Help! living in a 150 year old home that was redecorated in the early 70’s. 10 years ago, I got most of it to a livable condition – dining room gold shag pulled up, wallpaper down. Have a husband that doesn’t want to change a thing.
But this dining room drives me crazy.
Should I paint the (fake) ceiling beams white to match ceiling? Ceiling is really low, only a little over 7 ft high. Planning on new wall color & taking chair rail out.
Was thinking of color washing or liming fake fireplace bricks. Non working fireplace.
This is a small room, only 10×13. Not a fan of textured ceiling either, but think that may have to stay…
Thank you…Barbara Levy, Westminster MD. PS – love your blog!
Dear Barbara:
Paint, paint, paint! For the love of Pete, woman, PAINT!
I was ever so slightly on the fence until you said “(fake) ceiling beams.” It’s a 150-year old house; I thought it could have been a nice oldfarmhouse or something. But if those beams are fake, absolutely paint them.
And then I got to looking at your other pictures…
This may sound blasphemous, but would you consider painting ALL of the woodwork white? Even the kitchen cabinets? I can’t tell from the picture if they’re new, but if they’ve been around for a while, please give it some thought.
(Some designer friends of mine, such as Maria Killam of Colour Me Happy, think all kitchens should be white! She has a point…here’s the white kitchen we all love to love, from the movie Something’s Gotta Give:)
Back to you, though: Definitely remove the chair rail, and I agree with changing the fireplace. You could simply paint the fireplace, though – an eggshell finish, not semi-gloss. Here’s a before and after from Domino (sigh) several years ago, courtesy of xJavierx on Flickr:
Isn’t that better? And look at the far right of the “after” photo. Can you see that the door trim also has been painted white? Give it some thought, Barbara!
As for WHAT white to use, I wouldn’t go too creamy or it will look dated again – 80s, not 70s, but let’s leap into the 21st century. Put up test swatches of Benjamin Moore’s OC-17 White Dove (grayer), OC-38 Acadia White (warmer) and OC-130 Cloud White (purer, warm).
Thanks for the great question, Barbara! Good luck!