{pretty, happy, funny, real} dining room edition!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ 

Well, it's been a month since my last {p, h, f, r} post, but I have a very good excuse - family! We've been blessed with lots of family visiting from all over the country, which means we've been very busy going to the beach and stripping wallpaper and shopping and eating and drinking tea and trimming trees and all sorts of wonderful things which are too numerous to name.

But right now, a little snapshot of the things that bring that little sigh of contentment . . . even in the midst of dining room renovation!

{pretty}

Mom and I went fabric shopping and came home with this wonderful fabric for dining room curtains.

Williamsburg India Chintz 1730-1800 by Windham Fabrics

As soon as I saw it I knew it was exactly what I wanted! I love the colours and the bold but pretty pattern. The only challenge I'll have (other than not knowing how to make curtains yet!!) is that there wasn't enough fabric for two full length normal width curtains for each window, and it can't be ordered again since it's archived. But there is enough to make panels for the sides of each window (they won't be as full as a normal curtain), so I'm sure we'll able to come up with something.

{happy}

Do you have a ReStore where you live? It's a place where people bring all manner of household things which are donated or leftover from renovation or construction projects. It's basically a household thrift store. Mom was dying to go, and good thing we did, for we found an amazing thrifty find!

This mirror! For only $5! It just needs a little bit of cleaning up around the frame, mostly bits of tape glue that need to be rubbed off. But isn't that a great deal? I was so happy :)

And over in the kitchen this afternoon, these things made me happy.

Veggies washed and ready for supper

Clean dishes sparkling in the late afternoon sun

Mystery seedlings growing beside the oregano 

All these small things made me smile because they were just part of an ordinary day, but it was an orderly day, and that makes such a difference.

{funny}

Funny happened out on the front porch this week when Arden had her first experience with watermelon!

Pure enjoyment!

Sticky face, sticky baby!

The more mess, the more fun, right?

{real}

Real is uncovering what's behind the wallpaper and figuring out what to do next!

Some of the plaster is in not bad shape, and other walls have big rough patches with wallpaper underneath layers of drywall mud. It really needs a good skim coat over all to smooth it out and strengthen the weak spots.

I also took a deep breath and a little scraper and peeled back the layers of paint on the wainscoting. It came off fairly easily in large chips, and now I'm thinking it might be a good idea to strip it all and start fresh. Time consuming, yes, but there are so many layers of paint (latex on top of oil) that are gooping it up.

The stripped section of wainscoting

So my original quick paint job in the dining room is turning into a much bigger project (twice the time and twice the money, as they say!), but I think it will be worth it when it's all done. It's one of the biggest, most lived-in rooms in the house, and I would like to keep the original farmhouse kitchen look.

Part of the fun is also choosing paint colours, which always seems like a daunting task to me. Because this room gets only a little direct light in the mornings, I want it to have a bright cheery feel, which is why I'm thinking of going with yellow, with cream wainscoting. I also want the room to feel cozy and warm in the winter. Yellow is so tricky . . .

Here are some of the samples we brought home. From left to right (all Benjamin Moore): Concord Ivory (with Mayonnaise underneath), Danse du Soleil, and Golden Honey.

The pictures don't quite represent the colours precisely, but they give an idea. The Golden Honey I think is too yellowy and doesn't look good in the artificial light of the evening (or on grey days). The Danse du Soleil is not bad in the sun, but seems a little too peachy for my liking.

So my current choice is Concord Ivory, which is also a historical colour, which I like the idea of. It has more of a brown undertone to it. I'm scared to death of the room turning out greenish, which is why I think the brown might be on the safer side of things.

Concord Ivory

And now I'm trying to envision what it would look like next to the curtains, as if those were the only colours in the room and not that horrible puke-ish brown that clouds my imagination.

Hmmn, I think that looks rather nice. I'm not sure if the Mayonnaise is too white, or if I should go with something more creamy. I want it to look crisp, but not blindingly white.

Plenty of work ahead, but I am so looking forward to the results!

Any thoughts? Thanks for stopping by :)





~lg