Dining room wainscoting...

I keep thinking I have no more “major” projects to complete around this house…but inevitably I find something I want to do.

The dining room…a tad formalish but we actually use the room more than I thought we would for casual dining.

Like much of this house it has evolved over the last few years….the first Christmas featuring our new table…curtains…the new buffet….all relatively minor.

When we first bought the house the formal dining room was pretty blah…

Right off the entry…first thing you see when you enter the house.

This is the Christmas decor…LOVE! I love decorating this space for holidays and seasons!

As I have shared before, I replaced the arched transoms with rectangular ones, removed all the crown above the doors and windows and changed the light fixtures…all in an attempt to “detraditionalize” the space. It had chair rail and it was obvious it had wallpaper below the chair rail at one time. Before we painted, I had the painter repair some damage from where the wallpaper had been removed and add texture. Then we painted.

For months I have wanted to add wainscoting or SOMETHING to jazz up the space a tad. The only problem I have is that most of the wainscoting inspiration I can find is either really traditional/formal or casual “farmhousey” (like board and batten.) While I have made some changes to detraditionalize the entire space, I don’t want to go super casual. So not formal but not casual.

Don’t get me wrong…I like board and batten wainscoting.

I added it in the breakfast room …

….and entry

…and I love it.

But it just seems a tad too “casual” for a formal dining space.

So…what to do, what to do.

I did what I always do when I am looking for inspiration…cruised Pinterest and the blogisphere.

There are a few issues with this room that will influence what I can do. First, the walls do not go all the way to the ceiling…so in my opinion, I need to keep the wall color above the existing chair rail.

Second, the existing chair rail. I really don’t want to remove it because then I have to do a bunch of sheetrock repair and truthfully, I think I can incorporate it into any design I pick…at least the height of it incase I find another trim i like better.

I know I don’t want to do any picture molding above the existing chair rail…kind of formalish.

I realize I have elements in this room that make it more “formal.” But I want to tone it down a bit.

So far my favorite look is this….

Timisha has a great tutorial HERE for this look.

Easy, relatively inexpensive…kinda formal but not so much that you feel like you have to set out the fine china.

Perfect.

Hopefully next week I can share the finished project!!!

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Finding inspiration for my home office...

When I updated my Bogey House Tour page I realized I have done nothing in the office. It is truly a very bland and boring room….

We painted the walls and added the hardwood before we moved in and we have changed out the paddle fan and added curtains but other than that…nothing.

Not a HUGE problem since I only do book work once a month and the only soul who uses this room on a regular basis is Cleo…this is her lookout!

But it really is an issue for a room that is right off the entry and can be seen from the main living room….

This room has ZERO design appeal or character.

So I have decided that this room will be my next big project.

The only question is WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO!

So I do what I always do when it is time to plan a makeover. Find my inspiration, make a plan and execute the plan.

First, Pinterest. I know I want some kind of accent wall so I searched “accent wall” and “office wall.”

I found a few things I liked so I dropped them in my “office makeover file.”

I debated whether to do just board and batten or an “accent wall” on the main focal wall…behind the desk.

Hum…I have board and batten in the entry…I like it but not sure if I would like it in this space.

Keep in mind, the one AWESOME thing about this room…the 10’ ceilings…make picking a wall accent very challenging in my opinion. Certain wall treatments just don’t look good in a large room with high ceilings.

My DIL sent me a few that were interesting….this is one….

I love the wood accent as opposed to the all-one-color-treatments like I did in my entry and guest bath….

Now this brings me to the color choice I KNOW I want…I think. I want pink. Not pepto-bismol pink but kind of a pale/blush/coral/whitish color.

Kind of this colorish….

(I can’t for the life of me find the link to this picture…my sincerest apologies!!!!)

One of my blog-friends, Cristina at Remodelando la Casa used it in a bedroom makeover…”Parisian Pink”….I have loved the thought of using pink in a room since.

Somewhere in the room. Maybe paint the board and batten/accent wall white and paint the walls the “pink” color or visa versa. Not sure yet because it will really depend on the wall treatment I choose.

Another choice….

I would paint the entire accent wall the “pinkish” color I choose and then paint the other walls white…just plain ole’ white.

But to date this is my favorite look….

Now, stick with “my vision” here. This is actually a three-dimensional wallpaper. My plan…paint the wall the “pinkish” color then make the vertical stripes out of strips of walnut.

OR paint the wall a darker charcoal greyish color and make the stripes pine with the whitish stain I used on my dining room bench.

If I do decide on this treatment, I know I want a “high contrast”….either light walls and darker stripes or dark walls with lighter stripes. And I really think I would want the stripes to be in wood.

Hum…what to do, what to do.

I am still looking for my inspiration…something that makes me say “YES, THAT’S IT”…not sure when the light bulb will go off but I have learned to live with changes in my mind for a time before I jump head long into a project.

Until that happens the desk, shelving and closet all need to be decluttered, purged and reorganized.

I still like this shelving and it serves a purpose…printer on top, paper and cartridges in the cabinet. But it seriously needs to be decluttered and the pictures on the wall need to be “rethunked.” The long vertical one is of our ski trip 20 years ago…the one with tulips is something that has been hanging around for 20 years…the cute little guy is Brian (that one will go somewhere…just too cute!)

The desk…

The desk will be on the “focal wall” so it needs to be completely clutter free. I thought it would be pretty to put a glass desk in front of the window and move the “reading chair” to this wall…but Cleo likes to lay in the chair and look out the window. Sometime our design decisions have to revolve around kids and pets.

The mirror propped against the wall?

I think I have kicked it around for a good 8-10 years and have never hung it on a wall. I love it but have never found the right place for it. It will be the first thing loaded in the car for donation!

This whatever it is…

The credenza is from our living room in the Lankford House. Between Brian and me, we have 4 computers and a slew of charging cords. The lamp was a Christmas gift from my dad to my mom THEIR FIRST CHRISTMAS…it is literally older than me. The Sonos speaker was in the living room and was moved in here before Christmas. The old mail holder. The wall decor….it’s all just a mess and needs some serious attention!

I have every computer I have owned for the last 20 years and for some stupid reason I think I need to keep the hard drive…you know, just in case I need to find an email I wrote 15 years ago. So I need to dismantle all the computers and pull the hard drives. I also have all the paper work for every car I have owned in the last 20+ years. Why? I don’t know…and I don’t know why I think I need to keep it, but I do. I just need to find a way to organize it all so that it isn’t taking up as much real estate as it is at this moment.

All that is stored in the large closet along with my business supplies, coats and some seasonal decor.

I swear…I am not a hoarder. Ask anyone in my family…they all swear I throw IMPORTANT stuff away all the time. Maybe so, but there have been many times in my life when having documentation for something I bought, or a contact I made, or insurance claim I filed, or bills that I paid, YEARS later, was important.

As a small business owner I also have to keep records for years….especially tax records. Fortunately we have tons of storage space upstairs and I am good about organizing and labeling boxes.

As long as I have the room to keep records on the car I bought in 1999 or the hard drive from the computer I used in 2006, I will keep them. But maybe they can be stored in a box upstairs and not taking up valuable space in a closet downstairs….hum…maybe.

The entire room needs to be purged and reorganized. Since we just moved into this house a little over a year ago, it really isn’t THAT bad.

I always purge and “organize” before I go out and buy storage boxes or organizing systems. And truthfully, I want to get rid of stuff so I am really not interested in adding more stuff…my goal is to try to use what we have!

So my goal this week is to get rid of and reorganize stuff and keep looking for inspiration. Once the clutter is gone and I know exactly what I want, I can make a plan.

Until next week…

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Curtains...

Last week I concentrated on hanging curtains in a few windows.

I have a “list of things to do” but it is still pretty cold outside. I need to paint the trim in the office, master bedroom and laundry room. I am using oil base paint and as you know, cleaning brushes with mineral spirits can take a bit of time outside. I want to do some trim work in the entry, but again, outside work. I may tackle the pantry this week but not sure exactly what I want to do…I ordered some jars and labels.

I have Raynaud’s which is this stupid circulation thing with my hands and feet. No biggy except whereas a “normal” person could probably work out side for short periods of times when it is below 65 degrees, I can not. It causes great pain and distress and is frustrating as heck!!!

I’m still adjusting to being “semi-retired.”

For those of you who grind it every day like I did for years, the idea of “retiring” may seem appealing. If you like waking up on Monday morning with little purpose for the week, go for it. If you like sitting around reading or binge watching 10 year old TV programs days on end, go for it. If you think you are going to volunteer, forget it. They don’t want you during a pandemic. If you think you are going to garden all day or project outside, make sure you have a library ready for the three or four months out of the year you can’t get outside.

The highlight of my entire week was the little warm up we had. I was able to get out and reorganize my garage.

Seriously, that was the highlight of the ENTIRE week.

I knew finding a “purpose” would take time….it’s still taking it’s time…lol!

Enough of my pity party…on to the curtain adventure!

So as you may know from my last house, I am not a big “curtain person.” Every single window in this house has 2” mini blinds…which are nice but they are just so….”mini blindish.”

One of the really awesome things about this house is that no window gets direct sunlight, so no window really needs to filter out hot sun. Also, no window is really “open to the public” so privacy is not a huge issue.

The windows in the living room and den adjoin the all-season room.

The windows in the breakfast room adjoin the side screened porch.

The windows in the dining room face west…

… but are shaded by the covered front porch and the large trees in the front yard. There is a bit of a need for “privacy” since they face the street…but not much. You would have to be on our front porch to see in and truthfully I am rarely in a state of “need for privacy” in my dining room!

So basically the need for curtains boil down to aesthetics…I look at curtains kinda like lipstick. You don’t HAVE to have it but it kind of dresses things up a bit and finishes off the “look.”

For the record, I rarely wear lipstick either!

But since I want to really make an effort on this house and since I have WAAAAY too much time on my hands, I decided to tackle a few windows…put a little lipstick on the rooms so to speak.

So off to the home decor store I went.

Again, I don’t really NEED curtains in the dining room but I found a set I really like.

(I notice I need to make some adjustments…especially to the curtain on the left.)

I decided to leave the blinds in place for now just incase we do need privacy or to block the sun…eventually I may do something different but not sure what. I do love the curtains and they work well with the “glitter/monotone” vibe I am going for in this room.

I did have a debate as too where to hang the curtains…above the transom or between the transom and the window. I looked on Pinterest and decided I actually like the look of curtains above the transom…so that’s where I hung them.

My plan is to make this table my “seasonal decor” spot. Since we rarely use this table, it is the perfect place to go all out…kinda of like I did for Christmas….

I plan to do this for every holiday. I picked up a bunch of stuff for Easter but can’t find anything I really like for Valentine’s Day so right now it is kind of bare.

I am a big fan of Pinterest. If you are looking for inspiration…what color or how high…just search and cruise. I promise you will eventually see a pattern to what you do and don’t like.

Went with simple for the den and breakfast room…I removed the blinds and added plain ole’ white sheers. Neither of these windows need shading or even privacy for that matter and I thought this simple look was like a bit of lip gloss. Simple and understated.

I found curtains for the office but still have to get another curtain rod…another project for another day!

So I made an effort and I like the little changes. The major change will be the living room windows. I tried just removing the blinds…I like it…Brian doesn’t. I thought about shutters but when I looked at “shutters” on Pinterest I realize I really didn’t like the look. I may try tall curtain panels across the entire wall but then the big question becomes “what fabric…what color…blah, blah, blah”

I may have to save that for another week…between the afternoon of rearranging the garage and my eye appointment on Tuesday I am plum worn out.