Friday, June 19, 2009

What I've Been Doing

My first summer project began last Saturday when I put the first coat of paint on my dining room walls. It all started because I wanted to redo the parquet floors, which were in dire need of refinishing. But of course since I had to move all the furniture out of the dining room anyway, it seemed logical to repaint the walls, as well. It's been eight years, after all.


When we first moved into this house nine years ago, the dining room had a hideous vertical-striped wallpaper on the top and something else on the bottom. Peeling wallpaper and painting was chore, especially with a newborn. My friend Tracy did most of that work while I watched all the kids. I'm not sure who got the better end of the deal, but that was eight years ago. I'm tired of green.

Look at this floor! Okay, this is after I sanded it, but it really didn't look much better before sanding. I was somewhat intimidated by the thought of sanding, staining, and polyurethaning a hardwood floor. I read a few websites and got the general idea, and then I sent the kids to day camp and worked my heinie off.

And here it is four days later. The first day I sanded and stained. The next day I rested. The third and fourth days I put coats of polyurethane on and made everyone stay out of the dining room. That was tricky, since we have to go through the dining room to get to the kitchen. But the kids were great, and we enjoyed eating out!


And here are the new wall colors. The photos isn't terribly representative of the "sauteed mushroom" and "Belgian chocolate" combo, but it is fabulous. Now I just have to paint the trim and buy new switchplates. And new picture frames. And a clock. And paint a chest. And most importantly…

move the very large dining room table OUT of the middle of the living room and back into the dining room!

10 comments:

  1. Wow the floor looks beautiful.

    xc

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  2. Wow, a lot of work, but what a payoff! Looks wonderful.

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  3. Your floor looks awesome. You are one brave woman, I don't think I would be brave enough to tackle a job like that. You deserve a pat on the back.

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  4. funny to see the (almost) finished project online since I was at your house every day this week!..but it looks so good...you did a magnificent job on those floors...Randy will be pumped!

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  5. I am swooning over that color in the first picture! GORGEOUS!! That's so awesome that you did those floors yourself! You go, Sarah. I love it. :)

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  6. That looks great Sarah!
    Randy will be so happy when he sees it, he'll forget to take a shower!

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  7. All of your work is paying off. The room looks so great. You have to post a picture when it is complete with furniture.

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  8. Ha! These projects do snowball, don't they? The room looks fantastic. I'm impressed you could do those floors by yourself. They look brand new.

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  9. i'm laughing because i'm painting my dining room, living room, stairwell, hallway, kitchen as we speak. it's funny when you get a bug to do something! i AM impressed at your work on the floor. it looks really great. i do love the colors as well. lovely!

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