The dining room...OF DESTINY!

Sorry, It's just a regular dining room. Not at all a dining room of destiny. I just wanted to get your attention. Well, now that I have it, take a look at what we did to the dining room!

I hate wallpaper, it's no secret. And I think there is a special place in hell for those that voluntarily cover horsehair plaster in wallpaper (and I'm pretty sure those that put it from ceiling to floor in every room have their entire existence blotted from the record). Tearing the paper down was a nightmare - we had to mud and sand three different times to get the walls smooth from the holes the paper left behind. But it was worth it...

The other difficult part of this renovation was the built-in cabinet. We had to sand all the drawers to make sure they actually slide, sand everything else so it was smooth and ready for paint, buy new hardware, then actually paint and finish the damn thing. Again, I think it was worth it...


I got to pick out the painting. :) It's Gustav Klimt's "tree of life." I love the concept of a tree of life, Gustav Klimt, and that the colors matched our room. So there.

Then there was the ceiling and it's equally hideous light fixture. We fixed the ceiling tiles and painted them high-gloss white so the detail stands out more, then bought and installed a new chandelier that matches the one in the hallway. It's ok to tell me that you think it looks awesome.


We also did curtains. We had blinds before, which I actually prefer (and WILL have again whether Ammon likes it or not), but the room needed something. So, Ammon made these dark purple curtains that match the dark purple on the inside of the built-in hutch. Also, Ammon got to buy the decorations for the table.



There really is only one thing missing in the dining room and that is Ammon's tapa cloth. It's this thing Hawaiian families make out of bark and they paint intricate designs. Here's a link to a picture of one just so you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, all we have to do is get his family's tapa cloth framed and then hang it on the big empty wall above the serving table. Renovation complete after that.

Really, the best part of this whole process was the environment in which it happened. While working on it over the last few weeks we've had awesome friends stop by and help out or just chat while we worked. In particular, we became much closer with two people. The first is Forrest, pictured in what appears to be a knight-in-shining-armor pose (to be honest, I don't know what he was going for here...but I still love the picture). We watched A Christmas Story and had chinese food. He's great and I'm glad to know him. The second was our friend Leah. She got to help launch the new dining room by spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day with us. It was the first time we made intensely fancy meals, served on our plates, in our dining room, with our friends. A complete and welcome lack of drama. This year was tough for Ammon and I, but as awful as things got, that's how awesome they are now. I'm grateful for my friends, family, and of course this freaking amazing house. Now, what room should we do next? Hmmm......