REVEAL! Floor to Ceiling Trim & Chandelier Facelift

Happy New Year!!! 2014 is upon us and I feel like I can't shake 2013!! Or maybe it is that I can't shake my kids and get back to any kind of normal routine as school here is still closed, Day 21 of break!!! Ah the Midwest... It keeps choosing us year after year:)

But enough about that... It's business time! Before the holidays you may recall in this post Front Room Rescue Project I shared my multi phase plan (the tortoise is winning this race) to redo my adjoined front room and dining room. 

Here's a little peek in case you need it before I dive into the gory details....

But of course I will need to drag you through the gory details before I show you any other "after" pictures. So back we go to the beginning of time... This is the room as it was before we began clearing it out via Craigslist....(I'm having one of those, "What was I thinking?!?" moments right now) Gees! It's like a skittles commercial!! 

As a refresher, below is where I plan to go with the new color scheme and design.... Much less going on in this plan as far as shapes and color go. Although I still love my colorful rug (above) so I guess I will just have to move it and redo another more neutral colored room around it:) 

In the dining room side I am recovering my moms art deco black lacquered chairs to go around an over sized modern round table similar to this one below!

Remember my moms chairs?! Love them and can't wait to get them recovered!!

So we started before Christmas by emptying my rooms and Craig's listing everything which has helped pay for several things thus far! And we started by doing our feature wall trim! I did not share my idea for the wall in my plan as I wanted to keep some element of surprise! Because I was going from lots of color to all white I wanted architectural detail in place of color. I drew out a modified version of a wall I had seen several months ago and had our trim carpenters apply the math. Trim carpentry and math have never been my strong suite (that lethal combo with like 21 days of winter break could make my head explode off my body)! 

Better, I draw it and they will come! And by "them" I mean my trim carpenters. These two guys are the ones who finished our basement and we have grown to work together like PB&J (it may not have always been that way). If I explain what I want they look at me like I'm nuts. Then I draw it and they feel sorry for me and apply some kind of mathematical solution and then just like that, a star is born! Here is my drawing... I know, right?! 

And here is their mathematical genius at work 

They had to take off the original crown and molding on the feature wall and bump them out with a 2x4 piece of wood behind so the crown would line up in the corner and so that the trim work would not be sticking out further then the new trim detail. 

And in a magical few day's time that would have taken me years to complete, here you have it! We painted in a high gloss white Pro Series enamel by Sherwin Williams to give it the sheen I was looking for without the expense and toxicity of applying lacquer (although God knows I would have loved me some lacquer!)

Our old Etsy find chandelier I got years ago in this dining room was all white (forgot to take the "before" up close before I started painting but it is in this pic below) and I thought it may look a tad richer in this new room in gold and black! So enter spray paint, the solution for all things the wrong color:) 

Chandelier BEFORE: 

And AFTER, in gold and black!

For the area where the chain meets the canopy at the ceiling I wanted to do something that was more unique and more modern than some of the very traditional medallions you see out. I bought a couple small star burst shaped mirrors awhile back and one day as I was staring at one of them on the ledge of our office I thought, "that's it!! I will bust out the mirror and use the metal star burst as my medallion. Again, a star is born, literally! 

So here it was perched up in my office...

And here it is as my new medallion:)

As for the boring white plastic candle stick covers they use to cover the wiring on these old chandeliers I used craft paper from Micheal's and spray adhesive to cover them and give them the gold color and a fun texture!!

The brown and white striped fabric is what I had on them before when the chandelier was white. 

You might have noticed in some of the photos a little something that looks like this?!

This is the gold and white paper I used to cover my ceiling in these rooms! I love the way wallpaper can look on the ceiling! And when you are using a high gloss all white paint scheme for your walls and trim, it is a big buzz kill to go from that look on up to the chalky white textured ceiling:( So, we knocked down the texture and skimmed mud over, primed and papered them!! I like the subtle pattern on this particular paper since the feature is to be the trim design on the wall. Plus this paper was a bargain at only $22.00 a roll! 

So there you have it, feature trim wall (check), white high gloss paint (check), gold and white polka dot wallpapered ceiling (check), white chandelier spray painted (check), funky modern ceiling medallion (check) and I almost forgot to mention my bright yellow curtain panels!!! Did you notice?! More details on these beauties in the next update!

Also up for the next update in this room...Remember this buffet that was in the room?! I got it at an antique mall a few years back and have been waiting to redo it until my vision for the room was set.  

And if you recall I said I was going to use this bracelet for my inspiration to paint it?! I used all three colors and it turned out very cool and looks much more art deco! Can't wait to share it with you early next week!! 

Happy New Year!! School is canceled tomorrow...again!!

Cheers (insert more wine)!

{Laura}