Dining Details

It was Halloween of 2007, and we had just acquired walls the same color as the pumpkins on our new neighbors front steps...

Our house had been on the market (and vacant- p.u!) for eight months before we made our offer on it- so something told me that the cobwebs draping from the ceiling were probably not deliberately hung as part of an "All Hallows Eve" theme designed by the previous owners.

These days, the dining room is sporting a new paint color- Sherwin Williams "Rice Grain":



The picture ledge idea on the left wall was one of those things that just kinda popped into my head while I was laying in bed one morning, shortly after we moved into TLC. (For some reason, that's where most of my lightbulb moments seem to occur.) Mr. LC hadn't really attempted to "build" anything at that point in our relationship though, so he was a bit apprehensive about whether or not he could pull it off.
We took a trip to Home Depot that morning and I excitedly tugged him around the lumber department, enthusiastically describing just how easy the project would be. By the time we left the store, my pep talk had convinced him that he could probably handle it. (woo hoo!) And just like I thought, he soon discovered it was really quite a simple project...



As you can see in the photo above, the first thing he did was attach beadboard paneling to the wall with Liquid Nails and finish nails.
Next, he screwed a 1"x8" board to the front of it.
Then he screwed a 1"x4" board, horizontally, down into the top edge of the 1x8 board.
To create a lip for the pictures to rest against, he used Liquid Nails to glue a piece of "L" moulding to the 1x4 board.
Once I caulked and painted, it was done!

I was really happy when I discovered that I could even fit some small, white accessories on the ledge as well...





We used various wood frames, all from a flea market, around the photos we wanted to display...



We paid between $2.00 and $5.00 for each of them.

We sandwiched a photo my Aunt took of her barn took between two pieces of glass, instead of using the backing that came with the frame. We did this because we didn't want this particular piece to look too heavy, visually. We thought it would be too much with the extra-large wood frame around it. The fact that you can see so much of the wall color keeps it feeling a lot lighter visually...






The frame around the barn photo actually used to be a honey-colored wood, which wasn't the color I envisioned, so I simply painted it black with some left over paint, and distressed it a bit...



The rest of them were perfect as is. I LOVE the chalky gray color of the one with my niece's photo in it...



...the way it speaks to the curvy, brown frame next to it just thrills me!

Speaking of flea market finds, we also picked up this sweet old basket to use on the table for a few bucks too...



I haven't really blogged about our table yet, because I'm not exactly sure if the legs will stay black or if they'll get painted brown, but here's a sneak peek:



I love how big it is, but if I need to make it smaller, the leaves on each end of the table slide out, and down, and all the way in. Move your cursor back and forth over the photo above to see them in action.

The old screen door, and our painted dining chairs are currently my favorite elements in the room...

A screened door, some painted chairs, a wall full of beadboard and tiny smiles scattered across a picture ledge. What else does a room need to be happy? :-)

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