The moulding is hung & I actually have a plan for the Dining Room

I’ve officially dubbed this week Moulding Week.

I’ve hung, puttied, caulked, taped, and painted so much moulding I am now seeing moulding in my sleep!

Here’s where I’m at now with the dining room:

Last time I showed you the room, it looked like this:

(In a Patrick Voice), “What’s the difference?!” (I’ve watched way too much Spongebob lately.) Okay, so the difference is that the room now has a chair rail and moulding around the window.

I’d say the room is finally coming along. You can also play catch up and see all the other posts about my Dining Room.

Before I hung any moulding I had to get all my lines in the dining room nice and crisp. I gave a great how-to tutorial on painting crisp lines if you want to know how.

Then I went to Home Depot and bought a ton of moulding. I posted it on my Facebook Fan page, so some of you already knew I was up to something.

In addition to hanging it in the dining room I also went ahead and added it around the windows in the family room and kitchen. I’m not finished with all the painting in there yet though.

Once the moulding was hung I spent a few days caulking everything, puttying up the nail holes, painting all the trim, taping it all off, and touching up the wall color.

It’s so random the little things that get me excited, but I love how this section turned out (this is before I finished painting).

I removed the old piece of trim under the sill so that I could extend the chair rail all the way across the entire wall. This is what it looked like after I removed the trim:

And again, side by side
  

So, what are my overall plans for this room? Here are some of my plans, finally down on paper.

Here’s the room where it’s at right now:

I will be adding more boxes to the wall like I did in my piano room.

Also, unless I change my mind after I receive a sample swatch in the mail, I’m planning on doing these curtains:

…but in the tangerine color:

I don’t have room for a buffet, so instead, I want to hang long shelves along the left wall (opposite the large canvas), just like I Heart Organizing has done in her kitchen (minus the buffet):

Young House Love also did a similar version in their old house:

I’m also planning on framing my Andy Warhol Inspired Chair Pop Art pictures and setting them on the top shelf, 4 in a row.

The artwork are all 8×10′s, so I’m thinking some big 11×14 frames and mats from IKEA, probably in all white.

As for the table…

…I’ve already started taking apart one chair just to get an idea of how I want to put it back together. I’m still trying to decide on a fabric and a color for the wood, but I’m pretty sure I’m doing black for the table. I am leaning towards black for the chairs as well with just a basic beige or cream upholstery fabric. I’d hate to put so many hours into the upholstery only to have the fabric go out of style in 5 years, so I’m leaning towards a classic look.

And my favorite idea about the room; the one that makes my heart go pitter-patter: The West Elm Capiz Pendant Chandelier.

I haven’t purchased it yet. At $299 I’ve got sweaty palms just thinking about it. But it will be mine. And I’m saving for it.

If any of you get wind of this chandelier going on sale for any reason in the near future, please let me know.

So there you have it. That’s the plan so far!

It’s amazing how far this room has come:

And I can’t wait to see where it goes.

I feel like I’ve been just aimlessly wandering from one room to the next decorating all willy nilly. It’s been fun so far, but somewhat unrewarding. I don’t feel like I have anything actually done around here and nothing to show for any of it.

I know that’s not true, I’ve done so much. I just feel like that I need to pick a room and finish it already.

I’m still going to blog about all sorts of random stuff, but as of now, I’m devoting all my extra cash to the Dining Room.

If I spend money, it will be on finishing this room. I will still work on projects elsewhere, but they will mostly be free using stuff I already have on hand.

This has been a huge positive decision for me to have a clear direction. I’ve really thought twice about my clearance purchases at Target and randomly stopping in at Goodwill. If it isn’t for the Dining Room, I’m not buying it until the room is done.