Dining room facelift.. Chapter One: The Corner

I knows its been a while but with 2015, a new year, equals a fresh start. My first project of the new year was the dining room. Staring at awful wallpaper and even worst molding, it was starting to really bother me. I figured the best way to brighten my winter blues was to give the room the facelift it needed. My dining room and kitchen are open concept. Order to give the room its own statement but still tie in with the kitchen, I decided to do a chair rail. Simple but elegant. Painting the top half  a sage color and carrying it through the entire kitchen. The bottom half, I would paint a cream white. After prepping the walls (cleaning, mudding, sanding, priming, the works) then came the paint. I recommend using a laser level, if you can, when trying to paint a level line around a room.

I should probably come clean about the fact my house is a double wide. At first it was hard for me to say it and I rarely told people because of the stigma around it. But as I as I make my house my home, I've embraced it. It's actually starting to become fun telling people because it really surprises them. It is a newer model, 2007, and most people just think it a modular home because it is on a full basement. Honestly I wouldn't know either if I didn't own it. The one thing that does give it away although, is the strips on the wall. With every room I do they all come down. All of the corners are covered in strips as well and are unfinished drywall when I remove them. Giving the corners that added fancy bonus will give my home the shabby chic look I want.

After talking with my Dad and a very helpful man at Lowes, I came up with an idea that would work. Neither my husband or I are anywhere near master carpenters, far from it really, lol. I needed something simple and inexpensive because there are 4 corners separating the dining room from the living room. Being a stay at home mom means everything is on a tight budget. I decided on a top piece that was made of two pieces wood from a 1x6x8 and some trim molding. The bottom was made of two block moldings that you use on the bottom of a door casing and the long boards are just pieces of baseboards. I just used some dry wall compound to fill in the gaps (mostly because it was what I had on had and it's sandable.) A couple coats of paint later and I have to say I am pretty happy with the outcome so far. On to the next Chapter. . . . . . Chair rails!