It was the Maskros light that started it all. I had been dreaming of a light, airy bungalow for a while, and I knew that painting the trim was the first step. But I just needed a nudge to get started. Last summer was my last long summer. I had agreed to move to a school with an extended school year, so I knew that this would be my last June off, and I felt the need to make it count.
As I've mentioned
before, I live in Missouri, seven hours away from the nearest Ikea. That means that Ikea products that the rest of the country takes for granted are like gold around here. I had wanted a Maskros light for so long, but I wasn't able to drive that far, and I just wouldn't pay Ikea's ridiculous shipping charges. So the Sunday after the last day of school, I typed "Ikea" into the search box on Craigslist, and a huge Maskros light came up. For $50. It was mine later that day.
Hyped up on my Craigslist find, I decided my house was not currently worthy of this light, so I called my sister, Lisa, and bribed her to come over in her painting clothes. Together we sanded, deglossed, primed, and painted all that trim, plus we painted the ceiling and the walls. The trim is Benjamin Moore's Simply White, and the walls are Classic Gray, also from BM. This gray, by the way, is the most perfect gray paint I've ever used. It is really light, but without too much of the green, purple, or blue undertones that grays often have.
By the end of that first week, my dining room was fit for a Maskros light.
The hanging garden was really hard to photograph, and I still think this photo is too dark, even after some Photoshop help. I'll give more details about the macrame plant hangers in another post. My plants absolutely love it here.
The yellow school chairs came from a flea market here in town. I paid $30 for the set of four. Right now they are randomly hanging out in different places around the house. The table and chairs are from Pier 1, many years ago, and the armoire is an antique that my mom had in my nursery when I was a baby.
Like all normal people, I keep my bike in the dining room. Not only is this Huffy Suncountry fun to ride, but it's also nice to look at. I got it for $5 at a garage sale. Yes, $5! One of my favorite finds. The print above it is
The Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names from Pop Chart Lab. It was a Christmas present from Rand.
You know how I love to have old family stuff around my house. This radio belonged to my grandparents, and the container next to it belonged to my Papa. Like I said, this armoire was used to store baby stuff in my own nursery. My mom got it at a flea market when she was my age. It conveniently breaks apart, without any screws, for easy loading into a covered wagon.
Thanks to all those amazing old windows, this room is always so full of light. I know there are those out there who might think it's a shame that I painted over the wood trim, but I'm in love with my new dining room. And of course, to really appreciate it, you have to see the before and after photos:
{Before}
{After}
So what do you think?
