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Progress On Dining Room Walls (Still Not Finished…But So Close!)

Remember Friday’s post where I said, “Y’all, I can quite confidently say that my dining room walls (and ceiling) will be finished this weekend”? Well, I’m here to eat those words. Quite frankly, these walls are kicking my butt. I worked allll weekend on them, and while I’m so close to being finished, I’m just not quite there yet.

I was so sure that I could get them done that I even worked all day Friday, which is usually the day that I take off each week, thinking I could probably work Friday and Saturday and get the walls done, and then have Sunday to get the room clean and all of my tools and supplies put away. Well, that didn’t happen.

I worked all day Friday, all day Saturday, and even got up yesterday morning and started working at 6:30am and worked all day and into the evening. Finally at 9:00 last night, Matt said, “Kristi, I don’t care what promise you made to yourself or anyone else. You’ve done enough this weekend.” 🙁 He was right. It was time to admit defeat. I was too exhausted to argue with him.

So let me back up a bit. On Thursday, I used my new toy — this Wagner Flexio 590* paint sprayer — and sprayed the walls in Behr Polar Bear (the white that I use for all of my trim) in a flat finish.

wagner flexio 590 paint sprayer

Then on Friday, I started taping off the moulding. And taping. And taping. And taping. This is what threw me off this weekend. Let’s just say that I WAY underestimated the amount of time it would take to tape off all of the moulding in this room.

dining room picture frame moulding and trim progress - 9

dining room picture frame moulding and trim progress - 10

But it was necessary. I knew I wanted my walls painted in a flat finish, but the trim looked so dull, and kind of disappeared in the flat finish. I wanted to paint all of the moulding and trim in a semi-gloss finish just to give it some dimension. So after taping everything, I gave all of the trim one last sanding with 150-grit sandpaper, and then painted it in the same Polar Bear color in a semi-gloss finish with some Floetrol paint conditioner added.

I was able to get at least one coat of paint on all of the trim, and by the time I called it quits last night, I had completely finished the entryway wall (but was too tired to move the trash out of the way)…

dining room picture frame moulding and trim progress - 12

…and the area to the right of the front door and the front door casing…

dining room picture frame moulding and trim progress - 11

The front door still needs a coat of paint, though.

In the rest of the room, I was able to finish all of the crown moulding, chair rail, and window casings.

dining room picture frame moulding and trim progress - 13

So today, I just needs to finish the second coat on the rest of the picture frame moulding, baseboards, and fireplace.

dining room picture frame moulding and trim progress - 14

I also had to repaint my ceiling. I had originally painted the ceiling with Polar Bear in a flat finish, but it didn’t look good at all. I’ve told y’all before that Polar Bear has an ever-so-slight hint of red in it (although Home Depot has this color filed under their “whites with yellow” section, which I don’t see at all). Anyway, that slight bit of red isn’t really noticeable, but I like that it gives the white a touch of warmth. But when I put it on the ceiling, I could actually SEE the red, especially in the middle of the day when the room has lots of natural sunlight pouring in. I just couldn’t live with that color on my ceiling, so I went back to Home Depot and picked up a gallon of ceiling paint (which has a flatter finish that their regular flat paint) and just used the ultra pure white straight out of the can. It looked so much better, but I noticed yesterday that I missed a few spots, so I’ll need to do some touchups.

So I missed my goal of having the walls done this weekend. I tried my hardest, though! I’ll try again today, and I really hope I can get finished in time to get some good daytime pictures. This room looks so pretty and bright during the day! An all white room is kind of out of my comfort zone, but I think I’m really going to enjoy the bright, clean look of it when it’s finished.

 

 

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50 Comments

  1. Don’t forget to enjoy your progress! I think setting goals for yourself is healthy, etc., but not if you don’t occasionally cut yourself some slack and/or adjust your expectations. Your room is beautiful; you have set and reached very high standards of quality. Rather than looking at what you’ve yet to complete, also continually look at how much progress you’ve made! I think it could be a magazine shoot (soon). That it’s DIY is a mind-blower. Kudos!

  2. I see what you mean about the all-matte paint making the room look rather flat and dull compared to painting the trim semi-gloss. The effect is subtle yet really makes a huge difference.

    Question: I thought you generally didn’t tape things off, so what made you do so this time?

    1. I do generally avoid painters tape like the plague if I can get away with not using it. However, in this case, I knew there was absolutely no way I could paint all of that trim, and get really crisp edges, by doing it freehand. And after all of the time and effort I’ve spent on these walls, I wasn’t willing to take the chance on ruining it now with a bad paint job on the trim.

  3. Wow–it looks fantastic. I just love all this beautiful molding trimwork. The ceiling light is perfect for it. Now your fireplace looks like it was always there. Perfect. Can’t wait to see it when the floor is polished and furniture is in it.

  4. Please don’t make yourself sick working so hard to finish quickly. You will get it done😊 . This room is absolutely gorgeous, even incomplete the beauty shines through. I love that you did everything white as it looks so fresh and provides a good back drop for all the color that you will add. You have accomplished an amazing amount of quality work! So impressive! Once again thanks for sharing the ceiling paint issue. Now I know that if I don’t go with a color on the ceiling I am working on I will just buy the white ceiling paint.

  5. It is looking so good. Showed the trim to my son and asked if he could do that in my hall and he said he could show me how to do it!

  6. Wow! It looks amazing. Please take some down time. We need our blogger to be refreshed and rested.

    You inspire me so much.

  7. Beautifully painted but I can only imagine how your poor fingers must have felt after ripping the painters tape a gaz-zillion times – ouch!

  8. It’s going to be stunning when it’s all done! I like the front door black right now. It ties in with your beautiful doors that have the curving fretwork (if that’s what it’s called) but I know that will change, too. Now take a break, drink some sweet tea, play a video game with Matt, and enjoy some peace of mind, knowing that you are closer to being done…in that room, that is!

      1. I painted my living room over the Christmas break and I bought that tool for edging. I works so well – and the wheels that pop out of the way are such an improvement over the previous iteration of the edger. It means you can load it up with paint without worrying about getting paint on the wheels. Fantastic. It saved me a whack of time.

        I don’t have all that picture frame moulding that Kristi has – but between my crown, three windows, two doorways and the baseboard that tool saved me a fortune in tape.

  9. I’m SO HAPPY that you went all white! It was my favorite but I didn’t think you’d do it. It’s soooooooo pretty and the perfect stage for your other plans. I love the finished entry wall.

  10. The first thought that came into my mind when I saw your diningroom was, “oh, that’s pretty”. It just wanted me to take a big breath. Fresh & bright & clean. Very nice, very nice.

  11. with the weather being nice this week in TX, I hope you take some breathing time to enjoy your new updated room and relax before you dig into the next project!

    I’m not a white room girl myself, but it really does look lovely. 🙂

  12. I love what you’ve got done so far! When complete its going to be fabulous! I hope when you complete the dining room and hallway you will take a much needed break for a few days. You deserve It!

  13. I was all for the white walls, so of course I think it looks amazing! It surprises me the number of folks that think it will be “too much” white. I think once you get your drapes hung, your chairs covered, your art up, and your rug down, it will barely be white! Take a rest once you get the painting done, or at least do something less physical. You need a bit of a break! Amazing job!

  14. I don’t know if you follow football, but there is a football player named Shawn Lynch who goes by the nickname “Beast Mode.” You, my friend, are the female design/woodworking/trim diva equivalent. You’re commitment to your craft knows no bounds and quite frankly I am in awe. I probably would’ve just burned down the whole house rather than do all that trim. All kinds of wow!

  15. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. Agree with previous posts, take a break have some time with your Matt. If the weather is lovely step away and both take a break. Time out works a treat . You are a pocket rocket very committed to your craft.

  16. Hmmm. Why do I have the feeling you’re going to add some color later? It looks nice but I wonder if it would look even better with a little bit of color somewhere?

  17. It looks rich and sophisticated!
    Okay, novice question- if you had painted the trim before you put it on the wall, and then patched the nail marks, would that have worked? Would you ever suggest that?

  18. I too am not typically a fan of white walls, but this will be STUNNING I think! I know that once you have all your furnishings in there it will be so sophisticated.

    I wonder if you saw the red in the ceiling paint because the floor color reflected into it? Just a thought. But good idea to use ceiling paint, it is supposed to last longer than regular paint, and not fade or yellow out.

    You deserve some down time, for sure. We can wait! 😉

  19. Kristi, it’s just beautiful. I’m so impressed with your abilities, especially your ability to do so much of this by yourself. Would you be able to talk about how you manage to make it work without a helper for those of us who are single? I dont always see how you can do some of your projects without another set of hands, but would appreciate any advice about this.

  20. I love this room Kristi. It’s going to be stunning once you get it all decorated. I have to laugh at all the commenters that tell you to take a break like they are your supervisor and you wouldn’t dare take a break until you got permission.

  21. Your room looks super amazing!!! I’m not an all-white room kind of girl, but pictures of your room could sway me. I never tape off as I have a very steady hand- I wonder if that would have speeded the process up or if I would have spent more time fixing oopsies?

  22. Hi Kristi! You are doing an amazing job! You actually inspired me to tackle a project at our house that my husband wanted to hire someone else to do…I didn’t finish this weekend like I thought either. 🙂

    I know in the past you have mentioned that you don’t pre-paint because of all the sanding, caulking, etc, but do you think that pre-priming and painting the moulding would have sped this job up and made it easier to touch up and finish. I am assuming it wouldn’t have unless you already had the walls painted and were just adding the mouldings.

    Keep up the great work!

  23. It. is. STUNNING! And can I say that I kind of even like it with the blue painter’s tape?! It looks very nautical and beach-house-y with the blue and white!

    It’s gorgeous already, it’s going to be flat out elegant when you’re done. Bet it ends up being your favorite room in the house!

  24. It’s shaping up quite nicely, especially the chandelier and the windows. Don’t overwork yourself, I’m sure that it is going to be stunning when it’s finished