Dining Room Teaser....

Yes, I am a tease! 

This is just a tiny peek at what I will be posting about next week.  Wallpaper has been removed and we decided to go with paint instead of more wallpaper.  Window treatments have been completed and hung and we are ready to host Thanksgiving...just in the nick of time!  So, check back next week to see a before and after (dramatic after, I might add) of our DIY Dining Room face lift.

Can you tell I am excited about the results?

Guess what I am doing this week?

Do you ever start a project with a plan, knowing just what you want to do and where?  You know...you have made decisions!  Well, that was just where I was at the beginning of this week when I peeled the 1st strip of wallpaper off my dining room wall....now, not so much.....

I promise I had a plan...really, I did. 

But, as I peeled and peeled and adopted the nickname of "Queen of the Strippers" (yes thank you,  dear husband,  I appreciate that) I began to wonder if I should do something different.  My dining room is a big room, (20 feet by 14 feet), so I am looking to warm it up and make it more cozy which is somewhat ironic because it seems in every other house I have had, I was trying to open up the dining room and make it less cozy...oh, the irony. 

Got my 1st wall done!

 

So, my original plan was to use this fabric for the window treatments and chairs and the paint chip (laying on the fabric) for the walls. 

But, as I peeled away the wallpaper a strange whisper started in the back of my mind, "Wallpaper" it called.  "Wallpaper would cover a myriad of wall damage...." and I replied, "You have got to be crazeeee!" but it continued.  Do any of you have these strange decorating voices in your head or is it just me? 

So, after I have heard from several of my besties, and much debate over to wallpaper or not to wallpaper, I thought I would ask even more people so I will have even more voices in my head throw this question out into blogland....

What would you do? 

The little things...

Yes, yes, I should be unpacking boxes and organizing and all those fun things that come with moving but, hey, I get distracted!

Trust me when I say that in our new home there are many things to become distracted by. I believe that instead of a new house we have acquired a new project(s)!  We are really excited about the potential we see here, she has great bones and just needs some TLC.

Tiny Project #1!!!

As I was sorting through the Dining Room yesterday (which looks a whole lot like a Yard Sale at this point....argh!) I realized that those little curtains on the side of the front door had to go. They were just hiding too much light. I was pleasantly surprised to see some lovely leaded glass back there, and although the pink walls will be high on my next round of projects, I was pleased with what a little thing like opening up those windows made!

Moving, Redecorating and Project Central...

You know you are about to move into a new (new to you) house when all the flat surfaces start looking like this! 

Yes, it is time to start the transition and planning the projects for our new house.  No, we haven't sold the current (or otherwise known as the old) house.  Actually, it isn't even on the market yet because I just can't live in it while it is on the market, especially with all we have going on this Spring!. 

DH actually moves into our new house next week.  He will be roughing it on a blow up mattress for a few weeks until we get there.   Yesterday I actually committed to a "movers will arrive" date and delivery date.  Honestly, I guess that is when it really hit me that, yes...indeed, we are moving.  When we decided, several months ago, that we would make this change it seemed so far out in the future and I have been so focused on the kids and their activities that I haven't been real consumed by the coming change.  Well...no more!  Change is A coming!  Get those paint brushes, spackle and all manner of DIY tools ready!!!!!!!!!

Painting Product that we LOVE!

Do you have one of these? If not, you NEED (yep...NEED) one if you are a homeowner! DH and I have done our fair share of decorating and remodeling over the years and, truly, this product is probably what kept DH willing to go along with all my "ideas". It is the Wagner Power Roller. This cool gadget makes painting a snap, snap, snap (well, at least to my DH it does!!!!).

It is pretty cool because you actually attach the roller to your paint can an it keeps a steady flow of paint going and prevents you from wearing yourself out going back and forth to the paint pan. We have also found that it applies a really nice, consistent coat of paint and cuts down on the number of coats required. It is also surprisingly easy to clean up.

This is my adorable DH (in his painting clothes!), just last Saturday repainting our master bedroom (after I announced late on Friday night that I wanted to change the color!) Yep, he is good!!!. He is applying the color to the walls after having used the Power Roller to cover the previous paint (a deep wine color) with primer. Trust me, the Power Roller is the bomb!

http://www.wagnerspraytech.com/portal/wagner_990_spray,43310,747.html

***Note: Because of some new law or some such, I must tell you that I have NOT received one iota of compensation for this product recommendation!

Long weekend.....

My children (or rather, the school admininstration) has blessed me with a long weekend! No school today or Monday. Here in the south we don't get the end of February "Winter Break" so I am excited to have a mid-Feb. long weekend!!!

I would have enjoyed sleeping in this morning but DS#1 had a friend over and DS#2 felt compelled sit outside his big brother's bedroom door and play - loudly - until they (and everyone else) were awake. Not that it was a big surprise since my boys tend to get up early but I had been up several times during the night telling them to try to be quieter and settle down and my sleep wasn't the best. Anyway, in honor of being considered a good hostess, I trudged downstairs to whip up some pancakes, sausage and fresh strawberries. Of course, the boys - being 10 and completely starved - inhaled their breakfast and went off to play. I probably would have been just as good a hostess if I had put out a box of PopTarts on the table along with juice boxes and let them have at it.

So, here I sit debating on whether or not I take a nap as soon as DS#1's friend leaves or should I actually start the "BATHROOM PROJECT"? This Bathroom has haunted me and now I have determined that this will be the weekend when it gets taken care off. Not to mention DD has one of her girlfriends from our old home in NY coming to visit in 2 weeks and I don't want to frighten her with the "we are in the middle of redoing that bath" room. Almost all the wallpaper has been removed and I purchased fine sandpaper for smoothing out some areas before painting. I have picked out the paint color (Kennebunkport Green!) and need this room to be completed. Of course, I still need to get to Lowes for the new lighting fixture, although, I know how hard to to understand why I am ridding myself of the lovely large round light bulbs on a chrome bar - think lighting around a Movie Star's dressing table - BUT it must be done! The bathroom must come into the new century! Must, I tell ya!!!!



Anyway, it is cold here (not as cold as other places but for us...it is COLD!) so I guess it is as good a weekend as any to get to it.