I *hate* scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

I hate scrubbing walls

Have I possibly mentioned on one or two occasions that I HATE SCRUBBING WALLS??!?!? Ugh, it is such a slow and tedious process. But I am delighted to report that the dining room gold wall is done (yay!), and I will have the rest of the walls primed at some point tomorrow (double yay!). Next week the red will go up, and my dining room will be starting to take shape (triple yay!!).

Cheap thrill

Pictures only! Scrubbed, primed, tester reds (going with the bottom one for SURE), base coat, first coat of gold (will put on two, maybe three coats)

PRIMED!!

Well, one wall at least. (sigh) The accent wall, which will be gold metallic, is primed and will be ready for coat #1 of paint in about two hours. The metallic paint is a two-step process. First I will need to put on at least one coat, possibly two, of a buff-golden-yellow colored base paint. After that dries I'll put on the metallic overcoat. I'm a little worried about that because it seems to be a bit persnickety in how it is applied. A second metallic overcoat may be in order...supposedly that makes it really shine.

Beyond the metallic gold, I have sample sized jars of two different reds and will put those next to the gold metallic just to see which one is "my" red. It is amazingly difficult to find red paint that has no blue or pink/purple undertones. Never would have guessed it but GEEZ.

Pictures at day's end, I promise! I hope it looks as good in reality as it looks in my head. :D

Open letter to those pondering wallpaper

To whomever out there in cyberland may be tossing around the idea of wallpapering a room:

Wallpaper can be so beautiful. It really can be. So I understand the draw, even though it is not my personal style.

However, today, as I finished scraping the last remnants of wallpaper from my dining room walls, and then as I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and freakin' scrubbed to remove the residue, I will admit that I was not thinking so fondly of wallpaper. Most of my angst stems directly from the fact that my particular previous owners/wallpaper lovers did not understand the importance of priming those walls before they put up the paper. Sure, it makes no difference to the wallpaperERs....but it for darned sure makes a difference to the poor schmuck who may someday want to strip it.

I know what you're thinking. "This wallpaper is so classy and so timeless, no one will ever want to pull it down." Or maybe you're thinking "Who cares? I won't be the idjit spending countless hours scraping and scrubbing. HA!" I get that. Really I do. But please think of poor little ol' me, with my unbelievably sore muscles and joints that are currently protesting my every move.

Prime those walls before you paper. PRIME THEM. Please.

Sincerely,
A very sore, very tired, very frustrated, very sore homeowner

My wild and wonderful and spectacular future dining room!

I am doing my dining room in an Indian-saree-themed color scheme. This past weekend while meandering through NYC's garment district (fabric shops as far as the eye can see...it's heaven!), I happened upon the EXACT colors I want. As soon as I can get good pictures that show the colors at their best I will post them, but in the meantime feast your imagination on this:

One wall and the ceiling in saffron gold
The other three walls in bright orange-red
Drapes in fuchsia with the most amazing mesh beaded sequined sheer single-panel drape over the top
More drapes in the fiery orange with an amazing mesh beaded sequined sheer single-panel drape over the top
Accents of vivid lime green and bold chocolate

I am getting all fired up just thinking about it! Oh, momma, this is going to be one seriously bold room. I love it already.

Like a virgin...HOOO!

I pulled up the living room carpet tonight to find something kind of neat. Virgin heart pine floors. There was obviously a large area rug, oilcloth, maybe even a linoleum rug in the room at some point and the floors were stained just at the very edges. I would have expected that at some point the rest of the floor would have been exposed, and this, would have been stained and/or sealed. But au contraire! It's going to be a show-stopper when it gets a nice deep treatment of mineral oil and then several coats of beeswax/mineral oil paste.

Before:












After, showing the stained outer edges and the like-new wood moving toward the center. So delish!








And for all the other wood uber geeks, a nice "money shot" of the grain. *Swoon* Isn't it dreamy?