Operation: Paint the Dining Room

Operation: Paint the House has been underway for a while now.  And since I am on a painting kick, I figured I might as well use up the leftover paint from the bathroom project.  It was the perfect shade to coordinate with our dining room decor!  You may remember the color, it’s called Bayou Shade by Valspar.  It’s slightly more sage than I wanted for the bathroom, unfortunately, but luckily it looks great in here where there’s a lot more light.  Just enough to bring out the yellow undertones for my overly critical discerning eye. ;)

After taping up a sample and getting “approval” from the powers that be, I began the prep work in the dining room.  Spackling the holes, (damn thumbtacks that I have to use during holiday decorating… curse you!) caulking the baseboards (yay caulk gun!) and rolling the first coat happened on the first day.  Then today I did a second coat on the walls and repainted all the trim with semi-gloss white.  Whew, painting is tiresome!  Too bad we are barely halfway done with Operation: Paint the House.  :/

Okay, onwards with the reveal!

You may remember my dining room from this Spring, back before the cushion makeover.  It was sporting cream walls that just blended in with all the other rooms in the house.  Literally.  Except the office, they were all this color.  BLAH.

Presto! Color Change-o!

   

And from a different angle:

        

I love the new color.  It gives the room a bit more dimension and the white trim really pops against the green.  And the new cream cushions (which I was a bit ambivalent about) look so nice with the new contrasting wall color.  I think the old brown leather ones would really be too dark in the new green room.  So with one more room completed, that brings our total for Operation: Paint the House up to six!  Garage, Laundry Room, Guest Room, Guest Bath, Den, and Dining Room.  Still remaining are the Office (totally needs work), Master Suite (at least have colors planned), Kitchen (clueless!), and Living Room/Foyer (won’t be happening for a while due to scaffolding issues in the great tall foyer).  Much to do, much to do. :) 

The funny thing is that I’m developing a pattern with paint colors (and decor in general as I’m sure you’ve noticed).  So far, I’ve used white and blue each once, yellow and green twice (and the same shade, too!)  Can you tell I hate picking paint colors?  It’s too much pressure! :)  I always freak out when I start to paint with a new color, thinking its too dark or too bright or too blue-ish or too something.  And then as it starts to dry, I compare the wet color to the actual color and I continue to fret and second guess my choice.  Then a miraculous thing always happens—I go away and when I come back, the paint is just perfect… all dry and uniform in color.  That “wet color” is no longer taunting me with “I-am-so-much-fresher-and-lighter-and-better” looks.  I just can’t be friends with wet paint.  :)

Well, this brings us to the end of the big dining room reveal.  Thanks for coming along for the paint saga story. :)  Here’s your parting glance:

I’ll be back with the story of the squeaky clean house, as well as an update in the guest bath! 

Come again soon…