The Dining Room in Three Stages
In 2018 I felt as if the walls of the house were closing in around me. I needed something that would make the rooms brighter and appear bigger. Trust me when I say our house gives the illusion of being huge inside and out, but it most definitely is not. This dining room remodel was a whim, I didn't talk it over with Tim, which I normally have to do to get him ready for change. I jumped in with both feet and a huge goal in mind, but first the back stories.
Stage 1 -Great Uncle Henry's Remodel:
When I first started dating Tim the dining room was actually their living room AND dining room. They had a table that was half in the kitchen and half in the living room, sitting smack dab in the middle of an 8 1/2' door opening between the kitchen and living/dining room. However, they normally ate on the couch or recliner, watching TV, which in reality was like a foot or two from the table... but bachelors, right? Back to the confused room, the bottom half of the walls were painted a lime green color, a tan wallpaper covered the top of the walls and there were tractor borders. Yep, TWO borderS with tractors on them! One border met between the green paint and tan wallpaper while the other met the ceiling. There was also hole in the wall, under the stair, that lead into a very small closet, where a 4' x 4' entertainment center sat. I almost forgot to mention the trim had been painted an orangey-brown with a fake wood grain painted into the color. This was all part of Great Uncle Henry's big remodel, that never truly got finished, but then again none of his project ever did and if they were considered finished they were most likely half-assed.
When I first started dating Tim the dining room was actually their living room AND dining room. They had a table that was half in the kitchen and half in the living room, sitting smack dab in the middle of an 8 1/2' door opening between the kitchen and living/dining room. However, they normally ate on the couch or recliner, watching TV, which in reality was like a foot or two from the table... but bachelors, right? Back to the confused room, the bottom half of the walls were painted a lime green color, a tan wallpaper covered the top of the walls and there were tractor borders. Yep, TWO borderS with tractors on them! One border met between the green paint and tan wallpaper while the other met the ceiling. There was also hole in the wall, under the stair, that lead into a very small closet, where a 4' x 4' entertainment center sat. I almost forgot to mention the trim had been painted an orangey-brown with a fake wood grain painted into the color. This was all part of Great Uncle Henry's big remodel, that never truly got finished, but then again none of his project ever did and if they were considered finished they were most likely half-assed.
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| Lets not pay attention to those in the pictures but to the background. This shows a part of the entertainment center, the green wall and tractor border... it also is a great depiction of where the table was. |
I mentioned the borders right? BUT did I mention that they didn't match? The theme of the house is basically mismatched or missing pieces. If you look closely you will see the bottom border had all John Deere tractors and combines on it while the top one had red and green antique tractors and barns or houses.
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| Again pay attention to the wallpaper. |
Stage 2 - When a Family was Moving Back In:
In 2012, Tim's twin moved out. Tim decided that since he was moving my son and I in the house is a few months he would "update" the house and make it more "family friendly." Since I was planning a wedding I told him to make all the decisions and I would just help. Big mistake but I was already stressed.
In 2012, Tim's twin moved out. Tim decided that since he was moving my son and I in the house is a few months he would "update" the house and make it more "family friendly." Since I was planning a wedding I told him to make all the decisions and I would just help. Big mistake but I was already stressed.
We started by taking down the wallpaper, the first of many times I will have cursed Great Uncle Henry. I was told he would put extra wallpaper glue on the wall and wet the glue on the back of the paper because he wanted to make sure the wallpaper didn't peel. Oh Uncle Henry, your wall paper didn't peel, I promise you that. This stuff didn't want to come off and took a lot of fabric softener/water mix to remove it. Once the wall paper job was complete we disposed of all furniture that wasn't going to be staying in the house, including the entertainment center that was just slid into the wall. Tim initially was going to make the hole a bookshelf so we left the large 4'x4' hole in the wall and covered it with a sheet, after all the kid moving in was 6 and knew better than to mess with something that he was told not to mess with.
SO, the next step was paint and it being Tim's choice, he picked a deep yellow color, I really don't know what color to compare it to. I mean, it was better than green walls and tractor borders but it made the trim look more orange than before.
In 2013 we had Oliver and he would be crawling soon enough. I begged and begged Tim to build the shelves but the plan was sent packing. Partly because Tim is always busy in the fields and the other part was because he was tired of hearing me complain about this gaping hole to a storage close that a baby could just crawl into. So Tim decided to fill it with the supplies we already had at home due to a previous project.
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| The patched hole where the entertainment center was, a book shelf was supposed to be but than got patched and we lived with this for an additional 4 years. |
Stage 3 - Make it Bigger, Brighter and More Like a Home:
Finally President's Day 2018 I was over the yellow walls, orange/brown trim and ugly light fixtures. I normally have to prep Tim for the change but I was off work that day, had the energy and didn't want Tim talking me out of painting his cherished yellow room. Tim was at work so I decided that I would attempt to paint both the walls and trim before he got home at 4:30p. Side note, I was washing out paint brushes when he got home and he was very shocked. I painted the walls Behr Chance of Rain and the trim Chalk (which I can't find the brand or link). Once I finished the room I hung some white sheers over the one window and the room already looked brighter and bigger.
Finally President's Day 2018 I was over the yellow walls, orange/brown trim and ugly light fixtures. I normally have to prep Tim for the change but I was off work that day, had the energy and didn't want Tim talking me out of painting his cherished yellow room. Tim was at work so I decided that I would attempt to paint both the walls and trim before he got home at 4:30p. Side note, I was washing out paint brushes when he got home and he was very shocked. I painted the walls Behr Chance of Rain and the trim Chalk (which I can't find the brand or link). Once I finished the room I hung some white sheers over the one window and the room already looked brighter and bigger.
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The next step was to replace the 2 florescent lights with track lights and install a new ceiling fan. We researched lights and fans and settled on making the purchases from Home Depot, went with this fan and these two track lights. These new light fixtures made a huge difference and definitely update the room. I wanted it to look like there was daylight in the room at all times and when I found these bulbs I made the executive decision that they will be the only ones I ever use, they shine bright white as opposed to the yellow tone.
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| I plan on toning down the yellow in the cabinet by refinishing it I just haven't decided what I am doing just yet. |
Eventually we added two shelves from boards that came out of one of the many barns that used to stand on the family farm. Once the dining room was complete Tim soon realized something needed to be done with the kitchen.
There are odd and end projects we have to complete but we haven't figured out what we want to do, I plan on re-finishing the buffet/coffee bar that sits under the shelves and Tim has HUGE plans to build a 6' farmhouse table so stick with us as we share our DIY journey to fixing up The Fults Farmhouse.
There are odd and end projects we have to complete but we haven't figured out what we want to do, I plan on re-finishing the buffet/coffee bar that sits under the shelves and Tim has HUGE plans to build a 6' farmhouse table so stick with us as we share our DIY journey to fixing up The Fults Farmhouse.
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