Plans for in here might involve removing the chair rail.  It is out of place with the architecture methinks.  No other room in the house has it.  I think the previous owners wanted to trad up this room for coziness.  I wanted to paint it black to hide it, but since I wanted the rest of the trim white, I thought that would look weird too.  I still love the matte black in here, but that rail is GOING.

I made the latest addition to the dining room wall to brighten things up around here.  I did it ages ago, and finally got it set during Michael’s 40% off framing sale.  Even with the whopping discount, it is obvious I need to learn framing.  A necessary life skill required for my life, me thinks.

….and I want it painted black…..

It was only a matter of time… I had to have a black room.  I’ve seen so many beautiful ones in the past year and I wanted to play too.  The dining room was one of the few rooms we hadn’t painted before moving in, so it’s been on the list for awhile.  Feeling a bit worn out with the process of getting the siding out to bid,  I decided to focus on a small, instant gratification project.  Hello, French Bulldog Black from Martha Stewart’s Valspar line.

BTW, this is how we renovate.  (That’s how the mailbox got done towards the end of the kitchen remodel.)  When faced with a big project that is very involved with tons of planning and details, we get impatient and need to feel like we are moving forward…so we go completely off task for a weekend with a “play” project.  I guess we could call it the attention deficit approach to remodeling, but neither of us have ever been diagnosed…..yet.

I worry that keeping the chair rail white will make it feel too traditional, especially because I have this big traditional buffet (that I want to go away!)  I hate the temporary lampshades, and I don’t have a place for the cookbooks yet, but all in good time…I will have it worked out.  This is just a start.

For those who like these kind of details: The photo over the buffet is by Jon Armstrong at Blurbomat.  Deer “trophy” from Cardboard Safari.  White MCM glasses are a recent score from my fave antique store in Chicago.  Fawns are (2) Roselane and (1) Northern Pottery…all 3 found on e-bay.  Dining room table is a Pottery Barn Shelton just scored half price a few months ago.  Chairs are PB’s Marais knock-off, BUT I got them a few years ago at the Pottery Barn Outlet for $60 each.  All in all, an extremely inexpensive makeover.

We’ve had our fix, and now it’s back to research, negotiations, no shows, fuzzy math….

Previous Homeowner's Dining Room

Previous Homeowner's Dining Room

Before..New Floors, but BLAH Paint

DR Before Paint

Goodbye Milquetoast Mocha

View From Outside