New House Journal: Painting the Woodwork

These photos are really not blogworthy, because they were taken with my phone and the lighting is so poor in these rooms. The little chandelier is so pretty, but it's throwing shadows on the wall that look mottle-y and dirty. (the walls WERE dirty, I think they must have used a lot of candles or the fireplace soot built up over time) Anyway, it was either using these pics, or waiting until I could get my camera over there. The flooring will be installed next week, so I'll wait and get some better ones when they are in.

Dining Room

Paladino 6-Light Chandelier

The little dots on the photos are flashes coming from the chandy reflecting on the windows. I've been thrilled with the difference the white woodwork has made throughout the house. We didn't paint it all ourselves, but I did get a quick lesson about all the steps it takes to do it right. We considered painting it ourselves (for a hot minute), but it's a big commitment and you need to do it right. We've been busy doing all the other painting and odd jobs throughout the house. Painting the woodwork would have added weeks to our schedule.

You can see the fan in the Dining Room (below).The former owners used the Dining Room as an office. 

Listing Photo

This is the Living Room before we painted last week. It was a pretty gray-beige, but it often had a "pink-y cast" showing up depending on the time of day. I brought over some sofa cushions to check a match and it just wasn't working. My sofas have a khaki tint and it just looked horrible. So we ended up painting the Living Room and under the chair rail in the Dining Room and Entry.

Living Room

For some reason I just really like the striped wallpaper. I've second guessed my decision to keep it, since it's not in very good shape. I've touched up and faux painted nail and screw holes so it's not too bad.  And I haven't decided what to do with the light fixture in the Living Room yet. The ceiling isn't high, so a chandy won't work. Don't you love the look of the bare subfloors? We pulled the carpet up the first day almost 2 months ago, and I cannot wait to get the hardwoods in!

Listing Photo

Entry

So far I've kept the pumpkin colored door. I don't know how long it will stay that way, but it's here at least until Spring. I love the color, just not sure it works with the new paint or decor.

We've also painted the bedrooms and my office with various strengths of Benjamin Moore's Smokey Taupe. This paint looks completely different at the new house than in our current place. I think the lighter, "more white" woodwork here affects the tone, where as at the other house we have a dark creamy color woodwork.

We looked around several places and on-line for replacement hardware for the Bedroom Hallway Linen Cupboard, but I couldn't find anything I liked. So I used chalky paint as a base and woodwork paint on top. Then I just lightly sanded down to a hint of the burnished brass and put them back together.

Before

Before the white woodwork this hallway was a dark dungeon. Lighter, brighter paint on the walls and white paint on the trim really lightened things up. Carpet will be installed after Thanksgiving here and the bedrooms.

A quick and easy fix for the hardware, that I'm happy with.

Sorry for the bad pics, but I wanted to share just a little of what we've been doing at the new place. This is an older home, built in the 60's so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that a new one would have. The woodwork is plain but good wood. We thought about changing it out, but painting alone was costing us a small fortune, so we didn't. The rooms are fairly good size though, much bigger than they are at our current house. It will be a change, and I'm having to make a few compromises in closets, bathrooms, etc.

I'll have some better photos next week. The big deal has been on the front porch. It's looking good, but we will have to paint the new wooden beams at some point when we can get a warm dry day. Not sure when that will be, but we can see that it is a huge improvement. I'll share that soon. If I don't post until after Thanksgiving, have a wonderful holiday!


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