't need it. I had gotten a $25 gift card for Christmas from my sister-in-law. I couldn't decide what I wanted, so I waited. I had ordered the smaller version of this compote first, but it ended up being out of stock. Then I ordered the bigger one. It ended up being the same price as the smaller one after the sale and discount. I am guessing the line is being discontinued since there are only a few pieces remaining online at Macy's.

Here's a view outside of our house. The ice is crazy. Even though it is not warm out, we still are getting melting snow. That long one is getting close to touching the ground. We'll have to knock them down soon. I knocked down the ones I could reach in the house because they are heavy and I don't want the gutters to come down.

A beautiful end to the day. It was mostly sunny out today, even though it is cold. Supposed to be the same everyday for a week.

Looking forward to the Daytona 500 this weekend. Kasey did a great job winning the 2nd Duel yesterday, now he'll start 4th. Seems like the Fords are agreeing with him. I hope it goes better for him this year.