Wednesday 25 January 2012

Progress in the Dining Room: Textiles

After finishing (sort of) my daughter's room, I promised myself that I'd get moving on the dining room. Since it is heavily used every day, it was about time for some sprucing up.

For over two years, it looked something like this:

Check out that cornucopia of fruit on the table. Yay, summer!


Um, yeah. I would look at this every day and just be frustrated because I didn't know where to start. The most difficult part was finding a dining set that I love, but was still within our budget. The metal and glass set above was my husband's bachelor furniture and it just wasn't doing it for me. The glass was impossible to keep clean with the kids around and the "hooks" on the backs of those chairs were always attacking me (I swear). After loads of time scouring the internet, I found our current set in the local classifieds. It has tons of potential - staining and upholstering are other projects on the list.

So I finally chose a paint colour (Rona Smooth Velvet in 'Sesame Oil') and got to work. I swear by the Shur-Line 2" Angle Brush for edges and corners - taping is unreliable and takes a crazy amount of time. It's amazing how little effort it actually takes to cut in by hand! In order to provide a more accurate sense of the colour, the following photos were edited a little - so don't alarmed if the woods seem a little bright and orange-y.

First thing's first. That light fixture is offensive. I just haven't found "the One" to replace it with. Second, my floor is filthy. The little dude eats in a frenzy that always involves the dog "cleaning" up afterwards. I actually stopped to wash it between uploading and posting it. And finally, those curtain panels are boring. We picked them up at Zellers a year ago because I just needed something to cover the window to filter light. I'm also planning on hanging the new window coverings a little higher than they're sitting right now. While my ceiling won't accomodate a full 96" panel, I may be able to get away with an 90" or so.

That brings us to the great online fabric hunt. I had decided a while back that I wanted to have cobalt blue or navy as a secondary colour in this room. So here are some samples I've been eyeing: 



Ok, so the last one has zero cobalt or navy, but I really like it anyway. And it happens to be the cheapest. Though I haven't yet checked out the local fabric supply store, it seems that online shopping is providing a lot more variety in pattern and price.

Decisions, decisions need to be made ...

2 comments:

The Restless Runner said...

I love number 1 :) I am a huge fan of this pattern in any color!

MamaJ said...

You know, I'm thinking of heading to Joann's to pick some up while it's still on sale ($19.99/yard regular price - yikes!)