An Idea for the Dining Room Walls

I had posted some pictures of the dining room not so long ago. It is begging for new wall colors and I have an idea I am considering. The room has decent wall space although we have two pieces of furniture - a fairly large breakfront and a good size bar  - against two walls which will have to be emptied and brought forward. And as I plan to undertake this project myself, I have to time it such that I am able to complete the project at one time. Here is another look at parts of the room.

Dare I show you the bar! This piece needs a makeover...some day. 

Toward the end of summer I came across this Saida Ikat stencil pattern from Cutting Edge Stencils while looking for an ikat pattern online. I did consider making my own stencil but then I found this one. I ordered it and am planning to use it in the dining room above the chair rail.

I think it would be stunning on any wall. I am excited to try it in the dining room. But first, color decisions! I always like to tie the formal living and dining spaces together and particularly because they are separated by just a doorway and it is a wide one. So there would be a flow. I painted the living room in Benjamin Moore's Meditation and I do have some leftover paint and would like to to use that below the chair rail. Above the chair rail I currently have dark linen and it is in perfect condition and untarnished. I was wondering if I should keep it as it has just a hint of a pale green color and is almost a neutral.

Benjamin Moore's Meditation in on the living room wall above the mantle. I wrote about the mantle here and here.

I have also been looking at some of the china I own in order to determine the color for the ikat pattern. Here are a few pieces to give you an idea. This plate is one of four in four different patterns I picked up at a sample sale when I worked at Bloomingdale's by Mail.

I had a sister living in Hong Kong for many years and while she was there I asked her to pick up some more blue-and-white pieces to for me to add to my growing collection of blue-and-white china. Here is one.

Our formal china is also blue and white with a little gold. These beautiful lotus bowls are from Anthropologie. I love the colors and the finish. They are currently sitting on a cake stand in the breakfront.

This platter is from Macau. So many different colors on this piece...pale green, blue-green, blue, deep red, pink and gold.

 

I could pick up a metallic silver or gold or something in between. I think that would brighten up the space and serve as a neutral for all the china I have and yet make a statement in the metallic finish and because of the stunning pattern. The blue-green color on the platter speaks to me - I have Benjamin Moore's Harrisburg Green on the family room walls which is a similar color  - but I am not sure I would want that over the dark linen-colored walls and I am trying to avoid having to repaint that base wall color above the chair rail unless I absolutely have to.

I am leaning toward a metallic and have been taking a look at some Ralph Lauren metallics. I shall update you on my progress as I go along.

Do you like the idea of metallic paint on the walls? Have you tried any?

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

My Fall Book Pumpkin

A few nights before Halloween I decided to attempt to make my own book paper pumpkin. I do not think it is too late to share this, although some of us are already thinking about December, we are still in Fall.

There have been many versions of this pumpkin but I first came across these on EAK! a House! and Craftberry Bush. This was too cute a project to pass up. I used a reasonably old (but not antique) book. I found this image online and decided to use it to carve out the outline on a piece of cardboard for a template.

I used part of a box headed for recyling to cut out the template of just one half of the pumpkin.

I removed the cover and spine and placed the template on the first page of the book ....and proceeded to cut into the book taking a few pages at a time.

I must have been tired that evening as I did not realize until I was halfway into the book that it had 480 pages! I could have picked something smaller but it was too late to quit.

I used a pair of scissors. An exacto knife is another option. Once I reached the end I proceeded to cut along the bottom to get a better shape. This is not a "perfect" pumpkin and it was not intended to be.

I used a brewed teabag to antique the pages a little..I could not do all 480 pages but attempted some!

I had a branch of an indoor plant that was dying and so I cut it to use as the stalk. I placed it within the spine and then proceeded to hot-glue it and used a baggie clip - these are always so handy - to hold it in place while the glue dried. I let it sit all night to allow it to adhere to the book.

The next morning I decided to cover the stalk with some hemp I had on hand to make it look more substantial.

I started at the top of the stalk....

...then realized I had left an offshoot to cover too.

 So I undid it and started hot-glueing the smaller branch first. In order to cover the tip I glued a piece upward (see arrow) and at the tip proceeded to wrap around while glueing and working down the branch.

I held the twine in place with a baggie clip while the glue dried.

Then I started at the top of the main branch again and worked my way down in the same way.

I covered the pumpkin where the stalk meets the pages in order to add some character to the piece and show where the stalk "grows out". I went around in circles a few times and glued as I went along.

Yes, there is a gap, but that is ok.

Lastly, I decided to add a piece to the base and formed a circle with some hemp and hot-glued that to the base. (You might see a glimpse of strings of glue here and there but I removed them once the glue had dried).

Here is the final piece. I am not sure if the stalk is too large...my experience with pumpkins is limited (I did not grow up being familiar with them..different countries, etc).

I looked at other pics online and found this..

via

and this..

via Google images

So I think I am ok with this one - my rough-around-the-edges book pumpkin.

What do you think? Do you think I should make the stalk shorter? This is easily remedied. For next year I might add some more tea to the pages for a little more color variation. This is such a fun project but I would recommend using a book with fewer pages. I think mine will suffice for this Fall season.

I am linking this mini project up to Home Stories A to Z

   

and Someday Crafts

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

One Week to the Pewter+Sage Dining Room Mood Board Challenge

I hope a lot of you will link up to the dining room mood board challenge hosted by Pewter + Sage. It is a perfect opportunity to realize the extent of one's creativity and to challenge oneself while having fun and seeing what others have come up with. Here are the details of the Mood Board Monday party next week, Monday, November14th.

One has to choose any of these four dining sets as inspiration for a dining room mood board. The choices are:

1. David Stark Wood - Slices Organic Dinnerware from west elm

2. Penumbral Doily Dinnerware from Anthropologie

3. Chirp Collection, Lenox Simply Fine Dinnerware, available at Macy's

4. Philippe Deshoulieres "Dhara" available at Bloomingdale's

Four very different dinnerware sets. Does any particular one appeal to you? Why not challenge yourself and try something out of your comfort zone, something different. For more details go here. Participants must visit Pewter+Sage next Monday, November 14th to join the party and link up their mood boards. Give it a try! I am toying between two of the choices..you will have to wait and see which one I pick.

The last Mood Board challenge at Pewter+Sage was for a room using wallpaper as inspiration. You can take a look at my eclectic living room mood board here. I had a great time putting it together.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Meghan from Wishful Thinking for including my blog in her list of inspirational blogs. Thank you, Meghan! I am truly honored. Meghan's blog is a catalog of inspirational finds and not only does she find the most stunning pictures she is also a talented photographer. I always look forward to reading her views from across the pond! I have yet to visit the others on her list due to continuing internet connectivity issues but I will do so soon.

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

A Glimpse of One Week's Mini Projects

Along with other work-related goings-on I have been trying to complete smaller decorative projects in the house. I find creativity relaxing and in some instances, while the television is on in the background (and others are watching), I put my hand to some quick artwork. I can always find a home project that needs to  be done and on some days while watching a bit of television I can find my mind wandering to a new idea for artwork, repainting, furniture layout and so on. One of these mini projects I had been contemplating since early summer while I "accumulated" supplies.

This first one I think is still seasonal as we are not done with Thanksgiving yet and pumpkins are an integral part of the festivities. I saw this on a couple of blogs and decided it looked too good not to attempt to make my own.

I will reveal the details next week. I was determined to create something related to the Fall season before Halloween was over. I will not say much else except that I used a 480(!) page book.

The other project I completed on Saturday evening during the storm - halloween parties were either cancelled or postponed and we were housebound. This is a decorative piece for the basement/children's playroom which was so easy (and the coke can is part of it).

And lastly, I mixed and tested some sample paints I had from previous projects, again on Saturday night....

and started work on this...

I hope you will return to see more details. Have you been working on anything fun? I have some blog reading to catch up on. I have had and internet connectivity (and phone) issues for the past few days so therefore have not posted anything since earlier in the week.

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