Comedy of Errors

Projects have not been going smoothly over here.  It's always one thing or another.  Or another and another.  I have been doing about 4 projects at a time and one thing was always going wrong with each one.  I'll figure out 3 out of the 4 issues but then 2 more rear their ugly heads so the cycle never ends. 

Here is the Painting of the Dining Room.  The pictures are awful.  Again, I never seem to get the lighting figured out.  (I have a recommendation on a great beginner's book for manual photography and hopefully that will at least get me started while I try to find a class.)

The dining room came in a dark, brick red.  Which, if I was going to go red, I would choose this red.  But right now I need light, so the red had to go.

The chandelier is great but again, dark...


and didn't fit the new light "wool skein" color of the new room.  Basically the walls are just a light, neutral beige with a grey undertone to go with the living room.

I decided to give the light fixture a makeover.  When Aaron was out of town, I cover e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. with plastic, opened all the windows, turned on a fan, wore a mask and spray painted it while still hanging in the dining room.  Oh, yes I did.  And yes, a little crazy.  But I must say this wasn't out of laziness, mind you.  It wasn't.  Just clueless on how to undo all the electrical wiring to be able to take it down.  Now I know even my sister is able to do it, so I'll know for next time.

Well, after all that mess, I didn't even like the finish of it.  I gave it a good 5 or 6 coats but once I took everything down I noticed places it wasn't a bright white and could see the dark underneath.  It really just looked grey, but not a good grey.  Not the finish I wanted.  So I decided to paint it by hand with the paint I used for the trim.  SO MUCH BETTER.   But my ideas, like paint it by hand, takes lots-o-time and patience and I must admit I am not completely done with it.  My decorating ADD at work.

Plus I had these to deal with.  The white paint brought out the "antique" cracks of the chandelier which you hardly noticed when it was dark, but with the white stuck out like the wrinkles on my face. Not to my liking.  So being the creative, innovative person I decided to give it a little Botox, or in other words, spackle.

The wrinkles look better but I need to sand parts of it down one more time, namely the bottom part, and paint again.  And that takes more time, more mess and I haven't been back yet because I've been tackling the front entryway and another out-of-control building project.   I think the whiteness of the chandelier will look good once I put all the accoutrements into the room and it won't stand out so blankly.  That's the hope anyway.

I still haven't put anything on the walls or decorated at all.  I want someone to come over and help me place all the things that fit so well in our other house and tell me how to fit them in our new space. 

So it's slow going over here.   But a few things are happening and it will come together.  Sooner or later, right?