Dining Room Progress And Your Opinion

There has been much progress with the dining room. I wanted to share a part of it to ask for your opinion. Included in the Saida Ikat stencil packet from Cutting Edge Stencils was a border stencil  - I had mentioned this in an earlier post - which helped me determine placement. It really gives the work a more finished look. I used it starting at the top of the wall and worked my way down to the chair rail.

You will have to excuse the slightly askew pictures. I had to lean at an angle while trying to take the best pictures I could given the state of the dining room with furniture out-of-place, dining table loaded with items from the breakfront and so on.

I have yet to do the areas around the trim. I did this when I was over a week into a crazy virus so I got tired of working around the edges and decided to leave it for another day. As I have two stencils I plan to cut one up and use a smaller piece to finish these areas.

This is where I need your opinion. I am considering - very strongly - leaving just the border above the doorways and window - not pictured - rather than fill in the rest of the missing pattern. What do you think?

After I fill in the missing pieces I will touch up the trim and parts of the stenciling, too.

So, let me know whether you think I should leave just the border above the doorways and window or fill in the entire pattern.

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Lisa

Update On The Dining Room Stenciling

Here is a glimpse of the dining room with some of the stenciling on the walls above the chair rail.

The edges of the wall (other than the top near the ceiling) have not been done yet. I had debated whether to use the border stencil (pictured below at the top of the wall) which was included with the original Saida Ikat stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils.

I decided I would incorporate it. I had purchased the clip-on stencil level which came in useful. I used it just for the top border and then worked my way down.

I used a dense foam roller .

The dining room is a decent size and since I am doing all the walls above the chair rail that is a lot of surface area to cover. I stenciled in stages due to time constraints.

The metallic paint I used went on perfectly but dried on thick. I washed the stencil after the first session of stenciling and did it really well but did not have the energy to scrub away after a second session. I tried peeling off the paint once it was completely dry. It came off perfectly for the most part as you can see below...

 

... but not so perfectly at the edges near the design.  That is the nature of the pattern. The more intricate the pattern, the more thorough one has to be with cleaning up.

So I ordered another one. This was recommended when tackling larger surface areas and I should have ordered two the first time. And so I wait for the new stencil to arrive.

In the meantime, we are all excited about the dining room and I walk in every so often and take a look at what has been accomplished thus far. If you recall, this was the before (no-so-great night shot).

And now.

The metallic paint looks amazing. I hope to be able to capture the effect of that with the camera once I am all done.

On another note, thank you for your lovely comments on my jewelry organizer . It might appear that I have a lot of jewelry but I have had some of the antique silver pieces for 20 years and some of the colorful bangles my daughters will wear now.

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Lisa

Painted Sample Of Stencil

I will share this one picture with you today of the three samples of acrylic metallic paint I bought to test for the stencil for the dining room. Done on posterboard without the ideal paint rollers but it gives one an idea of the colors. I am planning on a dark wall background and these will have a different effect on a dark wall. At first glance, which color grabs you - top left, top right or bottom?. It was not easy getting the perfect picture because naturally the light reflects off these paints.

More details  and close-ups in my next post.

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Lisa

Dining Room Stencil Paint

Back in the Fall I had shared some pictures of the dining room as well as some ideas of what I was contemplating for the walls. Go here and here. 

I had also purchased this Saida Ikat stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils which I am excited to try above the chair rail.



Here is a platter from Macau which I want to use as partial inspiration for the walls. It has a lot of pretty colors but I have been toying with the idea of a metallic for the stenciling but in a shade of silver.

Earlier this month I had ordered some acrylic metallic paint samples from Nova Color which sat in this box for a few days by the front door. I did not want to open it until I had taken down my Christmas decorations.

This colorful chart is what I found when I opened the box.

My first thought was that it looks like a chart for some fun nail polish color - I am sure I have tried at least half of these shades at some point!

The samples I ordered are Silver, Stainless Steel and Antique Silver. The Silver and Antique Silver are pearlescent-opaque whereas the Stainless Steel is a metallic. The pearlescent characteristic means the paint will change color depending on how the light hits it (refraction). Opaque will ensure the overall base wall color will not show through the pearlescent color.

I have never tried Nova paints before and am excited to see how these look. I am also working on determining the color of the walls. I am thinking darker for more impact and drama but that will depend on which sample I like best and whether to have the stencil contrast with the wall or be more subtle. I will share more pictures as I make progress with this project. Do you think I should go light or dark on the walls?

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Lisa

The Stenciling Is Complete

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By Lockerz

I have finished the stenciling of the closet. The lower half was done just this past week. My two posts on the initial stages can be read here and here.  Less words, more pictures.

I decided to lighten up the walls with the Behr's Ultra Premium sample I had in Harmonious. The colors work well together. I chose to randomly intersperse the Cutting Edge Moroccan Sunflower with just the center small flower in the blue. This blue is on the walls of the bedroom.

The closet is outfitted with built-ins from California Closets. There is one permanent shelf halfway up so I could not remove it for stenciling. I chose this as a point below which to change the pattern a little. I normally have one removable shelf placed before the permanent shelf so I chose to add more flowers in a linear sort of pattern across so that one can see them when the shelf is in place. I added some in Behr's Tibetan Orange, too but only below the permanent shelf on the side walls (pictures to follow).

 Below the shelving.

Looking at the right wall of the closet. The flowers look more red here but that is just because of the lighting. They are closer to a burnt orange.

I hung the light on the door knob to illuminate the whole closet so I could get a better picture.

The printer and light wiring and the little plastic stool which has been with us for many years - used to be useful for brushing of teeth and now it is used to reach the top shelves in the closet. In this case it helped me stencil the top of the closet. I am sure many of you own at least one of these!

More close-ups. Left wall.

Now to put all the items back in a more organized way. Will share it all. Stay tuned.

Linking this up to

Savvy Southern Style

No Minimalist Here


Be Colorful


It's Overflowing


Saved by Suzy


At The Picket Fence

Passionately Artistic

Eye Heart


Between Naps On The Porch

The Girl Creative

Domestically Speaking

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Lisa

Stationery Closet Part 2 - The Stenciling Begins

In my last post I talked about the initial plan for the closet in terms of decorating the interior walls. I chose to stencil. You could read about it here. That was Part 1. Today I will share with you Part 2 (of 3 or perhaps 4).

I emptied the closet and removed the shelves. I then proceeded to mix my paint samples, Behr's Tibetan Orange and Benjamin Moore's Honeywheat. I have a supply of Zoo Pals disposable paper plates for when littler kids visit and these plates do occasionally come in useful for my mini projects. I used this little creature this particular day because the orange in the ears tied in to the orange paint and I like to keep everything coordinated when I am working on a project. Actually, I was kidding..it is just a coincidence but it does look pretty with that bubble gum pink face, doesn't it?

I noticed a few scuff marks in spots which I decided to clean up with Mister Magic as I was not planning to paint the walls. They are, for the most part, in fine condition.

I brought out a couple of sponge brushes from my small stockpile, a measuring tape for basic measuring and some Scotch Blue tape to hold the stencil in place. I did soak and scrub the stencil after initial use although it still looks discolored - it was technically clean. (Should have had the light on for this picture).

The work begins...this was fun. I had mentioned in the earlier post that I wanted to get a wood-blocked effect and so I proceeded to stencil with a sponge brush. I held it perpendicular to the wall; light jabs.

First one done.

Stencil removed. A closer view. As you can see there is slight bleeding in a couple of spots but I like it like that.

On to the next one. I started this time on the left.

 Right-hand bottom corner and so on...

Then I decided to work the stencil pattern upward from the middle.

My pattern was determined as I got further into the stenciling. Sometimes it is easier to have a pattern in mind before starting but I was not fussed about that and knew it would fall into place. If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that this is how I sometimes do my home projects.

A closer look at multiple sunflowers. So far so good.

Well, naturally, I did not leave it at that. More pictures to follow soon. Have a great weekend!

 

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Lisa

Please Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this post.

Linking up to

Party at Simple Home Life

Finding Fabulous

Chic on a Shoestring

Be Colorful